The first one [IC]

[BelGareth]

The cavalcade of refugees trudged through the dirt, some were grumbling, their fine shoes ruined, others had a dazed look in their eyes, most, if not all, had stains of soot, blood, and general grime, regardless of the make of their clothing, they were all miserable and silent.

You had guided them from ruined a village that you have already forgotten the name of, through the woods, and now through a recently deceased farmer's field, trying to avoid the vanguard in this area, which, so far had worked fine, your skills at stealth were no match for the Empire's spies.

It was only 10 miles or so to the next village, which you knew to be safe, they had a borough and had managed a decent palisade and great hall, it was here you knew these people would be safe, for the time being, until the Empire decided to move further in that was.

It didn't take long to reach the settlement, and you could see the smoke rising from its great hall as you approached, guards, already on high alert, challenged you as you approached, your way already marked by the archers in the towers much further out. The wall was made out of wood, as were most of the buildings, the only stone in the settlement belonged to the foundation of the great hall.

The Lord of the borough greets you at the gate as your group shuffles in, hope springing to life in their eyes again. "Come, come, we have food and mead in the great hall, you and your kin are welcome!" He bellowed.

He was a girthy man, with a long bushy beard, but he was a strong big man, and brooked no arguments, you could tell almost immediately, he nods to you as you move into the settlement proper. It was obvious he was a good man, and led his burgh well. As you enter the hall, you are somewhat surprised by the inside, it is a stark comparison to the cold wet weather outside, this was warm, and cozy. The walls were clean, and adorned with all manner of arms and rugs, tabards, and banners of past battles, warriors who had passed through, or who had settled here as farmers long ago, smoke lazily hung at the ceiling of the hall, making it darker and giving it a glow from the fire. Some of the tables were lined with food and mead as the man had said, and people were welcoming you in, dogs were playing near the fire at the center, and small children played with wooden toys nearby.

[CozJa]

Some relief after all those days of guiding people, trying to keep them out of harm's way were really welcomed, even if Eluvian penchant for suspecting everything and everyone didn't give him too much space, or time, for relaxing thoughts.

As they entered the hall, he shook some water away from his mantle, looking around the place and, particularly the people, there. At the same time, he thanked the Lord, asking him questions and trying to assess the situation.

"I see that things here seem perfectly fine, any news of the enemy's advance? Do you have an evacuation plan if the need arise?"

[BelGareth]

The lordling smiles and nods to you, hooking his thumbs into the crooks of his armpits, catching the edge of his waist coat. "Aye, we hear more and more every day, " he says with a stressed out forced smile, and then suddenly his composure changes "Shadows are forming in the darkness, take heed and seek out the other petals." his eyes were stern, and serious, his jovial grin from before gone, replaced with a ghastly visage of intensity, Which promptly vanished.

"ah, we'll manage though, we always do, those damned hobo's won't get far! I hear the kin has mobilized, or should soon!" he says, clapping you on the back as he walks away.

Spoiler: spot

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DC10
You feel someone is watching you
DC15
You can see several people in the long hall watching you, 3 at the least
DC20
You see the furtive glances, and focused eyesight of hunters hunting their prey, which would be you. 5 to be exact.

[CozJa]

Eluvan doesn't startle at the message, given that he was already quite used to the unorthodox methods of communication of the petals, but he always felt a sense of uneasiness when it happened.

But was it the same right now? Something inside the elven operative was wrong, as if a painting was somehow incomplete, or as if a brick was missing from a house, but he couldn't exactly point where and why.

"I think so, yes." he answers to the landlord "Anyway, my work here is done, I'll take a steed and leave."

Saying this, Eluvan takes a look at the group of people he conducted here, then looks around the place, serching for a spot in which he can disappear, hoping to understand if someone is really following him, or if his paranoia is out of control.

[BelGareth]

Moving to a table near the side, away from the majority of eyes and ears. On it was a plate of simple bread and cheese, with a few flagons and a pitcher of ale, with several metal plates next to it in a haphazard pile. As you settle, you look out, and easily notice 4 pairs of eyeballs staring at you, they quickly cover their surveillance of you by looking somewhere else, but it is now obvious you have t deal with these 4 scruffians.

[CozJa]

Noticing the ones watching him, Eluvan quickly devise a plan to try and make the hunters hunted.

He looks around, searches for the most shadowy place he can found and goes toward it, trying to disappear from sight.

Spoiler: Hide Roll

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(1d20+15)[34]

[BelGareth]

You move towards a rather dingy and moldy smelling nook, much darker than the others due to a broken sconce with no flame, from here, you are easily able to hide, but you know, looking out, they saw you come this way, it is only a matter of time. But then you heard several loud *POPS*, which made everyone inside turn their heads to the main door, where two people who hadn't been there before were now.

One was a tall...very tall woman with black hair, and a giant axe, and a bundle of books in her hands, she looked up at everyone with surprise in her eyes.

The other was a simple woman in basic clothing, he had her hand held out, she popped open her eyes as if expecting something else.

[Auranghzeb]

Even before opening her eyes Cervena knew she had been teleported. The smell of putrid food and stale air and the chattering gave away the deal. She opened her eyes to find herself standing next to a colossal woman who doubled her in size. But despite her frail looking frame, Cervena stood dignified by her simple peasant clothing and her perfectly clean red cloak made of pure incarnum.

She scanned the patrons with a snarl, her nostril flaring, ready to identify evil. And her keen eye read the situation.

I'll have a hot soup.

She said nonchalantly.

What about you?

She asked the tall woman, obviously as out of place as her.

Spoiler: OoC

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If you don't mind me fluffing Crystal Helmet as a red ridding hood made of incarnum.

Detecting/smelling evil

Sense Motive
(1d20+8)[27] +4 additional if evil

[CozJa]

As the two women appear, Eluvan quickly scans them "Unexpected guests just right now, could it be that they are the others?"

Hesitating for a moment, Eluvan thinks about the situation "After all, even if they are not here for me, I could try and put them against those who are."

Taking advantage of the fact that his pursuers lost sight of him, he moves as fast as he can toward the two newcomers.

[tonberryking]

The exceedingly tall woman, fully armored and possessing a long mane of dark hair with a red trail streaking through it, was posed in such a way that implied she had been reaching for something sitting low on the ground before her sudden appearance.

Sufficed to say, she is both surprised to be here and perhaps upset that whatever she had been grabbing was turning out to be a false promise.

"Well, I never..." she grumbles before glancing down, "Oh! Well, at least this place has something to eat...when was the last time I ate, actually..."I'll have a side of meat and whatever passes for pasta around here." she lets out a small, soft titter of a laugh, "Where am I, anyway?"

[BelGareth]

The two newcomers take in stride their new locale, and order food, just as Eluvan is moving toward them, a shadow in the dark he flitters out fast to them, like a thief in the night.

But it wasn't he who arrived first, several strangers in the crowd sprung forth, revealing weapons, crossbows with taut strings, daggers, axes, and cudgels gleam in the long hall's flickering light from the fire, people scream as they realize what is happening, and all hell breaks loose!

Spoiler

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The 'mayor' is in the middle, surrounded by the two women, with Eluvan on the right. You are in the middle of a tall rectangle, with attackers N, E and S of you. The mayor is W.
If that doesn't make sense, it's not a big deal, baddies are attacking you, fight them, or not, no battle map.

Several darts strike out at you all

Cervena - FF AC 13 to hit
Eluvan - FF AC 27 (not a crit) to hit
Tallrose - FF AC 9 to hit

Those hit take: 5 piercing damage, and then must attempt a Fort save DC 15 vs poison or become exhausted.
You become fatigued on a successful save.

we're not in init, just post actions.

[tonberryking]

Mel was, of course reading after she ordered her meal, and while it was a boring tome that didn't offer much in terms of new information or insights into the mind of a Medusa, it was still a pisser when a poisoned dart THUNKS into the book through the center of the spine, harmless to her but the poison tip soaks the paper and veins of the foul stuff ruins the ink before Mell accidentally tears it in half with a yelp, trying to keep the poison from her finger tips as both halves of the book go flying in different directions.

When she looks up, she is, frankly, rather FURIOUS.

WHO'S THE DEAD MAN WHO SHOT THAT?!? She bellows, axe in hand as she lunges towards the attackers, going for the closest one, determined to just hack them all apart for the transgression.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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(1d20+8)[9] Nature check for the Kn. Devotion feat.

She is using full power attack (-3/+3) to get reach with her long axe
(1d20+13)[32] Attack +1
(3d6+13)[24] +1

I will edit in the extras from her KnD feat after the fact.

[Auranghzeb]

Oh, the moral conundrums.

The assailants were all evil, they exuded an evil stench that flared in Cervena's nostrils. But cleaving them so savagely seemed gratuitous. Yet, who was she to stop the tall woman.

Instead she vanished in a shadowy puff, a flicker of light, only to appear behind the mayor and grabbing him from behind, one of her deadly knives at his throat.


She said softly Call them off, I know your nature is not theirs, but I won't spare you for your associations. Call them off.

Spoiler: OoC

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Immediate action Flicker. Standard, grapple (1d20+12)[28]

[BelGareth]

The Master sighed as he sat back down into his chair, a cup of Mudberry caff steaming in his hand, he breathed in the sour smell of the drink as he parsed through several illusory screens that listed activities, reports, and incidents.

It had been a rough couple of nights, and the Mudberry caff was not his first, and would not be his last, his left hand began to tremble, a reminder he had been over doing it, and had too much caff. He would need to sleep it off, maybe the Master Apothecary had a tonic to calm his nerves, he wandered to himself as he idly watched the latest reports as he cupped the steaming beverage, taking small sips to avoid being burned.

It wasn't moments later that he cursed and placed the mug down to the side, barely avoiding spilling his afternoon drink. The curse echoed through the chamber, and his attendant came rushing in as silent as a ghost, evenstill, the Master noticed and nodded, "Initiate extrication protocol Lambda" he frowned as he continued to read and shook his head slowly, "these damned fools are going to expose us all".

The attendant nodded and ran away, silent as a ghost.

~

A small hole in reality popped open near one of the crossbeams in the ceiling above you where an entity probes through, invisibly, and ethereal as a ghost, it peers around, notices the commotion, and retracts.

Moments later, all three of you receive a mental missive with the confirmation memory of the specific smell you chose to confirm your identity with the Rose Petals. Instantly, you realize things have gone awry for Central to have to intercede, you receive the indication you should submit.

A moment later, you all appear in the same room, but time has been warped, you stand in the great hall in the middle of the night, several townsfolk and a few visitors stir in cots placed for travelers and the like near the dying fire.

From here, another effect starts to take hold, with another mental suggestion to allow it.

Moments later, you all stand near a large Oak tree about a mile out from a small village, it's still the middle of the night, the moon is waxing strong, and you can easily see some Great-Horned Goats sleeping upright in the nearby fields, across the way another seems like a living field of grain that bends and moves with the gentle breeze of the night.

You have 1 minute.

We will not pull you out like this again.

You get the impression these are not questions, and you do not need to answer.

Spoiler

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You can attempt to resist if you want, but the mental missive is keyed to your personal memory-specific olfaction, so you know it is legit.

[Auranghzeb]

So much for stealth...

Cervena does not resist, but she kind of complains to the voice in a playful way.

They started it... what are we suppose to do? lay down and get beaten?

She looks at the others.

So, are you the other petals?

[BelGareth]

Adventure continues on here