The Treasure Map (IC)

[amanamana]

Corym scans the battefield to see if any of his fellows is in need of assistance, but sees that everyone seems to be doing just fine.

He keeps his longbow in his left hand, in case another enemy shows up farther away, but concentrates on the arcane energy that is stored in his mind as his prepared spells. He then reaches with his right hand and wordlessly manifests another Fiery Burst over the enemies that were already scorched, hoping to manifest a more serious burst of flames.

Spoiler: OoC

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Move action: He was walking around with the longbow in hand, so none.

Standard action: Uses his Fiery Burst reserve feat to burn the same enemies from last round.

Damage: (3d6)[9] (Reflexes 19 for half damage).

[Aracor]

Down, down, down you fall. At this rate, most of you probably won't even have TIME to run. But then again, life does tend to come at you rather fast in this profession. In the meantime, we may still be interested in accepting surrenders. Act now, and this limited one-time offer of saving your miserable lives may be available!

Iradak continues to insult the opponents while inspiring his allies. He genuinely wonders if this group is going to be smart enough to surrender, or is too stupid to know they're overmatched.

Spoiler: Actions

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Just in case things start going more poorly, Iradak will load his sling as a move action. For a standard action, he'll continue using Inspire Courage. Then he'll 5' step back from the half-orc that just tried to brain him, that way Ratette can get a clear shot if she wants it.

[DrK]

Sir Kevan

Kevan rears up on the horse, a grin on his face as the thrill of battle starts to hum within him, made even more so by the music filling the air. "Surrender you fools, leave with your lives.." he offers as he steers the horse with his knees chopping down again.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ride (1d20+6)[24] DC10 to fight with the horse
- if successful then horse (1d20+8)[27] dam (1d6+6)[12] (1d20+8)[27] dam (1d6+6)[11]

Kevan's attack (1d20+9)[10] dam (2d6+6)[16]

All attacks include the +2 for inspired courage

EDIT: Maybe I can play the horse and Kevan can be the NPC.... the horse is outdoing him so far

[tonberryking]

Ratette doesn't exactly help with the diplomacy, but while still running in a circle around the orcs, she fires another shot at them to help with their incentive to give up. If the one she shot before is still up, she prioritizes making him even deader.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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Next verse same as the first:

(1d20+13)[30]
(1d4+5)[7]
(1d6)[2]

[MikelaC1]

Iradek continues to call out inspiration to his group and the words seem to help Varin who finishes the half-orc that he was dealing with. The other two orcs in the group manage to get to their feet but cant seem to find a way around his ranged guard. The half-orc on Sir Kevan scores a grazing hit on the horse for 4 points, and in retaliation, the horse comes down two hooves on him. leaving him a bloody, dead mess. Corym unleashes another fiery burst on the orcs, and this second one is more than they can take. Iradek manages to avoid harm and then the last arrow from Ralette pierces his heart.

As the battle comes to a close, Valin, and perhaps Kevan think they might see a half-orc approaching the scene, but then thinking better of it and slinking off

[amanamana]

Corym signals for Bubo to fly back to him.

The owl descends as silently as a ghost and perches on his shoulder. He then whispers to her: "Anyone else coming our way, dear?"

Speaking to the others: "We should look around for anything of interest and leave this place, before others find us near the slain guards."

[Ridai]

Varin quickly searches one of the bodies for any sort of identifier or insignia that would link back to the current government or one of the more established criminal elements. If neither is found, he simply has to assume this was some sort of opportunistic party with more muscle than brain.

"Need to keep going," he grumbles, leading on along the treasure map's path before any more "guards" or such arrive.

[MikelaC1]

(both arrows hit and are therefore unusable)
(the half-orcs do not have full uniforms as such, but have patchwork pieces, which is typical of the new order put in by Mouton....this would mark this group as being under the command of the half-orc from the bar? and therefore not directly government sponsored)
(between all the opponents, the group retrieves 100 gold)

Following the directions of the map, the group spends about an hour and arrives at a cave opening near the hills outside of Wilverton. There are two orcs who appear to be guarding the entrance, keeping a watch to see that no one makes a move to enter the cave, however the keen eyes of Ralette to one side and Corym on the other spot an orc on each side (so total of 4 guards) crouched and hiding (clearly not very well) behind a boulder.
Despite supposedly being on guard, they have not spotted the group (yet)

[DrK]

Sir Kevan

The young cleric surveys the dead orcs with distaste before shrugging and turning his horse to follow the other. As they spy the cave ahead he reins in the horse, patting the beast's excited flanks and couches his lance. "Varin my friend, shall we try and communicate with them before we get in a fight? But leave a lane clear for my charge should the need arise"

[amanamana]

"Will you give me a moment, please?"

Corym backtracks a little to avoid being heard when uttering the verbal components of his Mage Armor spell. After casting, he whispers to his owl familiar, who then takes to the sky again.

"Watch over us, dear, and make us know if someone tries to ambush us. Be careful, please."

The young elf sneaks back to where the group is gathered and addresses his two diminutive comrades in arms.

"Ratette, do you think you should move to a more advantageous position before we move against them? Maybe catch our would-be ambushers with their proverbial pants down? What about you, Iradek? I don't know if this kind of tactics suit you or if you are better off in the rear line, like me."

Corym keeps his composite longbow in hand, in case the fight breaks out before he can get closer for a Fiery Burst.

Spoiler: OoC

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The owl familiar will fly to a better position to watch over the party. She takes to the sky 80 or more feet away from where the orcs are.
Bubo's Hide: (1d20+11)[29]
Bubo's Move Silently:(1d20+17)[24]

[Ridai]

Varin looks at the two, no, four orcs, thanks to the keen eyes of his companions. Full orcs in this case. Within the distance of a sudden charge, so ranged ambush seems too dicey. Too likely they get to run past the frontline.

Glancing up at Kevan, then back to the orcs, he whispers "Prefer talking things out, but either they're Mouton goons or they live there. And they're orcs. They're four, we got five, but one's rail thin to 'em, and two're small, so they'll think they got the upper hand. They'll see shinies, figure they can just kill us for 'em, and fry your horse. Even worse if there's more inside." Years of disillusioned experience are pushing those words out, along with putting the survival of his companions above that of the orcs, as heartless as that may be. Still, after a brief moment of silence, he adds "If you still wanna do it, I'll go as well. But I'm keeping my polearm ready. Others should still ready counter-ambush."

Varin speaks quickly, knowing they absolutely do not have much time to make their move, so he looks to the others with the silent question of whether they'll talk or fight.

[tonberryking]

Ratette bobs her head, with eager, puppy like energy that keeps her from standing still. She wriggles with anticipation as the plan is explained to her.

"Leave it to me, buddy!" she says before once more literally diving into the underbrush and silently bustles along (she hopes and or thinks) to a place that would give her an advantageous spot to slay another orc...

Spoiler: ooc/rolls

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(1d20+15)[21] Move Silently
(1d20+15)[33] Hide

Assuming we're going to try talking to them first Ratette will speed along into a good spot, but ..should we attack, instead of firing a precious arrow, she's going to up the ante and Skirmish with a Lesser Energy Orb. ...Of Acid.

(1d20+8)[22] Ranged touch within thirty feet of one of the hidden Orcs
(1d8+3)[6]
(1d6)[1]

[Ridai]

Whatever they are going for, Varin positions himself between the backline of the group and the orcs, acting as a chargebreaker as needed.

Spoiler: Actions and initiative

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Just positioning to put Varin's 10ft radius between the orcs and the people staying in the back. Readying an attack would lead to weird initiative things.

Initiative (1d20+3)[23]

[amanamana]

Seeing that an ambush is the way the party decided to go, Corym gauges the distance and sees that he's too far away for a Fiery Burst, so he aims his composite longbow at the orcs and waits for Ratette's attack. When she attacks the orc, he shoots the injured enemy, in case he's still standing.

He then get's closer to the enemies, but still behind Varin, to unleash a Fiery Burst on those he can reach.

Spoiler: OoC

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Surprise attack with MW Composite Longbow.
Attack: (1d20+7)[19]
Damage : (1d8+1)[4]

In case it's a natural 20, confirmation roll:
(1d20+7)[25], for critical damage of (3d8+3)[14]

After surprise round:
Initiative (1d20+4)[12]

In his initiative count, he will position himself behind Varin to hit as many enemies he can reach inside the 5' radius of his Fiery Burst:
Damage (3d6)[9] (Reflexes 19 for half damage)

[DrK]

Sir Kevan

The knight keeps back a little, eyeing up the orcs flanking the path as the others are too far back in the cavem even with the long reach of the lance. If trouble starts he puts spurs to the horse and charges at the orc's seeking to ambush from the side, heading to the right to skewer the right hand one

Spoiler: OOC

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If trouble starts Init (1d20+1)[8]
Charge the right hand orc (1d20+10)[29] dam (2d8+6)[11]

[Aracor]

Iradak will use his handy sling, and hurl a rock at one of the orcs to get their attention.

Spoiler: Actions

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Attack roll: (1d20+9)[24]
Confirmation roll: (1d20+9)[19] (if needed)

Damage: (1d3)[2]
Critical damage: (1d3)[2] (if needed)

[MikelaC1]

Battle breaks out on the totally unsuspecting orcs, every member of the group scoring hits except for Varin, who sets himself in a position to break any advance by the orcs.

Spoiler: initiative

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Varin, Ralette, Iradek, Orcs, Corym, Kevan

Tactical: Kevan is physically engaged with an orc, the rest of the group is ranged. Note that of the middle orcs appears to be raising some sort of alarm device to his lips

[tonberryking]

Rather than continue to dump acid on the Orc she was fighting, Ratette hurtles closer towards the one trying to sound the alarm and lets an arrow fly.

Spoiler: OOC Rolls

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So, it occurs to me that Called shots actually aren't a thing like they are in Pathfinder, but... can I try to shoot the whistle?

(1d20+4)[14] This shot is taking a -5 to aim for his hand/whistle. If I cannot actually do this, add +4 to it
(1d4+2)[5]
(1d6)[1]

[Ridai]

Having the opportunity and seeing one of the orcs go for a whistle, Varin closes the distance, slashing down at the creature.

Spoiler: Action

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Full Action Charge at the orc trying to whistle. Varin ends 10ft from the orc.
(1d20+10)[16], (2d4+6)[11] damage. If this deals 10+ damage, free trip attempt (1d20+8)[19] vs the orc's Dex or Str check (whichever has the higher modifier)
If Varin fails and gets counter-tripped (1d20+4)[14] If he fails that, he drops his guisarme instead of getting tripped

If the orc is tripped, Varin gets an attack on the prone orc because of Improved Trip
(1d20+10)[15], (2d4+6)[12] damage

[DrK]

Ser Kevan

Kevan feels the impact run up his arm before as he has been trained to do he releases the impaled Lance and draws the long cold iron blade and swings down even as the horse rears up. A muttered “In her name fall you green skinned swine”.

Spoiler: OOC

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Drop Lance, draw sword chop

(1d20+8)[26] dam (1d8+3)[5]

Horse

(1d20+7)[16] dam (1d6+4)[5]
(1d20+7)[9] dam (1d6+4)[6]

[amanamana]

Corym once again wordlessly unleashes a Fiery Burst, this time trying to burn the orc trying to sound a warning, hoping to silence him or at least burn the whistle. If it's possible, he will encase more than one orc in the burst, but the whistle blower is his priority.

Spoiler: OoC

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Move action: Move enough ahead to be at 30' from the center of the burst.
Fiery Burst damage: (3d6)[6] (Reflexes 19 for half damage)

[Aracor]

Iradak reloads and fires off another sling bullet.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move action, reload sling
Standard action, fire: (1d20+9)[19]
Confirmation: (1d20+9)[23]
Damage: (1d3)[1]
Critical damage: (1d3)[3]

[MikelaC1]

The party attempts to neutralize the danger that the orc with the whistle poses, however Varin's attack misses him. Ralette and Iradek both hit, but its not enough to finish him off. He gets the whistle to his mouth and starts to blow, just as the flames from Corym's fiery burst wash over him and finish him off. The group is not sure how much was heard, or even how far away the potential listeners are. Meanwhile the three other orcs actually return attacks, the other middle orc takes advantage of Varin's miss to close and slash at him for 2 points of damage. The orc trying to fight Kevan on horseback misses his attack, while the one being peppered by Ralette closes with him. Kevan slashes in return, downing a second orc.

ROUND TWO
Tactical: 2 orcs remain, one on Varin, one on Ralette....potential alarm has been raised.

[amanamana]

Seeing that the remaining orcs are divided between Ratette and Varin, Corym focus on the one on the little goblin, trusting that the brave ranger can hold his own against the enemy in melee. He unleashes another Fiery Burst on the orc attacking Ratette, while speaking in a firm but measured voice:

"Hold on, Varin, I'll help you in a second."

Worried that the alarm could bring new foes into the fray, he says to the others:

"If we get a rush of enemies in larger numbers from the cave, hold the line and let me soften them up with a fireball before engaging. If we get only a few, I also have some cards up my sleeve for them, so wait them at the cave's entrance without charging inside."

Spoiler: OoC

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Move action: Move enough ahead to be at 30' from the center of the burst.
Fiery Burst damage: (3d6)[13] (Reflexes 19 for half damage)

[Ridai]

Gritting his teeth at the fact the alarm could not be suppressed, it stings more than the small cut he suffered. So, time to make the best of the hand they were dealt. Stepping back, Varin slashes at the orc who assaulted him, simply nodding to Corym's words. Ratette is a higher priority right now.

Spoiler: Actions

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Five foot step away

Standard Attack the orc with the guisarme. Same tripping routine as usual
(1d20+8)[16], (2d4+6)[13] damage
On 10 damage: Trip check (1d20+8)[21]
If trip is successful: (1d20+8)[11], (2d4+6)[13] damage

If trip failed and I get countertripped: (1d20+4)[5]
If tripped, drop guisarme.

[Aracor]

Iradak will fire another sling bullet, and then step back to try to listen better.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move action, reload sling.
Standard action: Attack with sling. (1d20+9)[16]
Confirmation: (1d20+9)[16]
Damage: (1d3)[3]
Critical damage: (1d3)[1]

5' step back
Listen check to detect anything that may be moving closer with the alarm sounded: (1d20+8)[16]

[DrK]

Sir Kevan

Kevan rears up, the horse pawing at the air before he trots towards the nearest orc, the fallen ones at his feet trampled under his hooves as he spurs it towards the next one, sword swinging down in a great haymaking swing that seeks to separate the orc's head from its shoulder

Spoiler: OOC

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sword (1d20+8)[9] dam (1d8+3)[10]

Horse
hoof (1d20+7)[11] dam (1d6+4)[5]

[tonberryking]

As the half orcs come at her, Ratette backpedals as agile as she can, which is quite a lot as the slippery little goblin tries to put enough distance between her and an orc before she tries to put an arrow between his eyes.

Spoiler: OOC/rolls

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Tumble check to get out of reach without an AoO
(1d20+12)[25]

(1d20+11)[21] (1d4+2)[3](1d6)[3] Skirmish attack

[MikelaC1]

Varin continues to threaten the orc engaged with him but fails to connect, while Ralette avoids an attack from another orc and then fires off a skirmish attack that finishes him off. The two remaining orcs fail to score hits of any kind, before the flames from Corym end their lives.
The group spends a few minutes, but does not hear the sound of any approaching enemies, they may have gotten lucky in neutralizing the orc quickly enough. Varin spreads out the map and they start to move through the caves. With the aid of the map, they are able to move directly, avoiding having to explore all the passages that lead to dead ends or end up doubling back, until they finally end up at a cavern.
This cavern is finally occupied, there are two ogres that appear to be (sort of) in charge and a number of orcs. The orcs are working (being made to work) at clearing a rock slide, from what Varin sees of the map, the passage they will eventually clear does lead to the final room (in a roundabout way). However, they dont have the map and the party sees another passage out of this room, its next to impossible to see unless you know what you are looking for but the map shows it and with that, they can see it. Only problem is, they can try to sneak to it, but could be spotted, unless other measures are taken.

[Ridai]

As soon as the sounds of toiling and grunting are heard up ahead, Varin stops, so the light of his hooded lantern does not reach wherever the creatures ahead are, covering the side pointing towards the cavern. Quietly asking Ratette to scout ahead in the dark, he waits until she brings word of the two ogres and the gaggle of orcs. His frequent frown deepens further, and he speaks quickly and quietly.

"Chance of all of us sneaking past 'em going in and coming back out with treasure again's bad. Most of us need light, they don't, and Kevan's armor's loud. Hard fight. Orcs're tougher, better equipped than most."

He retrieves a vial, the others seeing a label of "giant size" on it, showing it to his companions with a gloved hand. One of the few things he could scrounge together in preparation for this effort. "Gives me longer reach, but can't try and stop all of them. Too many, too sluggish when big. Would need to focus the giantfolk." Grasping the vial fully again as he squats next to the lantern, he looks to the others for their input. They have a better grasp on their talents than he does.