Travels amongst the Border Princes II (WFRP 2e) IC

[dojango]

With a strong blow, Gabriele strikes down at the beast menacing her. With a loud crunch, her blade cuts into the creature's foreleg, slicing through it. The beast collapses a moment later. Severin tries to strike a blow against the beast he's facing, but is unable to hit it. He does manage to avoid its swiping claws a moment later, though.

You can see Zdenko take some wild swings at another of the beasts, managing to strike it. It tries to crawl off the causeway, only to tumble down the rocky causeway into the water. At the end of the line, Pietro tries to turn to fend off both of the lizards attacking him, and is unable to protect himself. He screams as the smaller one bites into his leg and the larger one clamps onto his arm, and with a sudden twist of its head, tears it free. Pietro falls to the ground, blood spreading from a mortal wound.

Spoiler

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There are two of the smaller beasts left on the causeway, and the larger beast.

[Haval]

There was no time to feel satisfied by that blow. Gabriele will do her best to to ignore the sight of Pietro dying in front of her and will instead go after the lizard that was trying to kill Severin.

Spoiler: ooc

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Full Action - Charge
vs. WS 42 (+10 Charge) (+10 outnumber)
(1d100)[82]
Rerolled to a 5 in the ooc

Any damage
(1d10+3)[4]

Any Ulric's fury
(1d100)[85]
(1d10)[9]

Dodge as needed
vs. Ag 48 (-10 armour)
(1d100)[30]

[rax]

"Harman! Go help the others, we've got this!"

With Gabriele once more backing him up, Severin keeps pressing the attack, but his aim is off and he hits nothing but air.

Spoiler: Actions

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Full action: Swift attack with mace (1d100)[67], (1d100)[75] vs. 41 (WS 31, Outnumbering +10)
Damage (1d10+2)[10], (1d10+2)[4]

Ulric's Fury if applicable
(1d100)[63], (1d100)[76]
(1d10)[10], (1d10)[2]

Pre-emptive Dodge (1d100)[77] vs. Ag 62
Pre-emptive Parry if second attack (1d100)[52] vs. 41 (WS 31, Defensive +10)

Wounds (remaining/total): 10/12
Fortune Points (remaining/total): 2/3

[LarsWester]

Wounds 13/13 FP 3/4
Horrified in the giant lizard that just tore Pietro apart like he was a toy in the hands of over rough child, Harman stands stunned for a few seconds before Severin's call brings him back into the action. At the halfling's words the Tall man springs into action running down the narrow causeway to join Zdenko and Marina against the two beasts at their end. If they could eliminate the smaller one first than the three could team up against the larger one.
Harman calls out to the others Marina and Zdenko finish off the smaller one. I'll try to keep the monstrous one focused on me. Harman whispered Verena watch over me. and started his attack on the giant lizard sword slashing wildly and torch waving.

Spoiler: OOC

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WS - (1d100)[61] vs42 swing and a miss
Damage - (1d10+5)[13]
Parry - (1d100)[22] Successful parry
Torch - (1d100)[9] still lit.

[dojango]

Harman runs up towards the big lizard, pushing past Zdenko and Marina, and takes a wild swing at it, but misses. The big lizard hisses at him and flares out its jaw before it bites into Pietro's body, starting to drag it away. Severin takes a few swings at the smaller lizard facing him, but can't quite close in safely. Gabriele lands a weak blow on the beast's side, but the animal's scales absorb the impact. The beast, angered and confused by the onslaught hisses and slides off the causeway back into the water. At the edge of the causeway, near where the body of the killed lizard is, several extremely small lizards clamber out of the water and begin worrying at the body, trying to tear chunks out of it. The last lizard on the causeway also slides off into the water and disappears beneath the water. Marina and Zdenko stare wildly around. "Pietro! Pietro!" shouts Marina, while Zdenko mutters something like, "Morr's balls, what was that?"

[Haval]

'Keep the torches steady.' Gabriele will attempt to stop the big lizard dragging Pietro's body away. As long as there was some light perhaps she could convince it to let go.

Spoiler: ooc

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Free Action - to drop sword and torch
Half Action - Ready Bow
Half Action - Shoot the big lizard

Vs. Bs 57
(1d100)[15]

Any damage (I think it has AP?)
(1d10+3)[10]

[rax]

"At last!" Severin mutters in relief as the smaller lizards abandon the fight. "Let's get that filthy beast for what it did to Pietro!" he shouts.

Hooking his mace back on his belt, he quickly unloops his sling, drops a stone in the pouch and snaps off a quick shot at the giant lizard.

Spoiler: Actions

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Half action: Ready sling and "sheathe" mace.
Free action: Load sling.
Half action: Standard attack (1d100)[80] vs. BS 63 (-20 penalty if Harman is still in melee with the big lizard)
Damage (1d10+4)[10]

Ulric's Fury if applicable
(1d100)[84]
(1d10)[1]

Pre-emptive Dodge (1d100)[16] vs. Ag 62

Wounds (remaining/total): 10/12
Fortune Points (remaining/total): 1/3

Edit: Spent an FP in the OOC thread. Roll to hit is now 25, and thus a hit even if Harman is in melee.

[LarsWester]

W 13/13 FP 2/4 After this post
Harman's hair is blown back against his face as the giant lizard hisses at him and clamps its tremendous jaws around Pietro's shoulders and starts dragging the corpse away from the fight. Harman is stunned for a second until he sees an arrow fly over his shoulder and bury itself deep in the lizard's hide. He also saw a stone from Severin find its mark against the beast.

"Let's get that filthy beast for what it did to Pietro!" he shouts.

That settles it then. The revenge for Pietro will be swift and white hot. Harman thought as he surged forward with a yell. Marina. Zdenko on me that thing dies now!
Harman charges towards the giant lizard slicing away with his sword. Still brandishing the torch lighting up the giant beast as a target for his companions ranged fire.

Spoiler: OOC

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Not sure the situation but first spoiler is if it is as I read it. That the lizard moved away from Harman on its turn.

Spoiler: Contigency1

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Possible Parting attack on the lizards turn.
WSvs42 - (1d100)[54] miss
Damage - (1d10+5)[15]
Full action Charge if possible
WSvs52 - (1d100)[45] +10% for charge. hit
Damage - (1d10+5)[13]
FP for either a reroll or extra 1/2 action standard attack if the charge attack hit.
WSvs42 - (1d100)[43] vs 52 if the charge attack missed as it is a reroll. miss
Damage - (1d10+5)[8]

Spoiler: Contigency2

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If Harman was still within melee then the rolls would be the same except against 42 for all three rolls.

Either way ParryVs42 - (1d100)[6] Success and Torch - (1d100)[93] Torch out on a hit!

[dojango]

Gabriele drops her torch and shoots an arrow into the scaly hide of the beast. Next to her, Severin flings a stone at the beast, hitting it with an audible thunk. The beast tries to back away from Harman, who in his fury, charges at it and hacks away with his sword on the beast's scaly snout as it tries to drag away Pietro's body. He sees blood fly, and the beast flinches in pain. It raises its claws at him, and with a sudden movement, heaves itself back in the water with a loud splash, taking Pietro's body with it. Harman can see its dark shape underwater swimming into the depths. Behind Harman, Marina starts crying, while Zdenko lets out a loud yell as he kicks at one of the smaller lizards swarming over the body of its larger brethren.

[LarsWester]

Harman let's go a scream of impotent frustration after the giant lizard. Arghh! You cowardly freak get back here. Fine run, but know the scales of Verena pursue you.
He then turns to look at Zdenko and Marina. When he sees Marina in tears he hangs his head as he walks back to rejoin the group. His torch still spreading light throughout the chamber. Unsure what words could bring comfort at this time he just puts a hand on Marina's shoulder as she cries.

[rax]

"Yeah, you'd better run! If we see you again, we're going to turn you into boots for a whole company!" Severin yells after the giant lizard.

He then fumes silently for a moment before speaking again. "How is everyone doing? Marina, Gabriele? It looked like you both got bit hard by these monsters."

[Haval]

'****.' Gabriele swears in frustration. 'A little to the right and I could have taken the bloody things eye out.' Not that it would have mattered, but she would have felt better about it.

'Marina...' Gabriele was at loss over what to say that would make anything better. If Marina assented she'll give the other woman a hug. To Severin, 'I've had worse.'

[dojango]

After a few moments, Marina shakes off Harman's hand and pushes away from Severin. "I'm fine," she says. "What are we doing? Are we done? Should we go back and tell them there's monsters down here? What in the hells are they doing?" To that, she spots the smaller lizards tearing into the body of the slain lizard.

[LarsWester]

Harman looks over at the myriad of little lizards feasting on the larger lizard. To me it looks like a food shortage. Those little guys are going to grow up to became big and nasty though. Harman will fire his pistol at the crowd of little guys hoping the gunshot and impact will frighten the little lizards back into the water.

[rax]

"Hey now!" Severin yells at Harman when he fires his pistol. "These monsters may not be the only nasty surprises lurking down here!"

Once the echo of the discharge fades, Severin answers Marina. "If everyone else is alright with it, I'd like to press on to find out what's at the end of this causeway. We came here looking for missing people, and so far we haven't found any evidence of them at all."

[Haval]

On the missing, 'Maybe they're down there.' Gabriele points to the water. It was easy to imagine that there was a pile of bones around here somewhere.

Gabriele will bend down to retieve her torch. She'll keep her sword out. 'If we stay we try not to stay out in the open. I don't want to be suprised again. Then after maybe we can talk Tollares into coming back here with enough men to kill that thing.'

[dojango]

The smaller lizards do scatter when Harman fires the shot and disappear beneath the water again. Everyone picks up their torches and relights them, if needed. Once again the group slowly moves down the causeway towards the center of the cavern. In a few moments there is an island rising out of the underground lake. In the torchlight you can see two large statues standing at the edges of the causeway, with unlit braziers at their feet. A short ramp goes up to the island. At the top you can see a huge pile of mud and rotting leaves and branches, and you can see another of the massive lizards staring down at you from atop the pile...

[Haval]

'What do you reckon?' Gabriele says to the others while keeping one eye on the lizard ahead of them. 'Even if we can take it between us the problem is if any more of the big ones decide to show up.'

[rax]

"Could be a mated pair, in which case I'd guess there's only room for the two of them in here," Severin mutters while loading his sling. "If they're mates, then the other one was probably on a hunting expedition to feed this one. If we attack, the other one will probably turn up soon enough..."

"I don't like leaving these beasts alive, and I don't like not knowing if our missing slaves and guards ended up as lizard lunch, but we're not really here to clear this place of wildlife. There's still the southern passage in the entrance cavern to explore. I say we go back and check that out for now. If we draw another blank we can vote on whether to come back this way then."

[LarsWester]

I agree that most likely the larger two are a mated pair. Pointing to the mound of mud, leaves and branches. That has all the signs of a nest. I think the first lot we fought may have been the remnants of a first hatch. Those smaller lizards probably belong to a more recent hatch. They will have to be dealt with to restore the mine to operational status but not necessarily now and not necessarily by us. Maybe for more coin but we now know what might be behind the disappearance of the guards and miners. Harman talks in a low volume to not prompt the nested lizard to move while also keeping an eye out for Pietro's killer. I think you have the right of it Severin let's go check that other pathway and make a report.

[dojango]

As you retreat from the nest, you can see movement in the water. Keeping eyes peeled, you can tell that some of the lizards are watching you. But soon you reach the beginning of the causeway and make your way back up the stairs towards where you had come from. By retracing your steps (and the marks on the wall) you find yourself in the cavern with the mushrooms and the dragon's teeth. Following the passage to the south, it twists and turns and the ceiling gets lower and lower until Zdenko is practically crawling, and the others are not much better off. Zdenko grumbles and says, "I will go no further. Keep going if you must, but I won't get stuck down here."

[Haval]

Gabriele will keep her torch steady in case one of the smaller lizards decided to try anything. As it starts to get cramped she'll nod in agreement with Zdenko. 'He's got a point you know. Even if there's nothing dangerous down there there's no guarantee there's even room to turn round. I wouldn't want to have to crawl out of here backwards.'

[LarsWester]

Severin if you wanted to continue alone you could go further but I wouldn't judge you for pulling back with the rest of us tall folk.
Harman calls out from his hands and knees as he also has been crawling the last bit of the cramped tunnel.

[rax]

"I suppose it doesn't make much sense to think that any guards pressed through this way, but if I were an escaped Halfling slave, finding myself a hidey-hole where longshanks fear to tread would be top of my to do list. I'll keep going a bit further. If the tunnel opens up further along, I'll call back to you," Severin replies. Taking a brief moment to check that all his gear is properly stowed so as not to catch on any projections, he continues on slowly through the passage.

OOC: I'll keep going as long as Severin can still stand, unless that's going to put him waay ahead and out of voice contact with everyone else. Note that Severin stands a mighty 4'2", so he's like the tallest Halfling of his generation.

[dojango]

Severin finds that he, too, will have to crawl to get much further forward. There isn't much danger of him getting stuck just yet, but he will need to crawl over through gaps in the rock.

[rax]

Spoiler: dojango

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Well now you've done it. Now I have to find out where this tunnel leads after all.

Did Severin have to start crawling at the same place as everyone else or has he moved forward and out of sight already?

Does this tunnel appear natural or could it have been made by the dwarfs or someone/sonething else? And is it a tight fit because it's partly collapsed or just naturally low/narrow?

Severin grunts in dissatisfaction as the passage narrows. Worried about getting stuck, he removes his backpack and his shield before pressing on...

[dojango]

Severin could go a little further without crawling, but soon he found himself on his hands and knees, trying to keep the torch ahead of him and lit. After dropping his pack so it wouldn't catch on the rock above, he pushed forward for about fifty feet. The rock floor felt polished smooth beneath his hands and feet, as compared to the rough ceiling. The walls were not as smooth, more smooth at the bottom. The passage went slightly up, and at one point he put his hands in wet sand. As he looks down, right in front of his hands is a handprint. A little smaller than his. He then has to climb over a rock ledge that has worn grooves in its face. He can stand up there, and as he climbs over the ledge he sees natural light at the end of the passageway.

[rax]

Maybe an old watercourse? Severin thinks to himself as he worms his way along the passageway. And a way out... he speculates when he sees the natural light ahead.

Holding the torch in his left hand, Severin draws his mace with the other and slowly makes his way toward the light, keeping an eye out for any further signs that anyone has passed this way.

Spoiler: Perception test if needed

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(1d100)[1] vs. Int 44

[Haval]

'I really don't want to have to follow him down there.' Gabriele mutters. Maybe we should have brought more Halflings.

[dojango]

The exit to the passageway is covered with brush and spiny plants, although some of it seems broken aside. Severin emerges into the afternoon light and finds himself at the bottom of a sinkhole maybe 20 feet deep. The sides are steep and covered with brush and small trees, and the bottom of the hole is covered by loose sand. It looks like something or someone has torn up some of the spiny plants to eat. As Severin turns to look back at the entrance, which is almost concealed under the brush, he notices a pile of pale, almost translucent scaly stuff.