CH. 8: Proving Worth

[Haahque]

Finally Haahqae gets long enough to think about one course of action long enough for him to go through with it. This course of action, of course some poeple would call very foolish, but Haahqae calls it brilliant! It uses all of his hidden abilities to maximum effect while he's out of sight of all the people he wants to keep them out of sight of.

He does his best to quickly cast grease under the bulk of the cultists, then sprints back up the stairs, hopefully before any of them can react. "Turns out they're well prepared, five of them down there. Quick, wipe the floor with them while they're distracted."

(Actions: Cast grease on SS, Hi and St then move up the stairs to 1 square south of the doorway, pressed up against the bookcase so that others can pass him.)

[JadedDM]

The very second Haahqae begins casting, the group tenses up but does not move toward him. Rather, they seem to go on the defensive. The exception is the archer, who begins nocking an arrow to fire.

The spell is finished first, and the grease appears under the short sword wielder, the histachii and the staff wielder. All three slip and fall. Haahqae turns to run up the stairs, and the bowman looses his arrow. He can't see the gnome, but he knows someone is there and his aim is lucky. The arrow sinks into Haahqae's shoulder, nearly knocking him out. He staggers, but manages to get up the stairs and warn the others before another shot can be fired.

"Turns out they're well prepared, five of them down there. Quick, wipe the floor with them while they're distracted."

"Charge!" calls Gregeddin, holding his sword up dramatically.

===============

Initiative
Haahqae (1d10+1): 8+1 = 9
Bowman (1d10+7): 5+7 = 12

Haahqae casts Grease.
----Short Sword Fighter saves vs. spell [TN 17] (1d20): 2, fail. He slips.
----Histachii saves vs. spell [TN 17] (1d20): 15, fail. It slips.
----Staff User saves vs. spell [TN 12] (1d20): 4, fail. She slips.
Bowman fires a sheaf arrow at Haahqae as he turns his back (+2 to hit) while he is hidden (-4 to hit) [TN 13] (1d20-2): 18-2 = 16, hit for (1d8): 8 damage. Haahqae is now critically wounded (25% HP).

(OOC: Everyone please give actions for Round 1.)

[TristenC]

As soon as Grubnick hears Haahque's voice, he gives a signal and speaks. Five targets, try to engage them all! Lets go!

Grubnick takes a moment to bind up Haahque. [Heal check 14]

[Haahque]

Haahqae will wait for everyone to run past him, then he'll bring up the rear with his own bow at the ready to pay that archer back for the arrows in his arm.

(Am I allowed to voluntarily have last initiative?
Action, move back down the stairs, preferably to the spot he was when he cast grease, then shoot an arrow at the bowman.)

[djhyland]

Her heart in her throat, Arulia raises her shield before her and pounds down the stairs. Intent on protecting those behind her, she throws herself into an attack against the nearest foe...some sort of horrid mixture of human and snake.

(OOC: Arulia is aiming to attack the histachii, unless the cultists move in such a fashion that it would no longer be the nearest foe. In such a case, she'll go after whichever becomes the nearest. Invisible Castle is down, so I'll leave the rolls to you JadedDM. Also, my apologies for not posting earlier today...the network was down at work today, and I couldn't post on my break like I usually do.)

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra pulls her cloak closer around herself as she looks around the Vale. "If the reports are true, then they aren't going to be too close to the city," she says. She didn't even know where the elves were, and she purposely didn't ask Sadron where he was so she wouldn't know. "Um, I suggest we start searching areas where it would be easy to hide, so places with lots of trees and the like."

[chese780]

(OOC: If I have weapons on me, I might as well use them. If not, just going to use my fighting style. Sorry for being so missing for the time being.)

Felran starts moving to follow behind Arulia, hoping to take the next closest person. He is also looking to locate the bowman.

(OOC: I know I am behind the people, but being built like a half-elf should allow me to do this.

[BishGada]

Tulbas slowly sits up. He feels tears on his cheeks. It takes time to recall and then... 'They murdered my parents in front of my eyes!' he thinks to himself. He quiickly looks around, "Haven? Is Maelana here?" he asks the warrior.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
(OOC: Yes, the permit Haahqae has allows the party to carry weapons, so everyone should have them, unless you specifically decided to leave them behind.

Just waiting on spyguy's actions for Round 1 and we can proceed.)

Kendra Greylock (Haven's Vale)
"Lots of trees, huh?" repeats Krup, looking around thoughtfully. Of course, there are almost no trees at all in the vale. Maybe one or two here or there, scattered out, but nothing that would allow a group, even a small one, to hide. The vale is largely flat lands, surrounded by mountains. The nearest forests are the Qualinesti forest to the south, on the other side of the White Rage River, and the Darkenwood forest to the east, on the other side of a ridge of mountains.

"Anyone got something more useful?" asks Krup.

"Water!" blurts out Perp suddenly. Everyone turns to him and he looks embarrassed. "Err, I mean. If they've been out here awhile, they'd need water. Waterskins only hold enough for a day or two. So they'd need more."

"Hmm...that's good thinking, recruit," Krup agrees. "Let's head to the White Rage River and look for any clues that someone has been by it recently. They probably aren't camped there, but we might find footprints or something leading to them. Greylock, you take point since you know the area."

Tulbas Erogund (Unknown location)
The warrior nods. "Haven is a human city. It's where your uncle lives now. We'll have to cross through Blode, hop a boat across the New Sea, and then sail up the White Rage River to reach it. It will take some time. Maelana? The child? No, I'm afraid she ran off into the forest. There was no time to go chasing after her, especially now that the whole place is cursed. It was all I could do to get you out alive. I'm sorry, but in all likelihood she is dead."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra leads the group towards the river. "This river covers a bit of a distance. It might be easier if we split up a bit."

[JadedDM]

Kendra Greylock (Haven's Vale)
"I don't think that will be necessary," Krup says. "The river may stretch quite a bit, but we're assuming they're close enough to the city that we don't need to search the entire river," he points out.

Kendra leads the way, with the Baaz following behind her. She overhears a few comments on the great view, but somehow she doubts they are talking about the landscape.

After awhile, the river comes into view. It's only a branch of the true White Rage, but still almost half a mile wide. The roar of the water rushing to the east is fairly loud by the time they reach the shore, forcing anyone who wants to be heard to talk louder than normal. The cold morning air is crisp and fresh. Kendra has her armor and her thicker clothes to keep warm, but it's strange how the Baaz wear almost no clothing at all and seem fine. If the chill bothers them, they make no show of it.

"Alright," Krup says, looking around. "No sign of anything here. Let's continue following the shoreline, see if anything comes up. But keep your eyes peeled. Don't want to walk into a trap or something."

[HorizonsDream]

Kendra continues along the shore. She knows that these elves were probably smart enough not to leave any tracks what with the dragon army right within the city.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Arulia, Gobax, Felran and Ne-Chanz (Deserted Building)
At Gregeddin's call to charge, nearly everyone does so. Ismene quickly pulls up the hood of her robes and vanishes from sight, becoming fully invisible. Pen is the first one down the stairs, but stops short when he sees most of the enemy slipping and splashing around in some grease. He actually laughs aloud at how comical it looks. But he stops when he realizes that the one warrior who isn't in the grease is holding his ground. What was he waiting for?

Gobax bandages up Haahqae the best he can, but there is only so much he can do with mundane healing techniques. When he is finished the gnome gets to his feet and readies his bow. Gregeddin, meanwhile, lingers behind as well, singing an inspirational song about how they will defeat the evil cultists and rescue the young elf trapped within.

Ne-Chanz is the next down, but just as he is about to reach the front line, a steel bear trap appears and snags his big hoof. The minotaur roars in pain as he is stopped short. Surely he would have noticed such an obvious trap, but for some reason he didn't. Felran and Xyleena come in next, and both of them get caught in traps that suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"What is happening?" Yvette demands when she descends the stairs.

"Watch yourself!" Pen warns. "Invisible traps!"

The woman scowls and fires her crossbow at the bowman, who easily sidesteps the bolt. Arulia comes down and squeezes past Felran to reach the action. She swings her mace at the warrior trapped in the grease, but he's slipping around so much she misses entirely.

Finally, Haahqae descends the stairs, but not all of the way. He sees that his grease is doing the trick, but apparently the cultists had some tricks of their own. This explains why they didn't charge when they heard him, but held their ground. They had planned on the party charging right into the invisible bear traps. Nocking an arrow, he aims at the bowman and fires. The cultist isn't fast enough this time, and the arrow slams into his left shoulder, knocking him back a few feet with the impact.

============

Initiative
Haahqae (1d10+7): 3+7 = 10 (Waiting +8) = 18
Arulia (1d10+7): 10+7 = 17
Gobax (1d10+3): 4+3 = 7
Felran (1d10+5): 8+5 = 13
Ne-Chanz (1d10+5): 3+5 = 8
Ismene (1d10): 1
Gregeddin (1d10+3): 8+3 = 11
Yvette (1d10+7): 7+7 = 14
Xyleena (1d10+4): 9+4 = 13
Pen (1d10+5): 1+5 = 6
Bowman (1d10+7): 5+7 = 12
Short Sword Fighter (1d10): 7
Hand Axe Fighter (1d10): 6
Staff Wielder (1d10): 1
Histachii (1d10): 1

Round 1!

Ismene pulls the hood of her robes over her head and vanishes into thin air.
Staff Wielder makes a save vs. spell to leave the grease [TN 12] (1d20): 4, fail.
Histachii makes a save vs. spell to leave the grease [TN 17] (1d20): 11, fail.
Pen moves 30 feet down the stairs and holds his position.
Hand Axe Fighter goes into full defense. His AC improves by 2.
Gobax moves 15 feet south and then performs a heal check on Haahqae [TN 14], consuming one bandage (1d20): 5, pass. He restores (1d3): 1 HP to Haahqae.
Short Sword Fighter makes a save vs. spell to leave the grease [TN 17] (1d20): 10, fail.
Ne-Chanz moves 40 feet down the stairs and is caught in a bear trap. He becomes stuck and loses all DEX AC bonuses and takes (1d6): 3 damage. Ne-Chanz is now lightly wounded (90% HP).
Haahqae waits for the others.
Gregeddin rallies allies with an inspiring song. Felran, Yvette, Xyleena, Gobax, Arulia, Ismene, Haahqae, and Pen all receive a +1 to hit for 4 rounds.
Bowman fires a sheaf arrow at Ne-Chanz who is trapped (+0 hit) [TN 14] (1d20): 12, miss.
Felran moves 40 feet down the stairs and is caught in a bear trap. He becomes stuck and loses all DEX AC bonuses and takes (1d6): 1 damage.
Xyleena moves 30 feet down the stairs and is caught in a bear trap. She becomes stuck and loses all DEX AC bonuses and takes (1d6): 2 damage. Xyleena is now lightly wounded (90% HP).
Yvette moves 25 feet down the stairs and fires a crossbow bolt at Bowman in leather armor (+1 hit) while inspired (+1 hit) [TN 11] (1d20+2): 8+2 = 10, miss.
Arulia moves 35 feet down the stairs and squeezes past Felran to reach Short Sword Fighter and swings her mace at him while he slips in the grease (+4 hit) in chain mail (+2 hit) while inspired (+1 hit) [TN 14] (1d20+7): 3+7 = 10, miss.
Haahqae moves 15 feet down the stairs and fires a sheaf arrow from short bow from higher ground (+1 hit) with excellent aim (+2 hit) at the bowman in leather armor (+2 hit) while inspired (+1 hit) [TN 11] (1d20+6): 10+6 = 16, hit for (1d8): 6 damage. Bowman is now critically wounded (25% HP).

Deserted Building 14.jpg (23.64 KiB) Viewed 5385 times

(OOC: Okay, Three Day Rule implemented. Haven't had to do that in this game since April.

Those of you in bear traps, you can free yourself with a successful STR check that takes a full round. Likewise, someone else can help you instead.

Actions for Round 2?)[/color]

Kendra Greylock (Haven's Vale)
The group follows along the river bed. It's actually a fairly pleasant walk. There's little talking since the river is so loud, and under other circumstances, this wouldn't be a bad hike.

After a good ten minutes, they don't see any signs of elves...or anyone else. But they stop cold when they hear the sound of a wolf's howl. The rushing of the river makes it difficult to determine where it came from, but it's clear that it is close by and on this side of the bank.

[TristenC]

Grubnick heads down, taking a position behind Haahque (where the archer cannot see/hit him) and attacks the staff-wielder with his lead sling bullets.

[Thac0 18. =+2 dex+1 inspiration+1 high ground]

[Haahque]

Haahqae is pleased by his success, but he wants that archer taken out and quickly. He knocks two more arrows.

Action: Shoot at the archer twice.