CH. 5: Vying Factions

[Haahque]

Haahqae, expecting action soon, makes his way over to the side of the cave entrance to remove his armour. "Well, now we should be prepared for anything, who knows what will be lurking in that cave."

[BishGada]

"Then we come up with a new plan, based on the situation," Jaymes tells Tulbas. "It is all we can do."

"We could plan from ahead some alternatives..." Tulbas mutters angrily.

Later he goes near Miriam and say to her quietly, "Look, Jaymes might be motivated by revenge only, but that doesn't change the outcome. You should think why we are all here, and I assure you it is stopping the slaughter of the refugees. Don't let your thoughts get cloudy and lose spirit. We need you and everyone here focused and tuned to the combat."

When seeing the cave mouth Tulbas crouches near Jaymes and whispers, "Are we all going inside or send a scout? This is an example where the lower people are besting the higher ones. Have you ever been in a giant's cave? Do you think it goes deep in the mountain or not?"

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(OOC: Before going in, we should consider if any of the group have superior abilities of scouting, including sight and hearing that can be enhanced by magic.

It is funny that one of Jaymes languages is Giant. It is also weird he so dislikes spells, as rangers gets some divine spells at high level.

An evil thought I had, if some of the recruits dies we have more loot!!
)

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin would have loved nothing more that to let loose with some rib ripping laughter as the comedic exchange started by Mateo, but the proximity of the Giant's lair and also a nagging sense of duty not to laugh at a recruit and be a stable leader, blah, blah. He settled with having a stupid grin on his face for most of the conversation.

Now that the lair and the task was upon the group, the bard regained his composure and prepared to get down to business. "I too think those who can sneak silently should investigate while the remainder of us waits at the mouth. Any other suggestions from the group?"

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Tulbas (Mountain Trail to Esker)

"Look, Jaymes might be motivated by revenge only, but that doesn't change the outcome. You should think why we are all here, and I assure you it is stopping the slaughter of the refugees."

"What motivates a man is just as important as his actions, nay, more so," Miriam argues. "A man who puts his own selfish cause ahead of others can never be trusted to do what's best for others."

"The world isn't so black and white," argues Burzan. "Nobody does anything without getting something out of it. Money, fame, prestige...something."

"If everyone acted with empathy and honor, the world would not be such a dreadful place," Miriam retorts.

Burzan snorts. "And if wishes were horses, we'd all be eating steak."

"Have you ever been in a giant's cave? Do you think it goes deep in the mountain or not?"

"I have," Jaymes says. "But no two lairs are ever identical. How deep it goes, I cannot guess. Giants do require a great deal of space, though."

"I too think those who can sneak silently should investigate while the remainder of us waits at the mouth. Any other suggestions from the group?"

"How about one of our fearless leaders volunteer?" asks Ranea, looking between Tulbas, Gregeddin and Haahqae. "'Less you're too afraid, that is."

Kendra and Darga (Haven Sewers)
The battle rages on, but every attack is a miss. Time is against them, as Kendra and Darga both slowly bleed out. Will our heroes be able to defeat the horax before then?

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Initiative
Kendra (N/A)
Darga (N/A)
Pen (1d10+5): 10
Crystal (1d10+7): 17
Horax 02 (1d10+2): 7

Round 6!

Horax 02 strikes at Pen with its mandibles (1d20): 11, miss.
Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 12, miss.
Crystal fires a bolt from her light crossbow at Horax 02 from short range with excellent accuracy (+2) and brutality (+1) (1d20+3): 12, miss.
Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 13, miss.

(OOC: Ugh, these rolls...)

[Haahque]

"How about one of our fearless leaders volunteer?" asks Ranea, looking between Tulbas, Gregeddin and Haahqae. "'Less you're too afraid, that is."[/color]

“Ah that would be me then.” Haahqae responds, placing his newly shed suit of armour up against the cave wall. “It shouldn’t take long, just remember that if I shout it probably means I’ve found and killed the giant. But if I scream then perhaps the giant has found and killed me. I’ll try and keep the yelling to a minimum, especially if there’s no killing going on.”

And with those wizened words of sage advice, Haahqae plunges into the depths of the cavern before him.

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Tulbas (Outside the massive cave)
After removing his armor, Haahqae steps into the cave entrance without further ado. He passes by a rather large stalagmite right in the middle of the opening.

Immediately after, he finds himself facing down a pair of wolves. Big wolves. Dire wolves. They are at least 10 feet long from head to tail. They are about 50 feet ahead of the gnome.

The wolves had been busy gnawing on some rather large bones. Both seem completely surprised by Haahqae's intrusion--so much so they just stare blankly at him.

Meanwhile, the others wait outside the cave for their scout's report.

"Why would he remove his armor?" Jaymes wonders aloud. "If this is the giant's lair, I would think he would need it."

"Perhaps he is, secretly, also a mage," Magnus says lightly. "That would mean there are four mages in our group. Does that sit well with you, ranger?"

Jaymes scowls. "You mock me. Three mages is too many as it is."

Magnus chuckles derisively. "You may change your mind once you see our magic in action. I suspect the giant will be slain by magic, not steel or arrow, in the end."

"I have never known a situation, no matter how bad, to not be made worse by magic," Jaymes retorts.

Magnus simply chuckles again to himself, mockingly.

==========

Surprise roll (1d10): 1, surprised

Key:
h - Haahqae
DWs - Dire Wolves
G - Gregeddin
J - Jaymes
Mi - Miriam
I - Ismene
B - Burzan
T - Tulbas
M - Magnus
R - Raena
Z - Zoya
Mt - Mateo
Each square is 10' x 10'

Cave Mouth 00.JPG (191.44 KiB) Viewed 7131 times

(OOC: It seems Haahqae has one round to act before the dire wolves recover from their surprise. Make it count!)[/color]

Kendra and Darga (Haven Sewers)
The battle drags on, with no clear victor yet in sight.

"Just run!" Crystal yells. "They aren't worth it!"

"Never!" Pen refuses.

Initiative
Kendra (N/A)
Darga (N/A)
Pen (1d10+5): 6
Crystal (1d10+7): 17
Horax 02 (1d10+2): 11

Round 7!

Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 11, miss.
Horax 02 strikes at Pen with its mandibles (1d20): 2, miss.
Crystal fires a bolt from her light crossbow at Horax 02 from short range with excellent accuracy (+2) and brutality (+1) (1d20+3): 12, miss.

(OOC: Why can I not roll higher than 9-11 all of a sudden? Darga is at -9 HP. If they can't save him next round, he's gone. Kendra will die one round after that. :\)

[Haahque]

Haahqae is also rather surprised by this new development, stopping right in his tracks when he sees two pairs of eyes looking at him. Fortunately, he recovers quite quickly, and fully enough to offer an "Oops, sorry, wrong address." Before hightailing it back out of the cavern to hide behind two boulders that he had seen near the cave entrance before he went in.

In passing, Haahqae notices the association of friends and hirelings standing outside the cave and mentions to them: "Scouting mission successful. The first cavern is massively huge and has naught in it except for dry bones and two dire wolves. The former will likely stay in the cave, while the latter probably will be coming out to greet us soon."

(Hide roll [60%]: 40)

[JadedDM]

Haahqae, Gregeddin and Tulbas (Outside the massive cave)
"Wait, what?" asks Miriam, drawing her sword. The snarls of the dire wolves can be heard as they rapidly approach the cave entrance.

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Haahqae moves 60 feet to behind the rocks, then hides in shadows [60] (1d100): 40, pass.

(OOC: I need actions for Gregeddin and Tulbas before the wolves arrive before proceeding.)

Kendra and Darga (Haven Sewers)
The two continue to battle the horax, to no avail. While they fight, Darga slowly slips away from the mortal plane, his soul leaving his body and heading for the next realm. However, he may not be taking the journey alone...

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Initiative
Kendra (N/A)
Darga (N/A)
Pen (1d10+5): 8
Crystal (1d10+7): 14
Horax 02 (1d10+2): 8

Round 8!

Horax 02 strikes at Pen with its mandibles (1d20): 11, miss.
Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 10, miss.
Crystal fires a bolt from her light crossbow at Horax 02 from short range with excellent accuracy (+2) and brutality (+1) (1d20+3): 6, miss.
Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 13, miss.
Darga reaches -10 HP and dies.

(OOC: Sorry, djhyland, but the dice are not being cooperative. )

[JadedDM]

Kendra and Darga (Haven Sewers)
In the final hour, the luck of our heroes finally changes for the better. Pen continues to engage with the horax while Crystal loads another bolt into her crossbow. She takes aim and fires, and the bolt flies true--striking the horax in the eye. It rears back, shrieking--this gives Pen the opening he needs, and the kender takes it. Throwing all of his strength into a swing, he decapitates the horax, splattering ichor everyone.

With the final horax slain, both Pen and Crystal leap into action, not even stopping to catch their breaths. Crystal sprints across the bridge, which nearly gives way as a result, and checks on Kendra. Pen goes right to Darga.

"She's alive...but only just," Crystal announces, removing her cloak. She starts cutting it into straps with her dagger and bandages up the former Holy Guard.

Pen likewise looks over Darga, but finds he's too late. "He...he's dead," the kender states, his voice hollow.

"I told her this was a bad idea! Let's get her back up to the surface, to a healer...before any more of those things show up," Crystal says.

"It's my fault," Pen says. "I wasn't strong enough...skilled enough..."

Crystal gathers up Kendra's things. "Hey, we saved one, right? That's a victory in my book. Let's go."

"A real hero would have saved them both in time," Pen retorts. He grabs Darga's things and hefts the body over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?" Crystal asks. "He's dead. Leave him. He'll just slow us down."

"No. He deserves a proper burial," Pen objects.

"Ugh, whatever, we're wasting time arguing. Let's just go!" She grabs Kendra's shoulders and starts dragging her back the way they came. "Damn, girl needs to lose some weight!"

Initiative
Kendra (N/A)
Darga (N/A)
Pen (1d10+5): 6
Crystal (1d10+7): 17
Horax 02 (1d10+2): 7

Round 9!

Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 9, miss.
Horax 02 strikes at Pen with its mandibles (1d20): 2, miss.
Crystal fires a bolt from her light crossbow at Horax 02 from short range with excellent accuracy (+2) and brutality (+1) (1d20+3): 16, bare hit for (1d6): 5 damage.
Pen attacks Horax 02 with his long sword with great skill (+1) (1d20+1): 15, hit for (1d8+2): 7 damage. Horax 02 dies.
Kendra is stabilized at -9 HP.

(OOC: Looks like Raetmal will get some coma company after all.)

[mgbevan]

At the sight of Haahqae running out of the cave mouth, Gregeddin draws his broadsword. He says, "Wolves? Swords, a line on me" Gesturing horizontally between the boulders and mountain. "Mages behind and sneakers do your thing."

[BishGada]

Tulbas, all edgy, jumps at the sound of the growls. He quickly recovers, takes cover behind the soldiers and starts casting 'Grease'. He considers the wolfs will try to jump at the warriors and takes into account their leap length to decide the best location for the spell.

'Solid ground turns slippery,
Stable legs fumble,
Every step becomes treachery,
Will you care to gamble?'

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(OOC: Tulbas casts grease about two Dire Wolf lengths from the warriors line)

[JadedDM]

While Haahqae remains hidden behind the boulders, Gregeddin calls for the company to form ranks and draws his sword. He is joined by Raena, Burzan and Miriam. Mateo, Zoya and Jaymes form a second rank where the ranger can shoot over the dwarf's head and the two bodyguards can move in to replace anyone who falls. The third rank consists of the three mages. Tulbas conjures a puddle of grease before them, in hopes the wolves will get caught in it. Magnus casts his own spell, and his skin takes on a stone-like, grey hue.

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Surprise Round!

Gregeddin draws his sword and issues a command.
Tulbas moves to the third line and casts Grease 20 feet in front of the front line for 5 rounds.
Mateo moves to the second line and draws his sword.
Zoya moves to the second line and draws her sword.
Raena moves to the first line and draws her axes.
Burzan moves to the first line and draws his maul.
Ismene moves to the third line.
Miriam moves to the first line and draws her sword and shield.
Magnus casts Stoneskin on himself and moves to the third line.
Jaymes moves to the second line and draws his bow.

(OOC: Please state actions for Round 1.)

[Haahque]

Haahqae will wait for the wolves to charge into the front line of the party, then try to sneak around behind them and send a sling bullet into the back of one of their heads. (This would count as a backstab if the move silently roll works, correct?)

Move Silently [70%]: Invisible Castle seems to be down atm.
Attack [1d20+2][+4]: ^^
Damage [1d6+1][x2]: They're large monsters right?

[mgbevan]

Gregeddin was impressed with the efficiency at which the group assembled. He waits sword at tye ready to greet whatever foes appear before them.

[BishGada]

After casting the spell Tulbas prepares his sling and shoots the closest wolf.

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(Ooc: invisible castle is down you can roll for me)