CH. 16: Homecoming

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Enott Harbor/Sardonx 15th, 5 PM)
Raven backs off a bit at Baeros' gesture and rubs lightly at his thumb. "Only to the ones who owe me money," he replies. "I had several groups making bids on her...a brothel here in town, a very prestigious wizard who was looking for a companion, and some fertility cult of druids. I was probably going to get as much as five hundred gold for her. And then she ran off to whore herself for free to a bunch of pirates." He shakes his head at her with disappointment. "And after everything I did for you. I gave you a roof over your head, food and clothes, and that was how you repaid me? And then you have the audacity to come here and demand my help?"

Ouragana looks around the room for anything that might require mending. There are a few objects that she sees. One of the combat dummies' heads has been cut off and is laying off in the corner; the curtains over the main window are filled with moth holes; and one of the rugs on the floor appears to have been severely burned at some point. Furthermore, all of the children's clothes are in bad shape one way or another, with holes or torn seams in them.

Raven continues, "And what's this about you being a priestess? Some kind of scam you're running? You can't be serious...as I recall you don't care about other people. In fact, you can't stand other people..."

Val and Naras (Ixitachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Naras charges forward, spear in hand while the others swim above her. However, the dwarf steps on something along the way that triggers some kind of trap. Ironic, the swimmers never would have triggered it; only someone on foot would have. A net that had been rigged on the ceiling drops down toward them.

Serenna manages to swim aside at the last second. Naras is also above to get away in time, perhaps because she is closer to the ground and thus has more time to react. But everyone else gets caught up in the net. At the same time, a second ixitachitl emerges from behind them and a third one comes out of hiding from within the nook.

"Damn, they ambushed us!" Serenna cries, readying her trident to defend her entrapped brothers.

===========

Val makes a DEX check [TN 10] (1d20): 17, fail.
Naras makes a DEX check [TN 10] (1d20): 5, pass.
Serenna makes a DEX check [TN 14] (1d20): 12, pass.
Shin makes a DEX check [TN 8] (1d20): 15, fail.
Cye makes a DEX check [TN 10] (1d20): 16, fail.

(OOC: As Nuke hasn't posted in 4 days, I went ahead and NPC'ed Val again this round.)

[Chris1234]

Naras closes to try and stab ixitachitl #1

{OOC: Thanks. He's back! /i]

[Nuke]

Val pulls out her dagger and tries to cut herself out of the net.

[spyguy1503]

Gallath shakes his head. "I don't know. She seemed normal, we ate lunch together, then I went to hunt for the Feast of Spinning Leaves that night. When I returned, all was chaos. A demon had overrun our defenses. It almost killed me, but Thrax saved me by slashing its eye out. I ran to my families hut first. All dead. Then I ran to hers. There was a glowing pattern on the floor. It felt evil. She came in and tried to stab me. I parried and ran."

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn purses her lips together as if she was trying to curb her anger before answering Raven. "It was a scam at first. It was a way to hide from the pirates," she admits. "During all of that hiding, I ended up taking my vows, and trying to follow the way of Octhanus. It isn't exactly an easy path after having following the way of Renos, but I'm slowly making progress."

[Breila]

Ouragana now turns her attention to the conversation between Jocelyn and Raven.

[BishGada]

Baeros, his instinct telling him Raven doesn't present immediate threat, puts his hands down showing no signs of aggression but he stays close to Jocelyn. The conversation might be a distraction while the teenagers prepare to attack them. Especially the evil ogres. He looks around, up and down looking for any signs of movement or hidden positions that might present threat to them as to hide a charge at them or shooting missile weapons at them..

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Enott Harbor/Sardonx 15th, 6 PM)
"Why bother?" asks Raven. "What do you get out of it? What's the point of going through such a charade? Face it, Jocelyn...people don't change. You're smart enough to know that. Maybe you can fool the mooks at the church, or your little entourage here, but you can't fool me...and you can't fool yourself. Deep down, you know the truth of what you are, of who you are. And that this 'priest of Octhanus' thing is just a lie."

Baeros looks around, keeping an eye on the teens in the room. For the most part, all of them have stopped their various training exercises and are watching and listening with curiosity. Every now and again, one might whisper something to another. There are two ogres among them; well, they look more like half-ogres. Despite being only a few years younger than the party members, they are bigger and brawnier and could be a bigger threat if a fight breaks out. Aside from them, there are two dozen teens of various other races. Worse case scenario, they don't need to set up an ambush; the party could be easily overwhelmed with numbers in an instant. Twenty-seven against seven were not great odds.

Naishe nods in understanding to Gallath. "Guess you're looking for answers then, as well as vengeance," she tells him.

Val and Naras (Ixitachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Naras and Serenna both engage with an ixitachitl, but this leaves one left to go after those in the net. Naras easily evades an attack and then stabs upward at her opponent. But the creature easily swims higher to avoid her and she misses.

Val grabs her dagger and manages to cut her way out of the net. A moment later, Cye screams out in pain as an ixitachitl takes a large bite out of his tail, forming a large cloud of blood in the water.

Serenna yells something to Val, but the half-orc doesn't understand. But it should be fairly simple enough to understand what she probably wants Val to do.

Initiative
Val (1d10): 5
Naras (1d10+5): 10+5 = 15
Serenna (1d10+7): 4+7 = 11
Shin (1d10): 5
Cye (1d10): 1
Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 (1d10): 1
Ixitachitl Ambusher 02 (1d10): 6
Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 (1d10): 4

Round 1!

Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 bites at Naras in magical vestments (-5 hit) [TN 11] (1d20-5): 4-5 = -1, miss.
Cye makes a save vs. breath weapon (-2) to try and shake off the net [TN 15] (1d20-2): 10-2 = 8, fail.
Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 bites at Serenna [TN 14] (1d20): 9, miss.
Shin makes a save vs. breath weapon (-2) to try and shake off the net [TN 15] (1d20-2) : 6-2 = 4, fail.
Val uses her dagger to cut a whole in the net and escapes.
Ixitachitl Ambusher 02 attacks Cye who is trapped in a net (+2 hit) [TN 12] (1d20+2): 17+2 = 19, hit for (3d4): 4,4,4 = 12 damage. Cye is now near death.
Serenna stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 with her trident [TN 10] (1d20): 7, miss.
Naras stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 with her magical (+1 hit/dmg) spear [TN 12] (1d20+1): 6+1 = 7, miss.

(OOC: Actions for Round 2?)

[Chris1234]

Naras tries to stab ixitachitl #1

[HorizonsDream]

"What is the point of you trying to convince me of that?" Jocelyn asks. "And how do you know what I did, and didn't do on that ship?" she asks suddenly. "You most likely know that they are out to kill me at this point too, so I guess the question becomes what do I have to do to get you to help me?"

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Enott Harbor/Sardonx 15th, 6 PM)
Raven smirks. "Well, first you can start by paying me the gold you owe me. Or something or someone of equivalent value. That won't be enough for me to help you, that will just square us. Perhaps your gang of thugs could be useful in that regard. I could use some good sword arms, if they are up to the task, that is."

[HorizonsDream]

"Just how much gold do I owe you?" Jocelyn asks. "And what is the job that you need done?"

[Nuke]

Val moves to use her Trident of the hunter on the ambusher on Cye. After her netting attempt, she moves to attack, stabbing viciously.

[JadedDM]

Jocelyn, Ouragana, Baeros, Gallath and Drav (Enott Harbor/Sardonx 15th, 6 PM)
"As I said earlier, I would have gotten at least 500 gold from selling you," Raven replies. "So at least that much, or someone or something of equivalent value." He looks her over. "You can be creative with your payment, if you want, sweetheart."

He adds, "As for the job, it's right up the alley of a legitimate cleric of Octhanus, I'm sure. A rescue mission. One of my girls was stolen by some slavers. I don't much care how, but if you can retrieve her for me, I'll set up a meeting with whoever you like from the Poison Curse. The captain, I'm guessing?"

Val and Naras (Ixitachitl Lair/Sardonx 12th, 1 PM)
Cye and Shin continue to struggle with the net and try to ward off the ixitachitl attacking them. Val figures out what Serenna is trying to tell her and swims to their rescue, quickly grabbing the creature's attention and pulling it away from the hapless undine.

Naras meanwhile is having trouble hitting her slippery opponent. The ixitachitl, however, manages to take a bite out of her left arm, piercing the magical protection of her vestments.

Serenna has better luck, managing to stab her opponent and draw another large cloud of blood.

Initiative
Val (1d10+5): 5+5 = 10
Naras (1d10+5): 6+5 = 11
Serenna (1d10+7): 10+7 = 17*
Shin (1d10): 9
Cye (1d10): 7
Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 (1d10): 8
Ixitachitl Ambusher 02 (1d10): 9
Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 (1d10): 8

Round 2!

Cye makes a save vs. breath weapon (-2) to try and shake off the net [TN 15] (1d20-2): 9-2 = 7, fail.
Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 bites at Naras in magical vestments (-5 hit) [TN 11] (1d20-5): 16-5 = 11, hit for (3d4): 3,3,1 = 7 damage. Naras is now lightly wounded.
Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 bites at Serenna [TN 14] (1d20): 11, miss.
Shin makes a save vs. breath weapon (-2) to try and shake off the net [TN 15] (1d20-2): 13-2 = 11, fail.
Ixitachitl Ambusher 02 attacks Cye who is trapped in a net (+2 hit) [TN 12] (1d20+2): 2+3 = 5, miss.
Val stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 02 with her trident of the hunter (+2 hit/dmg) with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) [TN 10] (1d20+3): 5+3 = 7, miss.
Naras stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 01 with her magical (+1 hit/dmg) spear [TN 12] (1d20+1): 5+1 = 6, miss.
Serenna stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 with her trident with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) [TN 10] (1d20+1): 14+1 = 15, hit for (1d6+3): 5+3 = 8 damage. Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 is now near death.
Serenna stabs at Ixitachitl Ambusher 03 with her trident with great skill (+1 hit/+2 dmg) [TN 10] (1d20+1): 4+1 = 5, miss.

(OOC: Actions for Round 3?)

[HorizonsDream]

Jocelyn feels another shiver travel down her spine. "I'm really getting tired of being called sweetheart," she says. "But the job seems legit enough," she adds. "And I'm actually looking to get in contact with Sable."