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[OOC] Then I remembered that there's no need to wait for Breila to post, because she's away. [/OOC]

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"We keep our scars. They are proof of our strength and devotion," the youth mutters, but says little else for the rest of the trip.

Dida has indeed brought the group to the winery villa they had visited earlier, the one that had been sacked and was later barricaded and defended by one of the surviving residents. As before, the gate to the courtyard stands closed.

As the group stops within site of the gate, Vani lets out an odd grunt - a noise all too familiar to Angel, Galanis and Egg. As they look at the young acolyte, a second arrow strikes him in the back, just above the first one, knocking him from the saddle.

Post deleted

[OOC] Just to clarify, the arrows that hit Vani came from behind him. He was facing the wall like the rest of the group. So the arrows couldn't have come from inside the compound. [/OOC]

"Get to cover!" Angel Screams, hiding covering the girl with her armoured form she takes a brief moment to look behind her and at the fallen boy. "Ari, grab him if you can."

Liri lets Casta bolt away, she follows the enclosure to the right and then goes on, in a fast gallop, until she reaches a wood or some terrain that provides cover. There she slowly doubles back to see if she can make out the attackers.

Galanis hops off his horse, let it trot away and immediately shoots an arrow in the general direction where the arrows came from hoping to make them hesitate for a second before shooting more arrows at them. He leans down, quickly grabs the lad and drags him to cover behind some rock, tree or the wall. He then shoots another arrow and then waits searching around for the danger.

The bowman has picked his ambush point well. The area immediately outside the villa's wall is treeless, having been cleared decades ago so as to deny attackers approaching the place any cover from defending archers. The nearest concealment is a vineyard about fifty yards distant, in the direction from which the arrows came.

Angel looks for cover, and finds none.

Liri manages to get past the corner of the villa's wall. From there, she is safe from any incoming arrows, but to get around behind the attacking archer she would have to go clear around the villa and up into the vineyard on one side, then work her way around. It might take longer than the others have.

Galanis looses a shaft into the vineyard, but fails to hit anyone.

Liri decides to drive Casta to the vinyard and turns her lenghtwise, away from the archer, then jumps off the horse and dives for cover between the wine plants. She walks, crouched, along the row of plants on the outside (so the archer has o view of how close she is, and can't fire on her because of all the plants in the way). She watches if the enemy archer fires any more arrows or holds fire, maybe to change his position.

[Damn, wanted to charge but the kid might still be alive...]

Seeing the boy down, Ari raises his shield and provides some minimal covered for the injured while he quickly checks his vitals to see if he is still alive. [crouching beside the boy and in-line with the shooter, using his shield as mobile cover]

Having not seen the arrows in flight, Liri has very little idea where the shooter is, other than his general area. She carefully works her way into the vineyard, striving to move quietly, her motion severely constrained when she tries to move perpendicular to the rows. She eventually catches a glimpse of a dark form about five yards from the edge of the vineyard, five or six rows away from her position. The rows of grape vines will prevent her from making any sort of missile attack from her current position.

Ari reaches Vani and kneels behind his shield, next to the young priest. Vani is breathing, but his breaths are shallow and labored, and he is bleeding from the mouth and face.

The shooter has stopped. At this point he has a clear shot at Galanis, Angel, or Egg, but he hasn't tried shooting at them.

[If chances are good the boy can survive without magic, Ari will tend him with bandages. Otherwise, he'll use a single cure light wounds spell.]

Hol' on, lad. We'll set ye ta rights, soon enough.

[Insert appropriate healing here. Removing arrows before or after, whichever seems more appropriate to the Dwarf. Maybe removing them part-way first, then healing then removing them the last half inch or so. The kid seemed to like scars, lol.]

Angel holds the Girl tightly and turns back to face the bowman making no attempt to attack.

"He's down, whoever you are, and whatever you planned you have stopped him. Personally I don't like the little **** either, I'd see him die on this field if I could." She calls out. "We have innocents here, people who have done no harm. Allow us to take her to safety and then if you wish to fight, then fight we will. Or, come out and we can discuss this like civilised people." She motions to Galanis and Egg to move leaving her in the line of fire. "Would you kill an innocent Girl? A Child.. ? You attacked him for who his master is, correct?"

Liri uses Angel's words as "cover" for the sounds she makes as she approaches the shooter's position some more. She will walk outside the vineyard to be quicker, then crouch behind a plant where she can see him. Is she within darts range yet?

Galanis is not used to so many words between combatants, but Angel is so pretty and he likes hearing her voice so he doesn't get annoyed. He leaves Vani with Ari and moves crouched towards the vineyard. Arrow nocked ready to fire at anything suspicious.

The shooter stands up, breaking cover, and rushes forward, bow in one hand and a hand axe in the other.
He doesn't get two steps before his distinctive haircut gives him away. It's Maughus.

"You are alright, Angel. You are rescued. This one will not cause any more trouble." The ranger continues his trot toward the fallen acolyte, stopping about two feet away from Ari. "Stand aside, friend. I started this. No need for his blood to be on your hands. Hey, Egg. Galanis, why did you shoot at me?"