As the pain from the axe wound hits him, and the smell of blood fills the night air, Kylest reverts to a more primal time. The walls of the alley close in around him, becoming the sides of the fighting pit. He growls, deep in his throat and brings his sword to bear on the man, swining a heavy two-handed blow in an attempt to repay his wounds in kind.
ooc
Rage.
Shift to two-handed grip.
Attack Durm.
Longsword +7, 1d8+9
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
Krethan steps back from the melee between Kylest and Durm. Then, as if sensing something, she turns her gaze towards Arden. She briefly concentrates and a fiery bolt materializes before her and flies towards Arden. She tries to get out of the way, but acts just a fraction of a second too slowly as the bolt of fire strikes her on the shoulder, leaving a warm, burning sensation (3 damage). The injury is minor, but painful.
The tough skirmishes with Kleb, looking for an opening but lunging vainly as his strike is deflected. Kleb, however, brings his axe to meet his opponent square in the chest, felling him to the ground.
Kylest's fury is daunting to his opponent. Durm holds up his axe to block the mighty swing, but the sheer might and tenacity of the dwarf is too much. He bows under the superior force as Kylest's blade is brought to bear upon his body, cleaving him in twain (critical hit!). The lifeless form of Durm slumps to the ground.
GlassEye
Since your action came up after Krethan's in the round, you are now readied to attack her if she uses a psionic power this round.
"No! This can't be. This is not as I dreamt it would occur. No matter. The cold tendrils of death await you all. You cannot escape your fate!" With these prophetic words, Krethan turns tail and flees further into the alleys of Narovan.
OOC
You may give chase if you wish, but Kleb will quickly get left behind as his speed is only 20. Indicate in your next post whether you give chase or not, since this is a split-second decision you will have to make. If you take any time for discussion, she will have escaped. There is also the matter of the elf in the the cloak who is hiding in the alley a ways down from you. You each detect the faint scent of brimstone wafting from his direction.
Visions of his prophetic vision flash in Kylest's mind, as he looks out from over Durm's fallen body to the fleeing Krethan. The anger pounding in his veins blanks out the pain of his own blood flowing from his chest as he sets off after the woman, intent on seeing his dream through to its end.
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
Kleb looks to see if there is anything that he can pick up and throw at the fleeing woman. "Follow the dwarf," he tells the young woman next to him. "If you run into more trouble yell for me. I'm Kleb."
After that, he'll start searching the bodies for valuables, information, and loose change. It's a tough world, and even a paladin is not above looting the dead if it can aid himself and his allies.
Keeping a wary eye on the brimstone-smelling elf approaching he asks, "And what about you? I doubt you are in league with these assassins, though you reek of the pits of hell."
__________________ My Involvement:
Spoiler:
Player of Doral Kinsman the Beguiler in Who Wants to Be a Wayfinder IC
She nods at the man who has identified himself as Kleb and takes off after Krethan.
OOC
Arden will try to catch up to Krethan. If it becomes possible she will try to charge and grapple (again, if it's possible to grapple after a charge) in order to slow Krethan down enough that Kylest can catch up.
You do indeed arrive upon the scene of a battle, but it appears to be over. A woman in red hair at the far end of the alley dashes away while a man, a dwarf, and a woman stand in the alleyway overlooking three fallen opponents.
Darting through the city streets, Kylest and Arden are barely able to keep Krethan in their sights. She clearly knows the back alleys well. While Arden manages to maneuver quickly enough to avoid the many obstacles in the path, Kylest stumbles amid garbage and slips on occasion at the many turns along the way. He soon falls behind and it is not long before Arden can no longer hear his paces behind her. After what seems like perhaps several minutes, Arden realizes she is beginning to gain ground, and suddenly finds Krethan with her back against the wall of an impassable alleyway.
"Damn!" she screams, slamming her fist against the wall. She then turns to face Arden, dropping her glowing rod and reaching inside her vest to retrieve an elongated amber crystal. "You, disturber of the balance. I have seen it. Your actions will doom us all. I cannot let you live."
Initiative
Krethan 7
Arden 5
The crystal in Krethan's hand begins to glow and Arden feels an uncomfortable warmth come over her (1 damage).
OOC
No need for a map really. Arden has Krethan cornered in a 30 foot long alleyway that is 5 feet wide. Arden is at the open end of the alleyway and Krethan is at the other. Kylest, if he could find where they have gone, would take about 7 rounds to arrive, though he doesn't know that. Effectively, he has probably fallen too far behind to be involved.
GlassEye, you can still try to grapple, but you may want to amend your action now that you know Kylest has fallen behind.
Meanwhile, back in the alleyway by the Crookside Inn, Kleb begins rifling through the possessions of the fallen. Durm has a greataxe and wears a set of scale mail. In addition, he has a purse with 10 gp and a vial labeled "curative." The toughs each carried a short sword, wore leather armor, and wielded bucklers. They had 40 sp between them. There is nothing remarkable about the quality of any of the equipment and nothing else of note to be found on their bodies.
Arden scowls at the raving woman and reaches inside her sleeve again to touch a tattoo, this time the Tattoo of Existence Unbound. She slowly walks towards Krethan flexing her fingers then clenching them into a fist.
"Is it just me? Or do you wish to kill the dwarf and the human warrior, too? What is it you think we'll do?"
Actions
standard: tap the dissipating touch tattoo
move: move towards Krethan
Her next action will be to hit Krethan with a touch attack: dissipating touch +0 1d6
Krethan tries to avoid Arden's grasp, but she is too distracted from concentrating on the crystal and Arden's hand connects with Krethan's arm, which begins to dissolve at the touch. Krethan lets out a shriek of pain as bits of matter seem to discorporate into the air starting in her arm and spreading throughout her body. When the effect is over, she is left worn and wearied, as if she has been beaten within an inch of her life, but she is still standing.
"This fight shall continue," she growls as blood begins to trickle down the side of her mouth. "I have foreseen your destiny; the path you shall follow. Though you follow order you are a harbinger of chaos. You and those you fought with shall come to learn in time, but you cannot escape your destiny. Be assured, I have no intent of letting you live to fulfill it."
With a preternatural flash of silver light in eyes, she turns and dashes up the wall. She moves so quickly, not as if climbing, but as if running, her feet on the walls and her hands not even touching. By the time you realize what has happened, you can hear her footsteps pattering away at a rapid pace on the other side.
The rage still fuels Kylest for a moment, but once it becomes clear that he can't catch her immediately, the chase begins. The further behind he slips, the more he feels the burning agony in his chest. When Arden and Krethan finally slip from his sight, the anger leaves him completely, and he stops dead in his tracks. He collapses against a building wall as he tries to recover his composure, breathing deeply, every breath causing a pain as it stretches his wound.
Eventually, he is able to recover enough to recognize his surroundings. He's no longer in an arena beneath Stonheim. He's in the human city. He cleans and sheathes his blade, but there is nothing he can do about the blood that covers him, both his own and Durm's. He tries to find his bearings, and wearily begins trudging back to the alleyway. . . or at least his best guess at where the alleyway is.
__________________
SOUL: Secret Organization for Underground Levity
You can't stop the laughter!
THE HIVE: One Mind, No Purpose. Public Member of the Secret Fraternal Order of the Hive.
Arden stares up after Krethan a moment making sure that the woman's words are firmly within mind so that she can relay them to the other two.
[She's gone but we're still in danger. Find a place to hole up!]
"I know, I know. Watch my back."
Arden spends a minute looking around just to make sure Krethan didn't drop anything then she turns and begins picking her way back towards the alley where she left Kleb. She hopes she meets the dwarf on the way back.
Kleb stares hard at the newcomer and says, "Some assassins attacked us, but we were able to take care of them. I'm waiting for my two new friends who were in pursuit of one of our enemies that escaped."
The paladin looks to see if any of the corpses has a backpack or sack that he can gather the items in. If not he pockets the coin and vial, then piles the armor and weapons while waiting for his new comrades to return.
__________________ My Involvement:
Spoiler:
Player of Doral Kinsman the Beguiler in Who Wants to Be a Wayfinder IC
Kleb stares hard at the newcomer and says, "Some assassins attacked us, but we were able to take care of them. I'm waiting for my two new friends who were in pursuit of one of our enemies that escaped."
The paladin looks to see if any of the corpses has a backpack or sack that he can gather the items in. If not he pockets the coin and vial, then piles the armor and weapons while waiting for his new comrades to return.
Let us see he says sounding a sigh I have not prepared for such an ocassion please forgive me but as long as my light holds out we can look for them
__________________ Human Wizard:"The world is but a manifestation of the dreamings
After satisfying herself that Krethan left nothing behind, Arden returns to the group to find the dwarf catching his breath and looking winded. Kleb has divested the thugs of their valuables, weapons, and armor, and an elf has joined the group. The chill of the night air becomes suddenly apparent as you stand there in the alleyway and you realize that day has many hours yet to come.
Kleb looks relieved as his new comrades return. "How long has that corpse you found been dead? I found some coin on the assassins we killed, and if you can help me with their weapons and armor we might be able to sell the rest of their possessions in the morning then split up the coin. Let's grab what we can and head back to the inn where we may find safety."
__________________ My Involvement:
Spoiler:
Player of Doral Kinsman the Beguiler in Who Wants to Be a Wayfinder IC
"She ran up a wall like it was flat ground. There was no way I could catch her after that. I did have her cornered for a moment and she raved about how the three of us would destroy a 'balance'. There's a bit more to it than that, I think, but it can wait until we get back inside."
She steps around the corner quickly to retrieve the box and after checking to see that the beast is still ok she stuffs the box into her pack where she hopes it will be better protected from the cold. She nudges the stuff Kleb has collected into a pile with the toe of her boot looking it over briefly.
"I'm Arden. We can try the inn but I doubt the old man will open the door to us. Which leaves the stable or a trek to the Dawn House."
Linear Mode
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