Rashelle nods - It would be wise to save her own, more powerful, healing magics for someone in serious need of them.
She heads with the group to their meeting place.
“Oh, good,” Torrent says, “I was afraid you'd want to get out now. Stout companions, all of you! Now, if something happens to me, the depository is an eighty foot tall building. It's smack in the middle of the next district to the east. It's in a walled compound and is always guarded – you can't miss it. Rivereye will be in it. He looks like what you'd expect an ugly gnome to look like. He's pretty hard to miss, too. Now, c'mon, let's get moving.”
Threat of war kept the populace of Gate Pass inside, but the war itself is bringing them out. People mill about everywhere, trying to find somewhere safe and quiet. There's a general flow of civilians to the east away from the attack, but it's balanced out by the Gate Pass soldiers who are heading west, towards it. Between the mob in the streets and the burning buildings, the remaining snow in the city has turned to slush and water. In some places the water has re-frozen, making the street dangerously slippery. The flames roar and the mob shouts. You smell burning softwoods and smoke and frightened people.
Before you reach the gate into the next section of town, you hear a piercing scream. “HELP ME!” A young mother leans out of the fourth-story window of a nearby burning building. “SAVE MY BABY!!!!” She's holding a tiny baby bundled in blankets. Her building and all those around it are four stories tall. Most of them are burning, though one next-door building is not burning. There's a sky bridge from that building to the one the woman is in.
"Damnations," says the wizard, his keen mind quickly taking the situation into account. Heroics weren't exactly Hollister's style, but he did have the means at hand to save the woman's baby, and probably the woman herself. He whispers the words to an incantation designed to protect himself from the heat.
"I'll be back in a few minutes," he says to his companions, and then rushes into the non-burning building.
AC16 (w/mage armor), Hit Points 10/11
Cast Stand the Heat, and then Hollister will make his way to the 4th floor and then woman.
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
"What's he doing!?!" the elf exclaims, watching Hollister utter some incantation and then run off. Liiros turns to the others and says "We'll hoist somoene up to grab the infant and carry it down. Me and....Rashelle? Or Torrent?" Will hoist the others up. One of you will form the second level of the ladder. Kyl, Plavin, climb up after that. Whichever one of you is the best climber should go on from there to retrieve the infant and carry it down."
The elven warrior sets down his extraneous gear, like the sword and shield, then gets in position under the distressed woman, crouching and cupping his hands together to hoist up someone else.
"That was likely some sort of protection spell so he can get in there and help them.. I'm unfamiliar with arcane magics, but the building he ran into adjoins this one at the top, and they're on the top floor." Rashelle looked from the elf to Hollister's form dissapearing into the adjacent building, and wished she wasn't wearing such bulky armour.
ooc
Question for the DM - How on fire is this building? Flames shooting out the side or is it climbable?
Question for Arkhandus - correct me if I'm wrong, your plan is we assist someone in climbing the outside of the building to the fourth floor where the woman is, correct?
Also, 4th floor...that's probably 32+ feet high; I'm pretty sure we don't have the number of PCs necessary to reach them from the ground.
Hollister is unarmored, which means his movement isn't reduced, and his spell will protect him from heat, if not the fire itself. He should be able to reach them fairly quickly.
__________________ -Rhun
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
Seeing Hollister run into the flames, Korrin feels the pull of the woman's cries drawing him action. Shifting his feet and drawing upon the desert's heat to protect him, Korrin will also rush into the blaze.
OOC
Gain Fire Resistance 5 while in the stance, also unarmoured and unencumbered
That was the idea, a human ladder to help the nimblest party member, whoever that would be, to reach the baby and carry it down more easily to safety. Not much chance of it now, with Korrin and Hollister both running off to go through the burning buildings. I think Plavin is the only one left outside who isn't wearing heavy or medium armor and such. And I dunno if he has any climbing skill at all, let alone enough to reliably climb up there and carry down the baby.
Martial Lore check of 6, so Liiros didn't recognize Korrin's new stance. 1d20+3=6
Liiros sees Korrin run off into the burning buildings as well, and just gapes at his passing. "What the heck is HE doing?!?" the elf exclaims. Looking at the remaining three people outside with him, he sighs and stands up, putting on his discarded gear. "I guess there's not much chance the four of us alone can reach the woman from here. We can only hope those two know what they're doing," he grumbles.
It takes Hollister half a minute (5 rounds) to reach the top of the adjacent building. It's usual inhabitants now out in the street, Hollister's ascent is quiet except for his boots on the wooden floors. At the top of the stairs, the door to the roof is locked.
When Korrin runs into the burning building, the heat is overwhelming. Every step he risks catching on fire, and the superhot air sears his lungs.
Rashelle appraises the burning building. It's clear there are flames on floors one through three inside the building, but so far the walls aren't burning. Approaching the building, Rashelle thinks the heat is low enough that the building could be climbed, at least for now.
Torrent looks at Liiros as he cups, then uncups his hands. "For a second," she says, "I thought you were going to try to catch the ba- uh, wait, we could catch her. We just need a ... a, uh, blanket or something. And some more people." She starts trying to get members of the mob to help.
ooc
Hollister: The lock on the door requires a key. It's a sturdy wooden door.
Korrin: Every round in the building you take 1d6 fire damage and have to make a DC 15 reflex save or catch on fire. Your stance will give you +2 to the reflex save. I'm assuming you're going to run up to the room the mother and child are in. It takes seven rounds (navigating the burning building is difficult, and then you have to find the room the mother and child are in. You damage for those seven round are: 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=5. If you catch on fire, you damage for each round is: 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=3, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=3.
Everyone else: If you want to help Torrent get people, you'll need to both role-play and make some social skill checks.
Is there a window nearby that Hollister can look out and see the mother and her baby? His companions? He obviously doesn't have a way through the door...blasting it down would probably take too long.
__________________ -Rhun
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
When Korrin runs into the burning building, the heat is overwhelming. Every step he risks catching on fire, and the superhot air sears his lungs.
ooc
Korrin: Every round in the building you take 1d6 fire damage and have to make a DC 15 reflex save or catch on fire. Your stance will give you +2 to the reflex save. I'm assuming you're going to run up to the room the mother and child are in. It takes seven rounds (navigating the burning building is difficult, and then you have to find the room the mother and child are in. You damage for those seven round are: 1d6=3, 1d6=1, 1d6=1, 1d6=6, 1d6=6, 1d6=2, 1d6=5. If you catch on fire, you damage for each round is: 1d6=5, 1d6=6, 1d6=3, 1d6=2, 1d6=2, 1d6=6, 1d6=3.
Korrin coughs as he fights his way through the blazing building, "Hollister, where are you *cough, cough*" he calls out as he continues towards the woman's room.
Liiros sees what Torrent is doing, and decides it's better than just waiting for the two other people he's known for all of ten minutes or so to find and rescue the woman and her baby. He marches out amidst the mobs, raising his arms, and shouts out "HELP! LISTEN! People of Gate Pass, your kinsmen are in danger of burning! Aid us for just a minute in rescuing a mother and her child! The Ragessians are just trying to stir fear and make you bend to their demands, give up your homes, your freedom, and your hard-earned posessions to craven Ragessians who fear battle! Resist! Fight these paltry fires and save your kinsfolk! Start here! Bring us a blanket with which to catch the infant, form up beside this building, and hoist your fellows into a living tower to rescue them! None need burn if we hurry and work together!" Liiros will resume forming part of the bottom of the living tower/pyramid if enough people gather to help.
ooc
I think dropping a baby from 4 stories up would jostle the baby rather badly and maybe cause some damage, even with a cloth tarp/blanket (there are no trampolines here, they're a modern invention). So best we combine the two ideas and form at least a short human pyramid, give the top person or people a blanket, and then call out for the mother to drop her baby the short distance into the waiting blanket.
Is there a window nearby that Hollister can look out and see the mother and her baby? His companions? He obviously doesn't have a way through the door...blasting it down would probably take too long.
As Hollister heads to a window, over the roar of the flames he can hear Korrin's shouting coming from the adjacent burning building.
OOC
I'll do better than that. I was assuming (based on the text in the mod itself) that Hollister wanted to go to the roof and run over the roof to the burning building, and then do something to rescue the mom and baby. If you'd rather go through the skybridge on the fourth (and top) floor, he basically encounters the same situation. There's a door on each end of the sky bridge that's locked from the inside of each building. Hollister can easily unlock and open up the first skybridge door, but the next skybridge door is locked similarly to the door on the roof.
As far as finding a window, yes you can. Getting to it and unlocking and opening it takes two rounds, putting Hollister at seven rounds total.
Now Hollister and Korrin are synchronized - both seven rounds into the encounter.
Liiros' pleas for aid manage to attract the attention of a handful of people, all those carrying or shepherding children of their own. They appear to be a little torn between getting their own children to safety and helping the endangered mother. Their children are terrified and anxious, though, and if the audience isn't further encouraged to help soon their children will drag them off.
OOC
Liiros' speech and gathering people takes three rounds.
I'm using the PHB (well, SRD) rules for diplomacy, FYI.
Frustrated by the locked doors, Hollister instead works to find a window, as close to the screaming mother and her child as possible. Finally getting the window open, he pokes his head and shouts across to the woman.
"I cannot get to you, but I can save you and your child. But you must trust me. I am a mage from Gabal's School. My magic can get you safely down, but you must trust me. Can you do that?"
OOC: This post obviously assumes something crazy hasn't happened prior to round 7/
__________________ -Rhun
"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." -Robert Fulghum
*OOC: Rashelle has a +6 Diplomacy check, but I personally have no idea what to say to a mother to get her to leave her child in the middle of a city under siege to save someone else... "Please"?*
Liiros looks around, and calls out "We need only a moment's aid before you flee with your own children! The Ragessians have already launched their fire attacks in this vicinity, and will need much time to ready their siege weapons again! They will target other buildings to put ablaze! There is still time to save the woman and infant from this one before it burns down! I swear as a Knight of the Aquilline Cross that your children will be safe here for a few minutes while we save the infant!"
The elf sighs mentally, and thinks with both sadness and disdain, 'Elves would not leave their kinsmen to die so ignobly by fire and smoke. Are these humans so short-lived that they value life so much less?'
ooc
Another Diplomacy check, of 11. Crudstunk. I can only hope for circumstance bonuses to save me from terrible rolls. 1d20+5=11
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