Round 1
The goblin cornered between Tac and Grokk by the wagon howls in pain as Tac wrenches his rapier free. Desperate to escape, the goblin scuttles forward and spears the half-orc cleric in the calf. The goblin's dogslicer sinks its jagged edge into Grokk's leg, sawing muscle and ripping connective tissue for 4 points of damage. The wretched goblin yanks its blade free and darts underneath the wagon to get free of Tac and Grokk. As the goblin scurries away, Grokk quickly reacts to the pain and the hideous scrabbling creature by swinging his warhammer in a great underarc that catches the goblin broadly on its backside and squishes the creature on the flat understide of the wagon. "Filthy goblin. Die!" Bits of goblin pulp drop with a heavy thud to the packed dirt ground of the festival square. Grokk crushes the goblin with a critical success for 27 points of damage.
The sight and sound of goblins running wild in the town center raises the tawny collie's hackles. With bystanders fleeing the area, the canine is left out in the wide open square. Knowing of the small creatures' unreasoning hatred of dogs, Kell lets loose with a series of thunderous barks to draw the invaders' attention. The goblin perched atop the buffet table spares a quick glance at the thundering collie but quickly resumes its feast, this time picking up a serving platter and licking the leftover savories from what had been a plate of curry-spiced salmon. The heat of the crushed Riddleport peppers used to make the curry, however, proves too much for the goblin. The creatures eyes water in pain from the heat, and the goblin drops the cleaned platter to claw at its face--all the while yopping pitieously.
Its cousin distracted, the goblin busily terrifying the small girl, however, hears the collie's thunderous bark and--grinning in delight--moves away from the child to engage Taran. The little goblin is quicker than most and darts forward, springing the last two meters, to slash Taran with a dogslicer, wickedly singing a grotesque chant as it circles to seek its next blow. The dogslicer sings a line down Taran's side, partially revealing hide and scales beneath tawny fur, and dealing 3 points of damage.
Taran moves to reply, first lunging forward neatly to bite the still-grinning goblin, but missing. Two powerful paws range toward the goblin's midsection, the first hitting for 3 points of damage and causing the goblin to swoon to the dirt. With the goblin's tumble to the ground, Taran's second swipe with a paw misses, but an elongated arc with his tail that deals another 3 points of damage finishes the horrid mewling goblin with a crunch as the creature's spine cracks in twain.
Seeing Grokk beat the cornered goblin into a bloodied pulp and hearing the gutteral clacking of another goblin close at hand on the otherside of the wagon, Tac starts to move around the back end of the wagon toward the buffet tables flanking the Cathedral, rapier in hand. After skirting the wagon, Tac extends his swordarm to spear the feasting goblin but misses when the miserable creature bends over to grab a new plate.
Talashia whirls about at the strange giggles and the screaming behind her. What she sees drops her mouth open in shock. A goblin on the table, stuffing itself! In broad daylight! What had happened to her town that this could be?! Where was the guard?!
The air around Talashia takes on the rank, acrid smell of ozone as thin arcs of lightning sizzle and pop in her hair and between her arms and sides, shoulders and head. Three older boys intent on watching the gore of the scene from behind the safety of an overturned bench table cry out in fear at the sight of Talashia and, one of them bawling, "She's on FIRE!!!" turn tail and run from the square. The boy's cry of fire quickly spreads panic throughout the festival square--folk scream in terror, echoing the cry of fire, and the thick crowd presses backward, trampling and stampeding to get away.
"What...do you think...you are...DOING HERE?!" Talashia bellows at the feasting goblin perched on the buffet table. A whip of lightning flicks away from Talashia's hand, lashing out across the distance separating her from the goblin, searing the air with a bitter-scented thunderclap as it flies toward the goblin, crashing down upon the creature and dealing 7 points of damage. The goblin, briefly outlined in white-hot electricity, quivers a touch then falls to the table in a heap of black-mottled flesh. So hot is the creature's dead carcass that the wooden buffet table begins to smolder.
Elyra, whose rage had been keyed by the terrified screams of the child across the square, sees the goblin cross the festival square and slice a tawny collie. Blood runs from the collie's side where the goblin slices through hair and...scales? Elyra blinks then takes a harder look. Despite the dust hanging in a thick sheet in the air, the glimmer of some sort of brown-hued scaling is evident around the collie's wound. Taking a quick look around the square, Elyra spots no one else beside herself who appears to have noticed the collie's strange wound.
Yelling, "Die, miscreant!" Sivan tilts his mighty glaive outward and starts a heroic charge at the goblin perched atop the buffet table but stops short as a woman with pale hair lit with a halo of crackling lightening sears the goblin with a bolt of electricity from 20 feet distant.
Townsfolk on all sides pant in terror and scrabble over one another in a desperate attempt to remove themselves from the terror in the festival square. The dust kicked up from several hundred feet of fleeing people thickens, clotting normal vision and filling nostrils with the scent of earth and blood. Soon, only a lone child--a girl left parentless and terrified by a dogslicer-bearing marauder--stands motionless at the southwestern corner of the empty square. The girl is quiet, her brown eyes pooled with fear and horror.
*****************************End of Combat. For now.**********************
Status: Grokk, injured, @ 5/9 HP. Goblin (wagon) dead. Goblin (table) dead. Goblin (square) dead. Buffet table possibly on fire. Four injured townsfolk lying prone in square. Girl standing alone in corne of square. Please post at will, initiative is over.
[sblock=Die Rolls]
Name, (position), action, raw roll / modified roll
Goblin (wagon) Attack 16 / 19
Goblin (wagon) Dmg 3 / 4
Grokk AoO 20, 15 to confirm--critical success
Grokk AoO dmg 7 / 27 total
Goblin (Taran) Attack 14 / 17
Goblin (Taran) Dmg 2 / 3
Taran Attack(bite) 10 / 14
Taran Attack(claw1) 11 / 15
Taran dmg(claw1) 2 / 3
Taran Attack(claw2) 4 / 10
Taran Attack(tail) 11 / 15
Taran dmg(tail) 2 / 3
Tac Perception 9 / 15
Tac Attack 2 / 5
Talashia Attack 18 / 22
Talashia dmg 6 / 7
Elyra Perception 17 / 25[/sblock]
