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Bill T's Second War of the Burning Sky [Spoilers, spoilers everywhere]
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<blockquote data-quote="Bill T." data-source="post: 7638391" data-attributes="member: 6795693"><p><strong>The Battle of Haddin's Farm</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Dramatis Personae</strong></span></p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Basel</strong>, an Innenotdaran (aka grey) elf evoker who has been attending Gabal's school and previously made his living as a baker.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Gusle</strong>, a seela bard who recently escaped captivity from a circus. This player has been through the first few chapters already, so she's aware of the seela and can fill Torrent's role as guide.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Jesús Tillamook</strong>, a half-elf cloistered cleric of the Stormbringer Phoenix, a sect of the Stormchaser Eagle that is dedicated to finding the Aquiline Heart so that they can reincarnate the Eagle.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Leeta</strong>, a woodswoman that looks like a human but with sharper edges. She was born in Gate Pass on New Year's Day.</li> </ul><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>Aftermath Of The Gauntlet</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p>After much careful investigation of the tracks on the road and the trail adjoining it<p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>along with a fair amount of cajoling from the DM</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em> </em></p><p>the heroes decide to see what they might find up the trail. They reach a small grotto with tents ("I should have gotten us a tent", muses Gusle), horses (woo hoo!), and a few locked tunnels -- one containing a man wrapped in a shroud with a cat curled up beside him. Gusle eventually manages to pick the lock, and they carefully approach the two lying on the floor of the tunnel and eventually convince themselves he and his cat are both stone-cold dead. They inspect the contents of the jar he holds and discover the prayer it contains, "Don't let my death be in vain."</p><p> </p><p> On that cheery note, they loot the tents, quickly finding the chest full of gold, rubies, and promissory notes redeemable at any Ragesian fort. They do a thorough search and find the key Renard had lost in his pants pocket.</p><p> </p><p> "Hey, shouldn't we bury the dead wizard in the cave or something?" asks Basel.</p><p> </p><p> "Sorry, busy loading the horses," responds Leeta.</p><p> </p><p> Dismissive, Gusle asks, "What, you going to try to dig a hole in this cold? We don't even have a shovel."</p><p> </p><p> "We don't need a shovel," responds Jesús. "We revenants cremate our dead with glorious <strong><em>fire!</em></strong> All hail the Stormbringer Phoenix!"<p style="margin-left: 20px"><em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>His understanding of the diety his cleric represents has evolved. I'm not sure I fully understand yet, but it should be enough that at least <strong>he</strong> has an idea of what his responsibilities are as a cleric.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>So, Basel and Jesús build a little funeral pyre for the man and his cat. Just as they're about to set the pyre on fire, the shroud glows, and the two suddenly realize that the corpse is wrapped in a <em>dream shroud</em>, which lets the wearer use the following powers</p><p> </p><ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">With a moment's thought, determine if an action will negatively impact his alignment or relationship with his deity.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Use it to cast <em>align weapon</em> once per day.</li> </ol><p> They quickly put out the tinder they were using to start the fire and remove the shroud from the wizard's remains.</p><p></p><p> <span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>The House Haddin Bui...Forged By Magic</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p> They travel most of the day and start to see the effects of the fire forest -- a red sky, flowers blooming out of season, and a grove a banana trees surrounding a stone house. A young fragile-looking woman stands on a small hill. When the heroes gets close, she says, "The Scourge comes, and the skulls of the dragon pursue you. I saw it in a dream." She then apologizes, introduces herself as Crystin, and makes her pitch -- she knows the inquisitors are coming for her father (and her?), and she knows that the heroes can lead her to safety.</p><p></p><p> Anyhow, after they all stable the horses, Crystin leads them into the house. Her father, Haddin, immediately starts barking at Crystin, annoyed that she brought visitors and ordering them all to various tasks related to making dinner. Gusle tries to sweet-talk him but doesn't get very far. Jesús would like to try but can't imagine what tack he should take to persuade him.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Someone on these forums -- sorry, I forget who -- suggested that Haddin should be demanding and pushy, and I like the idea enough to try it. Sure enough, everyone pretty quickly came to despise Haddin, and his subsequent behavior lowered their opinions even further.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>After dinner, Haddin tells everyone where they're to sleep and then makes his way to bed. "Hey, wait, I thought he was too old and feeble to get around on his own!"<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>...if you see what I mean.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong>The Inquisitor Comes A'knocking</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px"></span></p><p> As Leeta is finishing up packing up in the morning, she asks Haddin, "Are you sure you don't want to come...."</p><p></p><p> "Haddin!" shouts a menacing, feral voice outside the house. "Come out and surrender or <em><strong>die!</strong></em>"</p><p></p><p> "Haddin, do you know who that is?" asks Basel.</p><p></p><p> "Haddin, what would you like us to do" inquires Gusle.</p><p></p><p> "Must be the inquisitors. Bah! I can deal with them."</p><p> </p><p>Mysteriously, the front door opens all on its own, and in rush a half-dozen walking skeletons. "Eep, er...see ya!" says Haddin.</p><p> </p><p>So, the heroes start battling the skeletons, Crystin shrieks in terror and scurries up into the attic, and Haddin runs out the back door -- only to be immediately brought down by a crossbow bolt.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, Leeta skewers a skeleton right between the ribs with her sword, as does Gusle. "Where's the guy with the stick?" they ask -- only the world has strangely fallen silent around them.</p><p> </p><p> The guy with the stick, Jesús, calls out from the back door, "Hey, looks like Haddin's been shot!"</p><p> </p><p>"Daddy's been shot??" exclaims Crystin as she races down the ladder and heads for the back door. "I've got to help him!"</p><p> </p><p>Jesús steps in her way and tells her, "I'll go out and help him, but you have to promise to stay in the house, out of danger."<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>On reflection, this reaction from </em><em>Jesús was something of a surprise. I had conducted an alignment quiz before the heroes reached Haddin's place, and there was some disagreement among the players about whether </em><em>Jesús is evil or merely neutral with a dark sense of humor. This selfless act seems to refute the pessimists -- although, after the battle, everyone accused</em><em><em> Jesús of having the hots for Crystin. I trust they were only doing so to rile him up.</em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em></em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em> </em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p>Jesús goes out to grab Haddin, who is now sporting at least two crossbow bolts and slowly starts dragging Haddin back into the house -- and gets rewarded for his efforts with a crossbow bolt of his own in the shoulder. Crystin manages to drag them both into the house and bar the back door while Jesús uses a wand to help Haddin recover from being shot.</p><p> </p><p> Meanwhile, the other three heroes continue to battle the skeletons in silence, until Jesús comes back into the room and says, "Shoo!" The skeletons that made it into the house don't flee -- rather, they shatter on the spot.</p><p> </p><p>Then, suddenly, a halfling appears out of nowhere and stabs Gusle -- hard! Some more dancing ensues, but the halfing tumbles out of the house just as Basel draws his sword to stab him in the head. Hey, everyone can hear again!</p><p> </p><p>Jesús shoos the rest of the skeletons into oblivion, which gives the orcs an opportunity to step up in front of the house -- one with a big silvery axe who guzzles a potion labeled "Eat me" and becomes nine feet tall, two human soldiers with armor, shields, and swords, and a half-orc wearing little more than a mask and bear skins.</p><p> </p><p>Jesús leaps out the front door and bashes Mr. Big in the leg with his candy-strip quarterstaff -- which Mr. Big takes as an opportunity to return the favor with his Large-sized shiny axe. Leeta works her way outside to help Jesús while Basel casts a spell to send an orb of fire at the orc in the mask.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>"Overconfident and impatient" was one of the character traits he assigned to the clerics of his sect, so I expect we'll be seeing a lot of him charging recklessly into battle. Keeps things exciting, at least!</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>"You shall not cast!" shouts the masked man while waving a small scourge in the air. The orb flickers briefly before splashing, rather harmfully, on the masked man's chest.</p><p></p><p> "<em>Hocus pocus</em>!" says Gusle, and a flaming log floats out of the fire, out of the door, and drops on the head of one of the armored men, who yelps as he gets burned.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Hmm, clever. I decided on the spot that the falling, smoldering log does d4 damage (Reflex DC 10 to negate). That's probably a bit too much damage for a cantrip, although the DC was sort of low. I suppose the alternative would have been to call for charisma check vs. the target's touch AC. Has anyone else had to deal with such cleverness?</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>At this point, Haddin suddenly decides to participate. "<em>Abraca-<strong>cough-hack</strong>-pocus</em>! Kill the inquisitor!" Mr. Big blinks in confusion -- so Haddin scurries up into the attic himself!</p><p> </p><p>At this point, the battle devolves into a slugfest -- Jesús and Leeta are forced to withdraw back into the house. Basel magically splashes the inquisitor with acid, provoking him to again shout "You shall not cast!" to no apparent effect. The two armored men rush into the house and start hacking at Leeta and Gusle, who in turn return the favor. Several times, one of the heroes go down, so another has to step up to heal them.</p><p> </p><p>An odd "BRAAPP" emits from near Crystin a couple times, and a crystalline shard strikes Mr. Big in the forehead each time. Basel, having set his sights on the inquisitor, starts firing arrows out the door and beneath Mr. Big's crotch until the inquisitor goes down in a heap. Mr. Big seems confused, unable to decide whether he should enter the house or turn towards what's left of the inquisitor, until he eventually starts beating on the doorway in frustration. Jesús tries to <em>Cause Fear</em> in one of the soldiers, but the soldier is not afraid of his magic. Haddin joins the action as well -- he <em>dominates</em> one of the armored men and orders him to attack his peer. After much poking and shooting, Mr. Big and one armored guy goes down, so the second surrenders.<p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em></em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em>Smarg was vacillating because he was caught at the edge of the inquisitor's </em></em>Magic Circle against Evil<em>. The orc had failed both saving throws against the </em>Dominate Person<em> Haddin cast before fleeing into the attic, so, as soon as he stepped out of the circle he was compelled to go kill him -- which meant stepping into the circle, freeing him from the compulsion, so he would head to attack the heroes, stepping out of the circle, etc.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em> </em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em>Jesús</em><em><em> is being played by the youngest and newest of our group, so we had to cajole him into trying a spell. Unfortunately, the target failed the saving throw. It probably would have been smarter to fudge the result and have the soldier cower, just so he could see the effects of his nifty spell. I've discussed his spells since them and he seems more inclined to a buffing spell rather than something directly offensive.</em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em> </em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em> </em>Basel and Crystin were the only two not to go to negative hit points during the battle. Leeta, Gusle, and </em><em>Jesús went negative at least once. At one point, Leeta, having just been healed and still prone, had to crawl over to Gusle to heal her to consciousness. Fortunately, that was right after Haddin had dominated one of the armored men.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em> </em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em> I also decided to pull a punch near the end of the fight: Smarg was able to swing through the open doorway and take a life-ending chunk out of </em><em><em>Jesús. I wasn't really ready to kill him off at that point (see above re: youngest and newest), and it was a bit rude to knock him dead while he was away from the table, so I walked the action back and had Smarg down a healing potion instead. Yeah, I'm a wimp.</em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em><em> </em></em></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 12px">Aftermath</span></strong></p><p></p><p> The heroes quiz the surviving armored guy about the disposition of the Ragesian army around Gate Pass. He snarkily points to the stripes on his shoulder -- all zero of them -- and explains that his responsibilities end at the tip of his sword. Basel is eager to step outside and slice the inquisitor's throat, but is intelligent enough to realize that maybe it'd be more useful to interrogate someone who might know something.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>...mostly because I demanded an intelligence check and told him! I was a bit surprised at how bloodthirsty he got over the inquisitor, but maybe Basel's just a bloodthirsty sort of elf.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>It turns out that the inquisitor didn't bleed out after being brought unconscious by Basel's blistering bow barrage.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Huh, imagine that. What are the odds? ;-)</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>so they strip everything of value from him. The examine the contents of the scroll case and discover his orders:<p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Inquistor Boreus, you are ordered to proceed to the farmhouse occupied by the wizard Haddin and kill him, thereby eliminating the threat he poses to our forces in Gate Pass. Do not take him alive. He is not needed. </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> <p style="text-align: left"><em>Inquisitor Guthwulf</em></p> <p style="text-align: left"> so signed this third day of January of the first year of the reign of Supreme Inquisitor Leska Merideus, Empress of Ragesia</p></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p> </p><p>They then bind him, gag him, and heal him. They also invite Crystin to participate in the interrogation. Suddenly, a light seems to come on in Crystin's head, and she says in a whisper, "My father. By the gods, he's been.... You've got to get me out of here."<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Yes, again. Gotta love that Magic Circle.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>"Sure thing!" "You got it!"<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Apparently, the heroes like Haddin less than Crystin. I can't imagine why. ;-)</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em> </em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>So, the inquisitor spills what beans he knows, including that Ragesian Empire will hunt them down no matter where they go, and he rattles off the names of his superiors in his chain of command. He readily explains the the functioning of the magic items he carries, much to Gusle's surprise.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>I think my reaction to her question about the brooch was, "Oh, that." I can't see him getting excited about explaining equipment, especially when the heroes all had their weapons ready to prevent him from casting a spell. It seems more interesting to let them know than it would be to make them wait until one of them can cast </em>Identify<em> to use the magic items they've earned.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> </p><p></p><p>The heroes then hold a big brainstorming session -- how to get Crystin away from Haddin without Haddin interfering? They didn't understand why Crystin suddenly decided she needed to get away, and they were worried that Haddin might dominate one of them to prevent it. Eventually, they realize that Gusle is not a "person" and therefore isn't susceptible to being dominated. Gusle makes up a story about how they need Crystin's help cleaning up the bodies, pilfers the picture of Crystin and her mother, gives Haddin one last chance to come with them (for show), and wanders off. Oh, and to make sure Haddin doesn't suffer, they leave the inquisitor and the soldier who surrendered in Haddin's care, so they can help defend Haddin when the Ragesians send another kill team.<p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em>Yes, again. I was told afterwards that she did this mostly because it seemed like the least of the available evils -- she didn't want to simply kill the inquisitor, but they didn't dare try to take him with them. She also knew that leaving Boreus with the Haddin was an option since she'd been a player when I previously DM'd WotBS.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><em></em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> <em>I need to do a little bit of retconning when we get together next -- Crystin would have been back under Haddin's influence when they dragged Boreus into the house, so they would have had to drag her away from her father at that point. It will be easy enough to handwave past, I think.</em></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bill T., post: 7638391, member: 6795693"] [b]The Battle of Haddin's Farm[/b] [SIZE=3][B]Dramatis Personae[/B][/SIZE] [LIST] [*][B]Basel[/B], an Innenotdaran (aka grey) elf evoker who has been attending Gabal's school and previously made his living as a baker. [*][B]Gusle[/B], a seela bard who recently escaped captivity from a circus. This player has been through the first few chapters already, so she's aware of the seela and can fill Torrent's role as guide. [*][B]Jesús Tillamook[/B], a half-elf cloistered cleric of the Stormbringer Phoenix, a sect of the Stormchaser Eagle that is dedicated to finding the Aquiline Heart so that they can reincarnate the Eagle. [*][B]Leeta[/B], a woodswoman that looks like a human but with sharper edges. She was born in Gate Pass on New Year's Day. [/LIST] [SIZE=3][B]Aftermath Of The Gauntlet[/B] [/SIZE] After much careful investigation of the tracks on the road and the trail adjoining it[INDENT][I]along with a fair amount of cajoling from the DM [/I][/INDENT] the heroes decide to see what they might find up the trail. They reach a small grotto with tents ("I should have gotten us a tent", muses Gusle), horses (woo hoo!), and a few locked tunnels -- one containing a man wrapped in a shroud with a cat curled up beside him. Gusle eventually manages to pick the lock, and they carefully approach the two lying on the floor of the tunnel and eventually convince themselves he and his cat are both stone-cold dead. They inspect the contents of the jar he holds and discover the prayer it contains, "Don't let my death be in vain." On that cheery note, they loot the tents, quickly finding the chest full of gold, rubies, and promissory notes redeemable at any Ragesian fort. They do a thorough search and find the key Renard had lost in his pants pocket. "Hey, shouldn't we bury the dead wizard in the cave or something?" asks Basel. "Sorry, busy loading the horses," responds Leeta. Dismissive, Gusle asks, "What, you going to try to dig a hole in this cold? We don't even have a shovel." "We don't need a shovel," responds Jesús. "We revenants cremate our dead with glorious [B][I]fire![/I][/B] All hail the Stormbringer Phoenix!"[INDENT][I] His understanding of the diety his cleric represents has evolved. I'm not sure I fully understand yet, but it should be enough that at least [B]he[/B] has an idea of what his responsibilities are as a cleric.[/I] [/INDENT] So, Basel and Jesús build a little funeral pyre for the man and his cat. Just as they're about to set the pyre on fire, the shroud glows, and the two suddenly realize that the corpse is wrapped in a [I]dream shroud[/I], which lets the wearer use the following powers [LIST=1] [*]With a moment's thought, determine if an action will negatively impact his alignment or relationship with his deity. [*]Use it to cast [I]align weapon[/I] once per day. [/LIST] They quickly put out the tinder they were using to start the fire and remove the shroud from the wizard's remains. [SIZE=3][B]The House Haddin Bui...Forged By Magic[/B] [/SIZE] They travel most of the day and start to see the effects of the fire forest -- a red sky, flowers blooming out of season, and a grove a banana trees surrounding a stone house. A young fragile-looking woman stands on a small hill. When the heroes gets close, she says, "The Scourge comes, and the skulls of the dragon pursue you. I saw it in a dream." She then apologizes, introduces herself as Crystin, and makes her pitch -- she knows the inquisitors are coming for her father (and her?), and she knows that the heroes can lead her to safety. Anyhow, after they all stable the horses, Crystin leads them into the house. Her father, Haddin, immediately starts barking at Crystin, annoyed that she brought visitors and ordering them all to various tasks related to making dinner. Gusle tries to sweet-talk him but doesn't get very far. Jesús would like to try but can't imagine what tack he should take to persuade him.[INDENT] [I] Someone on these forums -- sorry, I forget who -- suggested that Haddin should be demanding and pushy, and I like the idea enough to try it. Sure enough, everyone pretty quickly came to despise Haddin, and his subsequent behavior lowered their opinions even further.[/I] [/INDENT] After dinner, Haddin tells everyone where they're to sleep and then makes his way to bed. "Hey, wait, I thought he was too old and feeble to get around on his own!"[INDENT] [I] ...if you see what I mean.[/I] [/INDENT] [SIZE=3][B] The Inquisitor Comes A'knocking[/B] [/SIZE] As Leeta is finishing up packing up in the morning, she asks Haddin, "Are you sure you don't want to come...." "Haddin!" shouts a menacing, feral voice outside the house. "Come out and surrender or [I][B]die![/B][/I]" "Haddin, do you know who that is?" asks Basel. "Haddin, what would you like us to do" inquires Gusle. "Must be the inquisitors. Bah! I can deal with them." Mysteriously, the front door opens all on its own, and in rush a half-dozen walking skeletons. "Eep, er...see ya!" says Haddin. So, the heroes start battling the skeletons, Crystin shrieks in terror and scurries up into the attic, and Haddin runs out the back door -- only to be immediately brought down by a crossbow bolt. Meanwhile, Leeta skewers a skeleton right between the ribs with her sword, as does Gusle. "Where's the guy with the stick?" they ask -- only the world has strangely fallen silent around them. The guy with the stick, Jesús, calls out from the back door, "Hey, looks like Haddin's been shot!" "Daddy's been shot??" exclaims Crystin as she races down the ladder and heads for the back door. "I've got to help him!" Jesús steps in her way and tells her, "I'll go out and help him, but you have to promise to stay in the house, out of danger."[INDENT] [I] On reflection, this reaction from [/I][I]Jesús was something of a surprise. I had conducted an alignment quiz before the heroes reached Haddin's place, and there was some disagreement among the players about whether [/I][I]Jesús is evil or merely neutral with a dark sense of humor. This selfless act seems to refute the pessimists -- although, after the battle, everyone accused[/I][I][I] Jesús of having the hots for Crystin. I trust they were only doing so to rile him up. [/I][/I] [/INDENT] Jesús goes out to grab Haddin, who is now sporting at least two crossbow bolts and slowly starts dragging Haddin back into the house -- and gets rewarded for his efforts with a crossbow bolt of his own in the shoulder. Crystin manages to drag them both into the house and bar the back door while Jesús uses a wand to help Haddin recover from being shot. Meanwhile, the other three heroes continue to battle the skeletons in silence, until Jesús comes back into the room and says, "Shoo!" The skeletons that made it into the house don't flee -- rather, they shatter on the spot. Then, suddenly, a halfling appears out of nowhere and stabs Gusle -- hard! Some more dancing ensues, but the halfing tumbles out of the house just as Basel draws his sword to stab him in the head. Hey, everyone can hear again! Jesús shoos the rest of the skeletons into oblivion, which gives the orcs an opportunity to step up in front of the house -- one with a big silvery axe who guzzles a potion labeled "Eat me" and becomes nine feet tall, two human soldiers with armor, shields, and swords, and a half-orc wearing little more than a mask and bear skins. Jesús leaps out the front door and bashes Mr. Big in the leg with his candy-strip quarterstaff -- which Mr. Big takes as an opportunity to return the favor with his Large-sized shiny axe. Leeta works her way outside to help Jesús while Basel casts a spell to send an orb of fire at the orc in the mask.[INDENT] [I] "Overconfident and impatient" was one of the character traits he assigned to the clerics of his sect, so I expect we'll be seeing a lot of him charging recklessly into battle. Keeps things exciting, at least![/I] [/INDENT] "You shall not cast!" shouts the masked man while waving a small scourge in the air. The orb flickers briefly before splashing, rather harmfully, on the masked man's chest. "[I]Hocus pocus[/I]!" says Gusle, and a flaming log floats out of the fire, out of the door, and drops on the head of one of the armored men, who yelps as he gets burned.[INDENT] [I] Hmm, clever. I decided on the spot that the falling, smoldering log does d4 damage (Reflex DC 10 to negate). That's probably a bit too much damage for a cantrip, although the DC was sort of low. I suppose the alternative would have been to call for charisma check vs. the target's touch AC. Has anyone else had to deal with such cleverness?[/I] [/INDENT] At this point, Haddin suddenly decides to participate. "[I]Abraca-[B]cough-hack[/B]-pocus[/I]! Kill the inquisitor!" Mr. Big blinks in confusion -- so Haddin scurries up into the attic himself! At this point, the battle devolves into a slugfest -- Jesús and Leeta are forced to withdraw back into the house. Basel magically splashes the inquisitor with acid, provoking him to again shout "You shall not cast!" to no apparent effect. The two armored men rush into the house and start hacking at Leeta and Gusle, who in turn return the favor. Several times, one of the heroes go down, so another has to step up to heal them. An odd "BRAAPP" emits from near Crystin a couple times, and a crystalline shard strikes Mr. Big in the forehead each time. Basel, having set his sights on the inquisitor, starts firing arrows out the door and beneath Mr. Big's crotch until the inquisitor goes down in a heap. Mr. Big seems confused, unable to decide whether he should enter the house or turn towards what's left of the inquisitor, until he eventually starts beating on the doorway in frustration. Jesús tries to [I]Cause Fear[/I] in one of the soldiers, but the soldier is not afraid of his magic. Haddin joins the action as well -- he [I]dominates[/I] one of the armored men and orders him to attack his peer. After much poking and shooting, Mr. Big and one armored guy goes down, so the second surrenders.[INDENT][I][I] Smarg was vacillating because he was caught at the edge of the inquisitor's [/I][/I]Magic Circle against Evil[I]. The orc had failed both saving throws against the [/I]Dominate Person[I] Haddin cast before fleeing into the attic, so, as soon as he stepped out of the circle he was compelled to go kill him -- which meant stepping into the circle, freeing him from the compulsion, so he would head to attack the heroes, stepping out of the circle, etc. [/I] [I]Jesús[/I][I][I] is being played by the youngest and newest of our group, so we had to cajole him into trying a spell. Unfortunately, the target failed the saving throw. It probably would have been smarter to fudge the result and have the soldier cower, just so he could see the effects of his nifty spell. I've discussed his spells since them and he seems more inclined to a buffing spell rather than something directly offensive. [/I]Basel and Crystin were the only two not to go to negative hit points during the battle. Leeta, Gusle, and [/I][I]Jesús went negative at least once. At one point, Leeta, having just been healed and still prone, had to crawl over to Gusle to heal her to consciousness. Fortunately, that was right after Haddin had dominated one of the armored men. I also decided to pull a punch near the end of the fight: Smarg was able to swing through the open doorway and take a life-ending chunk out of [/I][I][I]Jesús. I wasn't really ready to kill him off at that point (see above re: youngest and newest), and it was a bit rude to knock him dead while he was away from the table, so I walked the action back and had Smarg down a healing potion instead. Yeah, I'm a wimp. [/I][/I][/INDENT] [B] [SIZE=3]Aftermath[/SIZE][/B] The heroes quiz the surviving armored guy about the disposition of the Ragesian army around Gate Pass. He snarkily points to the stripes on his shoulder -- all zero of them -- and explains that his responsibilities end at the tip of his sword. Basel is eager to step outside and slice the inquisitor's throat, but is intelligent enough to realize that maybe it'd be more useful to interrogate someone who might know something.[INDENT] [I] ...mostly because I demanded an intelligence check and told him! I was a bit surprised at how bloodthirsty he got over the inquisitor, but maybe Basel's just a bloodthirsty sort of elf.[/I] [/INDENT] It turns out that the inquisitor didn't bleed out after being brought unconscious by Basel's blistering bow barrage.[INDENT] [I] Huh, imagine that. What are the odds? ;-)[/I] [/INDENT] so they strip everything of value from him. The examine the contents of the scroll case and discover his orders:[INDENT] Inquistor Boreus, you are ordered to proceed to the farmhouse occupied by the wizard Haddin and kill him, thereby eliminating the threat he poses to our forces in Gate Pass. Do not take him alive. He is not needed. [LEFT][I]Inquisitor Guthwulf[/I] so signed this third day of January of the first year of the reign of Supreme Inquisitor Leska Merideus, Empress of Ragesia[/LEFT] [/INDENT] They then bind him, gag him, and heal him. They also invite Crystin to participate in the interrogation. Suddenly, a light seems to come on in Crystin's head, and she says in a whisper, "My father. By the gods, he's been.... You've got to get me out of here."[INDENT] [I] Yes, again. Gotta love that Magic Circle.[/I] [/INDENT] "Sure thing!" "You got it!"[INDENT] [I] Apparently, the heroes like Haddin less than Crystin. I can't imagine why. ;-) [/I] [/INDENT] So, the inquisitor spills what beans he knows, including that Ragesian Empire will hunt them down no matter where they go, and he rattles off the names of his superiors in his chain of command. He readily explains the the functioning of the magic items he carries, much to Gusle's surprise.[INDENT] [I] I think my reaction to her question about the brooch was, "Oh, that." I can't see him getting excited about explaining equipment, especially when the heroes all had their weapons ready to prevent him from casting a spell. It seems more interesting to let them know than it would be to make them wait until one of them can cast [/I]Identify[I] to use the magic items they've earned.[/I] [/INDENT] The heroes then hold a big brainstorming session -- how to get Crystin away from Haddin without Haddin interfering? They didn't understand why Crystin suddenly decided she needed to get away, and they were worried that Haddin might dominate one of them to prevent it. Eventually, they realize that Gusle is not a "person" and therefore isn't susceptible to being dominated. Gusle makes up a story about how they need Crystin's help cleaning up the bodies, pilfers the picture of Crystin and her mother, gives Haddin one last chance to come with them (for show), and wanders off. Oh, and to make sure Haddin doesn't suffer, they leave the inquisitor and the soldier who surrendered in Haddin's care, so they can help defend Haddin when the Ragesians send another kill team.[INDENT] [I] Yes, again. I was told afterwards that she did this mostly because it seemed like the least of the available evils -- she didn't want to simply kill the inquisitor, but they didn't dare try to take him with them. She also knew that leaving Boreus with the Haddin was an option since she'd been a player when I previously DM'd WotBS. [/I] [I]I need to do a little bit of retconning when we get together next -- Crystin would have been back under Haddin's influence when they dragged Boreus into the house, so they would have had to drag her away from her father at that point. It will be easy enough to handwave past, I think.[/I] [/INDENT] [/QUOTE]
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