Exploring the Hase-Suna Complex (Manzanita judging) [Concluded]

[orsal]

I hadn't expected that quite yet... with all the pools in the room, I'll want to draw you a map before we proceed with combat. I'll try to get to that later today. For now...

That's one very dead orc on the ground, and the rest flatfooted. Kol's action was the surprise round. Next:

Kol 20
Kongu 18
Payne 17
Lokin 10
Zurd 7
Kyle 4
orcs 2

 

[orsal]

battlemap

To see the map, paste the following text into the box at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee/ and click "load map": [sblock]*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 c 30 rs 0 0 c -30 c -c c 30 *s -1 g 6o rs 0 0 8 6o 8 0 g
@-g *s -1 2c 3o rs 0 0 -c 2c -4 1o c 18 10 10 1o 18 24 1o 2c 2c
@24 30 1o 3g 10 3o c 3g -4 30 -c 2c *s -1 2c 1c rs 0 0 10 1c c 14
@-4 o -c 0 -4 -o c -14 10 -1c 1o -14 24 -o 2c 0 24 o 1o 14 10 1c *s
@-1 2c 60 rs 0 0 10 3c c 3k -4 40 -c 4o -4 5c c 5s 10 60 1o 5s 24
@5c 2c 4o 24 40 1o 3s 10 3c *s -3 39 1i rs 0 A *s -3 38 65 rs 0 B
@*s -3 3b ar rs 0 C *s 6 3p 4d rs 0 *s 6 4a 4d rs 0 *s 6 52 51 rs
@0 *s 6 52 4h rs 0 *s 6 2i 4d rs 0 *s 6 28 4x rs 0 *s 6 1q 4d rs
@0 *s 6 4d 7n rs 0 *s 6 5n 71 rs 0 *s 6 54 6b rs 0 *s 6 51 70 rs
@0 *s 0 13 51 rs 0 *s 0 1m 51 rs 0 *s 0 1o 5m rs 0 *s 0 1o 67 rs
@0 *s 0 14 5q rs 0 *s 0 33 7o rs 0 *s -3 1p 4h rs 0 a *s -3 29 50
@rs 0 *s -3 1m 40 rs 0 a *s -3 2f 5c rs 0 b *s -3 2h 41 rs 0 c *s
@-3 3m 42 rs 0 d *s -3 48 43 rs 0 e *s -3 57 47 rs 0 f *s -3 5a
@51 rs 0 g *s -3 5b 6e rs 0 h *s -3 5r 6p rs 0 j *s -3 51 7f rs 0
@i *s -3 4a 82 rs 0 k *s -3 1s 59 rs 0 Z *s -3 1t 5u rs 0 L *s -3
@1g 6u rs 0 Kyle *s -3 h 54 rs 0 P *s -3 3 5t rs 0 Kon *s -3 2m
@88 rs 0 Kol
*END cejb9z[/sblock]

The orcs are identified with lower-case letters (the dead one in front of Kol omitted), the pools by capital letters, and the PCs by as many letters of their names as are needed to distinguish them. The action is taking place around pool B; the orcs doing most of the chatting with Zurd are the ones near him. By now you've all had a chance to get a good look at the pool; see the sblock in post #326 (labelled "Kyle, Payne, Kol") for what you've seen there.

 

[hero4hire]

Ichor splayed upward, painting Kol's chest and face. The Maenad let loose a bloodcurdling howl and he lunged for his next victim. No thought was behind his actions now, only primal white-hot fury.

OOC attack 14 (good thing they're still flatfooted ) Damage 15

 

[D20Dazza]

Seeing Kol kill one of the orcs Kyle drops his drunken buffoon routine and lets his dwarf nature take a hold. Pulling the newly acquired cleaver from his belt he straightens his hat, hitches his pants and advance warily on the closest orc "No more mister nice guy" he growls as he moves forward.

 

[orsal]

Ichor splayed upward, painting Kol's chest and face. The Maenad let loose a bloodcurdling howl and he lunged for his next victim. No thought was behind his actions now, only primal white-hot fury.

OOC attack 14 (good thing they're still flatfooted ) Damage 15

Orc k is now dead.

Kongu looks puzzled as she asks "What was that all about?" She draws her longsword but stands uneasily, not moving to attack anyone, and feeling that she missed something.

New map code: [sblock]*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 c 30 rs 0 0 c -30 c -c c 30 *s -1 g 6o rs 0 0 8 6o 8 0 g
@-g *s -1 2c 3o rs 0 0 -c 2c -4 1o c 18 10 10 1o 18 24 1o 2c 2c
@24 30 1o 3g 10 3o c 3g -4 30 -c 2c *s -1 2c 1c rs 0 0 10 1c c 14
@-4 o -c 0 -4 -o c -14 10 -1c 1o -14 24 -o 2c 0 24 o 1o 14 10 1c *s
@-1 2c 60 rs 0 0 10 3c c 3k -4 40 -c 4o -4 5c c 5s 10 60 1o 5s 24
@5c 2c 4o 24 40 1o 3s 10 3c *s -3 39 1i rs 0 A *s -3 38 65 rs 0 B
@*s -3 3b ar rs 0 C *s 6 3p 4d rs 0 *s 6 4a 4d rs 0 *s 6 52 51 rs
@0 *s 6 52 4h rs 0 *s 6 2i 4d rs 0 *s 6 28 4x rs 0 *s 6 1q 4d rs
@0 *s 6 5n 71 rs 0 *s 6 54 6b rs 0 *s 6 51 70 rs 0 *s 0 13 51 rs
@0 *s 0 1m 51 rs 0 *s 0 1o 5m rs 0 *s 0 1o 67 rs 0 *s 0 14 5q rs
@0 *s -3 1p 4h rs 0 a *s -3 29 50 rs 0 *s -3 1m 40 rs 0 a *s -3
@2f 5c rs 0 b *s -3 2h 41 rs 0 c *s -3 3m 42 rs 0 d *s -3 48 43
@rs 0 e *s -3 57 47 rs 0 f *s -3 5a 51 rs 0 g *s -3 5b 6e rs 0 h *s
@-3 5r 6p rs 0 j *s -3 51 7f rs 0 i *s -3 1s 59 rs 0 Z *s -3 1t
@5u rs 0 L *s -3 1g 6u rs 0 Kyle *s -3 h 54 rs 0 P *s -3 3 5t rs
@0 Kon *s -3 2m 88 rs 0 Kol *s 0 3r 7q rs 0
*END ymo247[/sblock]

 

[TwistedMindInc]

Payne could feel the eyes of the orcs boring into her, their laughter, this wretched game of coy with Zurd.. it was all too much. The rogue could feel her blood begin to boil .. and then.. and then! Kol took matters into his own hand, tugging free from Zurd the scarred warrior draws her daggers and whips it at one of the orcs that obviously were talking about her.
Dagger. (1d20+4=20)
1d4=4

 

[DerHauptman]

As he watches Kol kill first one orc then another, then Payne attack one as well he starts to think (probably very quickly) but it seems like a slow deliberate and long conversation in his head.*

Zurd, looking around in horror and unable to respond at first seems to be watching the whole thing slowly* unfolding before him in slow motion.

Thinking….

Damn being so close to having my own tribe and to have it blown by some muscle head with his brain between his legs.

I tribe of his own was a childhood dream – a good fair leader of strong orc warriors would go far. Learn to exploit the humans instead of the prey on them like dogs. Use their culture against them….these orcs were close to being there. All this and the damn underground complex as well, too good to be true. I doubt they are hard core evil at all!

Now with the chief gone, possibly even getting reinforcements (perhaps a nice gift as well)…That stupid purple idiot has jumped he gun again…just like running down the hallway and getting Kura killed, me and Lokin on deaths door and his idiotic infatuation with the basket case Payne. Regardless of the outcome I will kill him soon!

He deserves what he gets, that feminine dog Payne, deserves the same thing
I hope they get cut to pieces….but should I help the orcs…do it?

Surprised at his own thought…Zurd’s mind begins to reason very quickly. I could easily cast my color spray over there and probably get him with it, even play it off and get an orc too…did it once already. I wonder if the orcs would even attack him on the ground. Stupid bastards probably wouldn’t…but what if they do?

I wonder if my spell could knock my party out of commission. They all, including the orcs, seem to lack a significant amount of will power… Kyle got knocked out pretty easy.
What if I do hit Kol and Payne by “mistake”, would the others react hostilely? I could play one mistake off but two? I’d have to get them both at one time.

If I changed sides in this battle…if I said the slaves had betrayed me, could I rally the orcs to victory. He glances around at the collective orcs for an assessment of their state…

I wonder, who else is going to jump it? Kongu seems to looking for someone to follow, Kol and Payne are in (and that’s sort of perfect if 2 have to die let it be them, Payne is the only one that knows I planned to kill them so she needs to die quickly and silently with that secret), Lokin saw Kol just loose it and kill the orcs for no reason, that might be enough to get him to consider Kol the aggressor and even if they are orcs he might look at Kol as dishonorable since we are under a truce and parlay, Kyle has not acted but seems to be itching to get into the fight weapon drawn and advancing.

What to do Zurd what….
They betrayed you, she shunned you, he almost got you killed more than once, Lokin though never did anything to you, Kyle, don’t know him don’t care about him he can die too. Kongu was going to die anyway as discussed with Payne on the first day to reduce split shares.

His eyes shift from face to face and person to person and honestly, he hopes the chief comes back with reinforcements it will make his choice a lot easier…they are his people after all…..

[sblock=OOC]

* This is all going through Zurd’s head lightning fast but slowly like in a car crash or in combat, which I am all too familiar with IRL. Its really amazing the level of detail you can think of when really afraid.

One can think of a lifetime of information in about 2 seconds it seems. Fear speeds up the minds eye somehow.

Now, for the tough part, I think that this is a real dilemma for Zurd, he’s always talked about leading orcs, and he has a very real chance of doing it here.

He feels betrayed by his party and wonders what to do next.

Lokin’s action will very much influence his decision. If it seems Lokin is not going to move he’ll take that as a sign of internal debate over what Kol did, and why he violated the truce and parlay for no real reason.

He will most likely react to subdue Kol and Payne and use them to bargain with the orcs so he can fix the issue with the chief – realizing one or both might have to die or be punished severely (mutilated or other orcish nasties)

That’s the OC explanation for his thoughts above.

However, this is LEW, I will not force real player conflict on anyone so if you say not going to do it, for the real conflict then my choice is easy we’ll just kill em all and Zurd will brood about it and fight verbally with Kol and the rest over it. Probably just end up taking his share and moving on at the end, not wanting to work with Payne or Kol.

Make it a lot harder if you ok the conflict. So I won’t make my action until Kyle has his.

Orsal, is Kurg going to go on my initiative?

If you all want to e mail me in private I have PM and email linked to this account.

[/sblock]

 

[Lot]

Lokin spins to the right, hearing the sounds of battle.

"Kol, gods curse him," almost whispers as he turns to Zurd and Kongu. "Make for the door! I'll cover the retreat."

Drawing his bastard sword, he backs away ready to attack anyone who comes at this half of the party. He yells over to his agressive companions

"Kol! Kyle! This situation is ruined! We need to retreat! We're outnumbered and we've obviously ruined any truce we've got here! Let's get out of here!"

Lokin will try to hold the door until his people can get out.

[sblock=OOC]I'm okay with the inter-character conflict. I don't want to lose my character but I'm interested in the ramifications of this struggle, which feels right in character. I, for one, wouldn't mind getting captured if it led to a good story.[/sblock]

 

[hero4hire]

Dagger. (1d20+4=20)
1d4=4

OOC:
Twisted,
since this is the first round and you have initiative the orcs are probably flatfooted. Orsal should confirm, but I think you get sneak attack damage.

 

[orsal]

OOC:
Twisted,
since this is the first round and you have initiative the orcs are probably flatfooted. Orsal should confirm, but I think you get sneak attack damage.

Correct. Add 3 HP damage, total 7 -- there's another dead orc.

Orsal, is Kurg going to go on my initiative?

Oops! Forgot him... Kurg gets higher initiative but delays, not knowing until he gets some indication from his master what to do (since neither Kol nor the orcs had been hostile to Zurd). So yes, Kurg will go on Zurd's initiative.