Dark Days in Sion - Act 2: Scene 2

[narayan]

Ania, Ersun

"For the love of…" he mumbles under his nose. He carefully begins to weave a spell hidden from their attention to disable him.
(Casting Colour Spray at the Half-Duergar)

[Knowledge: Local, 23, DC 13]
[Sleight of Hand: Colorr Spray, 21]
[Initiative, just in case: 20]

Worgo: (Spot Check, DC 21: = 21, Success!) The Half Duergar spots your attempt to cast a spell and reacts with rage initiating a charge!

Ania: (Spot Check, DC 21: = 21, Success!) Notices what you are doing and curses. She clearly is not happy with you.

__________________________________________________ ________

<Start of Round 1>

• Bleeding Damage ( * )
  
• Fire Damage ( # )
  
• Cold Damage ( @ )
• Spell Damage ( ^ )
• Poison Damage ( ! )

The order of initiative is:

(21) Ania
(20) Ersun
(17) Worgo
__________________________________________________ ________

Ania: (Spellcraft Check to identify the spell you are casting, DC 16: = 5, Fail!) Unable to ascertain the spell you are casting she assumes the worst and reaches over to grab your arm to prevent your spell from being cast. (Touch attack vs. Touch AC 12 = 13, hit!) "Don't cast at him!" She says, hoping its not too late.

[Ersun: You feel her hand on your arm. Technically she provokes an attack of opportunity from you if you want to take that. If not and you still want to finish casting the spell you can simply switch arms requiring a DC 12 spellcraft check, or you can make an opposed strength check if you want to pull your arm out of her grasp to finish the spell. What do you do?]

 

[narayan]

Billanverthorne

As you rush from camp out to where you heard the voice, you find yourself on stony ground before low-laying hills abutting Mt. Azoa in the near distance. Your infravision is of great help to you in these dark conditions, sans-moonlight, as it allows you to spot a trail of quickly cooling bloodstains on the rocks. After following those a short distance you spot a bit of blood-soaked garment caught upon a spiny shrub. As you examine it closer you see it is a light woolen fabric embroidered with small white stars, one of Celestia's shawls!

(Fate Pool Spot Check, DC 15: = 18, Success!) You also notice something else, a track of some sort of animal, probably canine, beside the bloodstains. It is a track of something like a wolf or a big hound. Due to the stony terrain however, you will not be able to follow the tracks easily without a Survival Skill Check, DC 15 and the aid of some sort of light source. (You may activate your projected infravision to serve as a light source) The bloodstains have cooled too much at this point to emit any extra heat to track with receptive infravision.

For an instant you hear her shout again on the breeze, closer than before, but you won't be able to pinpoint her direction without a DC 15 Listen Check. You also think you heard the sound of snarling and howling.

[Billanverthorne: What do you do?]

 

[thisthingcantbedeleted]

Ersun

As he begins to weave his melodic casting with soft hums and subtle gestures he keeps track of the others reaction. As both of them seem to have noticed him, he has to make a quick decision on the spur of the moment. If it would have been only Ania noticing, he could have stopped, but since Worgo is clearly offended, he deems it better to go through with it rather than back down.

[Spellcraft, finish spell: 13; DC 12]

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Billanverthorne... in RAGE MODE.

As you rush from camp out to where you heard the voice, you find yourself on stony ground before low-laying hills abutting Mt. Azoa in the near distance. Your infravision is of great help to you in these dark conditions, sans-moonlight, as it allows you to spot a trail of quickly cooling bloodstains on the rocks. After following those a short distance you spot a bit of blood-soaked garment caught upon a spiny shrub. As you examine it closer you see it is a light woolen fabric embroidered with small white stars, one of Celestia's shawls!

(Fate Pool Spot Check, DC 15: = 18, Success!) You also notice something else, a track of some sort of animal, probably canine, beside the bloodstains. It is a track of something like a wolf or a big hound. Due to the stony terrain however, you will not be able to follow the tracks easily without a Survival Skill Check, DC 15 and the aid of some sort of light source. (You may activate your projected infravision to serve as a light source) The bloodstains have cooled too much at this point to emit any extra heat to track with receptive infravision.

For an instant you hear her shout again on the breeze, closer than before, but you won't be able to pinpoint her direction without a DC 15 Listen Check. You also think you heard the sound of snarling and howling.

[Billanverthorne: What do you do?]

Bill activates his projected infravision, as he pauses to examine the tracks. (Rolls a 12, +3 Survival Skill = 15. Success.)
Bill also listens intently, trying to pinpoint the source of the shout. (Rolls a 7, which is a failure. Spends 1 FP to re-roll, because sister's life hangs in the balance... 20! YESSS!!! 20 + 4 = 24, Spectacular success!)

~Ok, Ok, Ok, Dad! You were right! You're always right! How are you always right? Especially when you're dead?!? ... Looks like the tracks lead this way... Whoever you are, you crossed the wrong elf tonight. PREPARE FOR PAIN!!!~

Bill follows the tracks quickly, without waiting for any sort of backup. ~[In Bill's Father's voice: ] Remember the Gnolls, Billy boy? That's probably what you're dealing with here. Orcs don't howl or snarl. You'd better be ready to KILL. Gnolls are merciless and cruel... [Bill's Voice: ] Oh yeah? Ask my commander what I'm like on a bad day, Dad! If Celestia is harmed, there will be RIVERS OF BLOOD!~

(Bill's intent: find Celestia, and free her from the grip of whomever has her. Just in case this happens quickly, his Initiative is 11.)

(If it DOES turn out to be Gnolls, Bill will say the following in the Gnoll language, at the beginning of combat, to throw them off guard: "You foolish pups have crossed the wrong elf! There will be NO MERCY! Prepare to BLEED!" )

(Intimidate roll = Rolled 15, +4 = 19.)

 

[narayan]

Ania, Ersun

As he begins to weave his melodic casting with soft hums and subtle gestures he keeps track of the others reaction. As both of them seem to have noticed him, he has to make a quick decision on the spur of the moment. If it would have been only Ania noticing, he could have stopped, but since Worgo is clearly offended, he deems it better to go through with it rather than back down.

[Spellcraft, finish spell: 13; DC 12]

You manage to complete your spell using your alternate hand, releasing a vivid cone of clashing colors that envelops Worgo and illuminates the tent brightly.

Worgo: (Will Save, DC 14: = 8, Fail, Stunned)

[Stunned: A stunned creature drops everything held, can’t take actions, takes a -2 penalty to AC, and loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any).]

Worgo drops his glaive, unable to complete his charge. The other thugs at the table immediately curse and stop their game, moving to grab for their own weapons.

__________________________________________________ ________

<End of Round 1>

[Ersun: Roll initiative again for round 2]

 

[narayan]

Billanverthorne

Proof of your sisters peril heightens your senses to new levels at this dark hour. Your pointed ears keenly determine the exact distance and direction of Celestia and the beasts who stalk her. By the distinct sound of their howls, you'd guess they were some sort of hound, not a wolf. By your estimation there are two of them, perhaps three. Wasting no time you sprint towards her cries ignoring the tracks that would only delay you if you attempted to follow them.

After a short run you come upon the scene you were dreading. Celestia is cowering within a copse of brambles, bloody and very weary. Three large hounds circle her, weighing at least six stone apiece (120 lbs). Strangely, they wear custom-fitted spiked-hide armor and spiked iron collars. Celestia is plainly exhausted. Her voice weakens with every shout and her movements grow ever more sluggish with meager efforts to keep the hounds at bay with loose stones and a single dagger.

It seems so strange that she is actually here, but nothing about her appearance makes you doubt her identity, especially while the shredded remains of her prized shawl is still wrapped around her shoulders. She is not close enough make out plainly however, still twenty feet away and huddled within thorny cover. Something about the animals feels wrong to you. Their eyes are wild and blood-shot, evidently in some sort of bloodthirsty frenzy! Yet clearly, these animals are not merely wild dogs. You've never seen their like before. Truly a very sick mind must have trained them and outfitted them specifically for this purpose.

Neither her, nor the hounds, have noticed you yet but there isn't much time to formulate a plan. The beasts creep towards her inch-by-inch, snarling, snapping their jaws, salivating with anticipation of the kill! You are about twenty feet away on a slightly higher outcropping of rock than your sister and the hounds. The terrain here is somewhat rocky and thick with shrubs. It is much easier to find hiding spots and cover hereabouts than it is closer to camp.

As you are currently upwind of the hounds you can feasibly move 5 ft. closer before their scent ability will detect you. If you charge, there's a slim chance you can catch one flat-footed with a surprise melee attack. There is a much better chance you can them flat-footed with a ranged surprise attack. However, before you act, there is one thing you may notice first. (Fate Pool Wisdom Check, DC 15: = 7, Fail)

[Billanverthorne: What do you do? You may use a fate point to reroll that wisdom check first if you wish...]

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

(I actually spent 2 FP, for a 5, and a 3, both failures. I now have 0 FP remaining.)

Bill takes careful aim, at whichever hound looks the biggest. If they all look to be the same size, he will take aim at whichever one is closest to Celestia.

(I apologize for the lack of color, I am posting this from my phone, and it doesn't play well with ENWorld's editor.)

~You know, it could still be a trick. You can't see her clearly... But is this all a distraction, to pull you away from the real target, or a trap to catch you alone, and without aid? Who would the real target be? Khaled? ... In either case, returning to camp would be the wisest choice... unless that's really your sister, in which case you'd be leaving her to die...~

~Wait a minute, what if...?~ (Bill has an idea: if the dogs are part of a ruse, and the woman is controlling them, she might be using hand signals to direct them!)

Bill focuses on the woman intently, trying to see if she is making any gestures. (Spot check = 13+4 = 17.)

Bill will wait until the last possible second to attack. He is trying to allow for some sort of sign, one way or another; he still finds it incredible that Celestia would be here.

In the absence of some sort of revelation, he will attack.

 

[narayan]

Billanverthorne

Your observations of Celestia do not indicate anything suspicious on her part, but your hesitation gives the breeze a chance to shift so a fourth hound catches your scent. The animal is hidden apart from the others by the stones and shrubs around you so its attack almost catches you by surprise as it emerges, snarling, form the darkness at your flank!

__________________________________________________ ________

<Start of Round 1>

Bleeding Damage ( * )
Fire Damage ( # )
Cold Damage ( @ )
Spell Damage ( ^ )
Poison Damage ( ! )

The order of initiative is:

(11) Billanverthorne
(3) Hound #4
__________________________________________________ ________

[Billanverthorne: You are first to act, the hound is 15 ft away. What do you do?]

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Billanverthorne in COMBAT MODE

As Bill notices the fourth hound, he turns his bow to the flat-footed hound, and attacks. As he does so, he yells, as loud as he can: "Alarm! Alarm! Guards at the ready! We're under attack!"

(Using rapid shot: 1st attack is a natural 1, miss. 2nd attack = 10+4 = hit AC14, not sure if that hits the hound while flat-footed.)

(If the arrow hits, hound takes 10 points of damage.)

~Hmmm... where did this one come from? If they were truly after my sister, this one would be down there, too, sharing in the kill. This smells like an ambush!~

Bill will move back from Hound #4 one square (5 feet) i.e., taking a "one square adjustment"

 

[Shun001]

Kryslogious of Anasteria

"Well Alic I hope we can find an explanation before we find the cause of such a commotion running us down..." Kryslogious took in all this information. This era to which he had been summoned to would be a great era indeed. So much in need of a hero his chest swelled with conviction to begin his righteous journey to save Sion. He felt it within his bones a surge of renewed energy as if he wanted to jump up and run into the night sword drawn to begin his purge of evil.

"Malic, while I respect your wisdom in the art of deferring judgement, not making a decision can equally as well gnaw on your soul. Should you come to an alignment of interest with my master I, Kryslogious of Anasteria, will assist you in purging the darkness that plagues your land." he raised his fist to his chest as to indicate a knights oath to his word. "I want to save this world, from demons and the Vul. I want to save it from all darkness so the world may know peace." He speaks with sharp confidence in his abilities, and with his visor raised you can see a determined look across his face.