IndyPendant's Sunless Citadel

[Sorrow The Man Bear]

Lehko grunts and straightens. "I stlil don't like it." He is about to turn and head back into the inn when Ydyr charges into the darkness. Never one to respond slowly, he steps to the side and follows Ydyr, trying to keep him in torch range, muttering about fools and bards. Much as he dislikes this chasing about in the shadows, he is part of the company, and comrades-at-arms don't allow eachother to go without backup.

 

[JimAde]

"What?" Jerek calls. "Hey, wait up!" He pelts after the others.

 

[IndyPendant]

Jerek turns around and enters the inn once more, just as Ydyr calls out for Heirmund and Dengar, and runs off--in the opposite direction from Dengar. Lehko and Jair race off after him, Terek bounding alongside Jair with obvious pleasure. Jerek races off after them, and a moment later Dengar lumbers a bit more slowly past the inn, calling out for everyone to wait. They completely ignore him, and very quickly outdistance him, although Dengar can still easily pinpoint them by Lehko's torch.

((Edit: Jerek's post beat mine to the boards. : ) Heirmund can join in the race and arrive slightly late even though I'm moving a bit ahead of that--if he likes.))

Ydyr, Lehko, and Jair run for less than half a minute when they hear, "...your big mouth, didn't you? I told you what would happen if you did." There's a grunt, and a gasp, and another voice cries quietly in horror, "You stuck him! Gods below, Ren, you stuck him!" The first voice growls scornfully, "Of course I stuck him, idiot! Can't have him running off for help. And you're going to stay too, if you don't want the same thing."

Ydyr slows down slightly to go around another building as the voice continues, "Oh, just let him go. He ain't going nowhere now." The darkness makes details indistinct, but Ydyr can vaguely see a large number of people a ways in front of him, on the outskirts of the field of a farm--one of whom collapses to the ground quietly. As Jair and Lehko catch up, bringing light with them, they all recognize Redithidoor lying on the ground unmoving, his arms still clasped around his ripped-open gut as if to hold in his entrails, as his blood mixes with the waterlogged mud. There are seven men standing here. One of them says with sudden conviction, "Damn you Ren, I ain't no murderer!" and turns and runs away into the darkness of the field. A second simply stands and stares down at Redithidoor. But the rest fan out around the biggest among them, as he flicks his right wrist to fling excess blood from his blade, calling out softly "This ain't my fault, Devin! I woulda just beaten him a bit if George had done his part right! Maybe I'll come after you next." As Jerek joins the three of them, the man faces the newcomers squarely, seeming to grow bigger than he already is, and repeats calmly, "This is your fault. You just had to get involved, didn't you? Just turn and walk away, and the same thing won't happen to you." His eyes are scary: cold, flat, and seemingly...soulless.

 

[JimAde]

Jerek glances quickly between the two groups sizing up the odds and not liking what he sees. As he speaks, he casts glances at the others surrounding Ren, trying to decide if they'll stand fast if things get violent.

"Oh, yes, clearly our fault," he says briskly, drifting to one side. "Obviously I threw that poor git onto your knife while you were cleaning your nails."

[sblock] +0 Sense Motive but I'll give it a shot anyway. Also +7 Sleight of Hand to surreptitiously draw my own dagger.[/sblock]

 

[Two-Gun Kid]

Dengar Tonhil

As the others took off and ran past him, Dengar tried to get the others to wait until the group could go at its full strength, but none heeded his call.

'If it is just another soul with an irritable stomach...'

When Dengar reached the others, he saw the body of the bard on the ground and looked over at the men who committed the act.

"I will give you all one chance to surrender and be held accountable by whatever laws govern this place. If you turn my offer down, you can discuss the wisdom of your choice with whatever god you follow."

Dengar drew his flail as he spoke, and waited to see what their reaction would be.

[sblock]Intimidation check +3, if they blow him off, Dengar will go after the leader first hoping to drop him and weaken the morale of the others.[/sblock]

 

[jayaint]

Seeing the man laying broken and bloody on the ground brings Ydyr's senses to a full boil. Memories of the pain and horror of waiting to die in an empty field, course through his veins. His fists clench and unclench slowly.

"Illmater shall not stand for this impasse," Ydyr speaks softly to himself, waiting to hear the leader's response to Dengar's challenge.

[[Are any of the other men armed? If combat begins and the other men are unarmed, I will try to use a double move to get in a flanking position BEHIND the big man. Though, if there are other weapons on the men, I would move to the nearest armed man and attack.]]

 

[Voadam]

Terek senses the agression in the other group and the hackles of the hound rise up along with a low growl in his throat.

Jair lowers his spear at the men, ready to charge in. His eyes are set hard but a grin appears as he looks over the opposition.

"I have healing magic, if I can get to him soon enough I can save him." Jair says quietly to his companions out of the corner of his mouth.

 

[Mithran]

Heirmund (illusionist)

((OOC: yeah if Heirmund heard the shouts and stuff he'll come along pretty quick))

 

[Sorrow The Man Bear]

Lehko's eyes grow dark, and his hair stands on end a little. Lightning plays off his fingertips, and he says "Surrendur?" He lets out a harsh laugh. "I have no patience for murderers of boys. Take my friend's offer, fool, before this goes too far-... for you."

[[Attempting to Aid Dengar's Intimidate check. However, the moment anything goes down, my first action will be to cast Forcewave on the nearest threat standing between Jair and Redithidoor, attempting to give him a path to the lad.]]

 

[IndyPendant]

Heirmund has just sat down at the table again, when he sees the rest of the party race off past the still-open inn door. He gets back to his feet once more, and races off after them, but he is slightly hampered by the darkness. As he hurries out the door again, he hears the innkeeper call from behind him, "Fachelle! Fachelle! Get down here, woman! Now!"

Meanwhile, the tableau between the two groups holds for a few moments--long enough for Dengar to catch up, push to the front with his flail drawn, and try to scare the rabble off.

Their leader, Ren, is wearing studded leather under a heavy cloak, and is holding a bloodied longsword. You can see that he is a half-orc, in the flickering light from Lehko's torch, although he seems to have retained very few of his orcish looks. He stands about thirty feet from Dengar, with two each of his men standing on either side and slightly behind him. His men are wearing leather armour, carry shortswords at their belts, and don't look nearly as certain about their invulnerability. Behind the group of men and slightly to one side, another one stands in apparent shock, staring down at Redithidoor's body, completely oblivious to the tension nearby. You can still faintly hear the final man fleeing--as fast as he can in this near-total darkness, that is.

Jair and Ydyr each stand on either side of Dengar, and just five feet behind him due to his stepping forward to threaten the other group. Jair has his spear drawn and ready, Terek snarling by his side. Lehko stands about ten feet behind Ydyr and just to the left, while Jerek sidles slowly to the right towards the wall, quietly drawing his dagger, apparently ignored.

This small home is the only one in the immediate area; beyond it lies farmland. You stand off the main road, on a little-used wagonpath. Other than the rest of the tiny town a short distance away, the space is wide open in every other direction.

When the five party members show up, the four men flanking Ren draw their shortswords, looking very nervous. One of them licks his lips, his eyes darting to each of you, while another actually takes a step backwards, saying "Uh, Ren, maybe we should just run, y'know? We got what we--" "Shut up." Ren orders, almost casually. Glancing quickly to his men, Ren obviously realizes he's in danger of losing control of the moment. He growls "Screw you, you pastyfaced corpse!" and moves to attack Dengar! Somewhat less eagerly, the other four muggers follow him...

((Intimidate checks: Ren 19; Dengar 5+7=12; Lehko 13+7=20.))

((Initiative: Heirmund/14; Jair/14; Ren/12; Ydyr/10; Dengar/10; Lehko/7; Muggers/6; Jerek/4.))

((Everyone gets full round actions because no one was the least bit surprised. Heirmund will spend this round's action moving to the scene, to end up ten feet behind Lehko.))