Return to Northmoor IC

[PrecociousApprentice]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9J4h-r8rIc"]Intro Image[/ame]

The sound of the water rippling along the raft is soothing. The early morning sunlight is spectacular as the Blackwater Cat glides along the river. The mist has mostly dissipated as the rising sun burns the last tendrils from the surface of the water. The call of the ringed kingfisher splits the silence. Deciduous trees of medium height line the river. The sounds of the river are comforting. The day is turning out to be absolutely glorious. You are all gathered at the front of the Cat, admiring the morning and letting your breakfasts settle in your stomachs. MacLynn had you up earlier than usual this morning. He seems anxious to get to the Lost Village.

Suddenly, you hear a splash in the water just in front of the raft. You quickly glance to where the sound originated from, and see a rope rising out of the water, each end disappearing into the treeline at the edge of the river. The rope seems to stretch from bank to bank of the river, and the rope is quickly pulled about twelve feet above the surface of the water as it sails above your heads. As the Blackwater Cat floats under the rope, shouts emanate from the trees that seem to secure the rope, and men with swords come racing down the zip line on pulleys from each bank.

Click here to Roll for Initiative.
You must register an account first, then send the result to me. If you didn't get my email when it was up here, PM me and I will get it to you.

[SBLOCK=OC]Welcome to Return to Northmoor! I thought that we would shake things up right out of the gate. You are aboard the Blackwater Cat, with bandits trying to board, and it isn't even 7 am! The basic map is here. We are actually further from shore than this, about 60 feet from each side, but you get the idea.[/SBLOCK]

 

[Sparky]

Orthanach is standing at the raft's edge, the bluff young man's forhead is creased with concentration as he works a barge pole in the murky water. With steady sweeps of the pole he probes ahead for purchase and obstacles. Despite the chill, his hair is damp with sweat.

The splash brings his head up sharply and his mouth hangs open in surprise as he asesses the onrush of men and blades. They must not reach the raft.

[sblock]
OOC:
Minor action: Stow barge pole
Move action: Move/Climb atop deck cabin (not sure how big the raft is), movement is 5 (Check result 15)
Standard Action: (Minor) Draw dagger
Action Point Standard Action: Basic Attack vs. Rope (Attack roll 13)

NOTE: PA - you should get that email address out of this thread or 'encode it' before a spambot grabs it.[/sblock]

 

[pathfinderq1]

Aiffe had been up near the front of the raft for a while now as if she, like the Raftmaster, was eager to get to the Lost Village. She kept her gaze pointed downriver, mostly ignoring the trees along the bank- as if she were trying to read some sort of message within the swirling current around the prow of the raft.

All that changed in a single sparkling instant, as the bandits sprung their surprise. Obviously, they had not chosen their prey very carefully. Aiffe stood up just a bit straighter, turning her head to watch the bandits coming from the nearer side of the river. Her voice rang out in piercing tones, though the words were oddly liquid and unfamiliar, and she raised her right hand in an almost languid pointing gesture. The ruddy gold of the rising sun reflected off the river- and in a flash, a nearly identical sphere of flame gathered above her hand and spun outward.

OOC: Initiative was 21 from the original roll. Casting Scorching Burst- while her intent is to burn the rope, and so she intends to center the burst 1 effect on the rope itself; she will catch the lead bandit closest to her side if possible, but her main intent is to destroy the rope, hopefully dropping all the 'in transit' bandits into the river. Attack is at +4 vs. REF, damage 1d6+4 fire.

 

[PrecociousApprentice]

As the attack registers in everyone's brain, a quick glance at the shore reveals to true extent of your predicament. Several small boats are beginning their pursuit. Each boat seems to have about half a dozen men in it, and there are four that have left the treeline already. There seem to be about five men coming down the zipline from each shore, but more seem to appear on the ends of the rope as soon as the last clears the edge of the trees. Arround you, your companions begin to stir, and there is no time to waste, each sensing the need to take up defensive positions around the raft.


OOC

 

[Atanatotatos]

Init: 15

Culhwych reacts to the noise promptly. He turns away from the morning sun rising and, seeing his comrades aware of the danger, he doesn't speak a single word, hurries to the edge of the raft, taking out two arrows, gripping his bow securely and quickly aiming at the nearest assaulter.
Unfortunately, poor sleeping does seem to have an effect on the archer, as he sees immediately that at least one arrow fail to reach its target as soon as they leave his hand.


[sblock=action]As per mail sent, Initiative should be 15;
move to the edge of the raft nearest to the nearest foes; minor:quarry the nearest enemy; standard: twin strike vs the nearest enemy, 15 vs AC, 1 dmg+6 quarry; 9 vs AC, 5 dmg[/sblock]

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Init: 20

Llewellyn looks up from his book as the sounds of battle being joined greet his ears. Pulling out his sword with one hand, he walks briskly to the edge of the boat, book still open in his other hand. As he reaches the raft's edge, he snaps the tome shut with an air of finality and looks up, spectacles reflecting the morning light as he flicks his blade towards the oncoming bandits, a tendril of lightning reaching out and yanking the first bodily off the line and sending him skipping into the water, lightning crackling over his body.

[sblock=OOC]
Minor: Ready Sword
Move: Move to edge of raft.
Standard: Ready action to use Lightning Lure against the first opponent in range (3), hit Fort 22 for 10 points of lightning damage and slides the bandit adjacent to me (i.e. into the water next to the raft).
[/sblock]

 

[Redclaw]

Standing in his customary spot near the middle of the raft, Breccan sees his companions spring into swift action. He nods in recognition of their speed, but shouts out a few instructions. Those with range, see to the boats. The rest of you, focus on repelling the ones on the rope. Following his own advice, he fires a blast of eldritch energy at the nearest enemy, then sets himself to meet the approaching boarders.

[sblock=ooc] standard action: eldritch blast at nearest enemy, +3 vs. Reflex, 1d10+3 damage.
Move action: ready shield
Minor action: ready battleaxe [/sblock]

 

[PrecociousApprentice]

As the bandits hurtle toward the raft, Aiffe's spell streaks out and catches the first one in line on the ambush zipline. He is instantly immolated, his surprized scream cut off as he hits the water. The zipline is burnt in two at the site of the flame sphere, and the rest of the bandits are dropped toward the water.

At the instant that the line is severed, Llewellyn's lightning spell crackles into another bandit coming from the other side of the river. As the zipline drops this bandit toward the water, he is hit in the chest with a bolt of lightning that rips him through the air toward the raft. The bandit hits the water a few short yards away from the raft, and doesn't move. The rest of the bandits on the former zipline all hit the water at this moment.

After the zipline is severed, Culhwych reaches the railing and shoots one of the bandits in the approaching boats. The man seems to appear surprised. One minute he is standing at the prow of the boat, leading an attack on what appears to be a rich merchant vessel, the next minute he notices that he has arrow fletchings blooming from his chest. He hesitantly resches up to touch it, then gurgles blood from his mouth as he tips out of the front of the boat.

Orthanach hustles atop the crates near the hut, and notices that cutting the line is unnecessary at this point. He realizes that he will have to either wait for the boarding party, or draw a ranged weapon. At least he is in position to easily get around the raft without being confined between the crates.

As Breccan shouts instructions to the rest of the crew, he launches a spell at the nearest attacker in an oncoming boat. Seeing one of his comrades killed with missile fire, the bandit is not stupid and drops to the bottom of his boat, the arcane attack narrowly missing over his head.

The Blackwater Cat drifts peacefully down stream, leaving several dead bandits floating in the murky water, and a half dozen more treading water after a failed surprise attack. The bandits in boats proceed to advance, their initial confidence shaken a little at having taken the first casualties, and the advantage of their ambush being violently taken from them.

As the reality of the situation hits you, you notice two more small boats appearing from the trees at the shore.

OOC

 

[pathfinderq1]

Aiffe's lips twitched into just a fleeting hint of a grin as her spell lashed out- the thrill of arcane energy more than surpassed any pity she had for the men dying in the river. She cocked her head for the briefest instant, as if to catch some faint sound, but then returned to the task at hand. She favored Orthanach with a brief smile as he moved up beside her, then raised her voice. "Raftmaster MacLynn, sir! There are some unpleasant men trying to bleed on your goods and on your deck!" Even as she spoke, her right hand dipped to the slender case at her belt, and she drew forth a slender stick of white birch tipped with a crystal- a crystal whose depths seemed to glitter with the same sun-fire light as she had thrown forth a moment ago... An instant later, that fire reached out towards one of the full boats, engulfing the small craft and most of its crew.

OOC: [sblock] Draw wand, then unleash another Scorching Burst- this time targeting the center of the nearest (as yet untargeted) boat on her side of the raft. With a Area Burst 1 effect, that is three squares on a side- which should encompass the entire small boat, and the water on each side. For dice rolling, I'll figure four targets per boat; each 1 at +5 vs. REF; rolls 9, 17, 21, 14- looks like three hits; damage would be 1d6+5, but no roll needed vs. minions; dice roll link Roll Lookup [/sblock]

 

[PrecociousApprentice]

The flame burst explodes in one of the boats, scattering the men inside it. Some are now dead, others are just lucky and wet. Now they have no boat, and are forced to tread water with their dead companions.

Seeing the explosion, the men in a few of the boats quit rowing. A man in the prow of one of the boats bellows, "Keep rowing, you lazy bastards! You can't let a few parlor tricks frighten you!" He whacks the closest rower back into action with the flat of the blade of his shortsword. They began rowing again.

OOC