To Con the Con-man

[HolyMan]

Although the strange creature doesn't know much about tactics it does seem to understand the weapon Alex holds and what it is capable of. It lunges forward like the wild beast it is and claws and bites desperately at the young nobleman.

Alex's arcane armor protects him from all the wild clawing and biting and he poises himself ready for a counterattack.

[sblock=OOC] Axel is away from the world and the internet for a week or more. Just going to run your fight and it will dictate the fate of both battles. No pressure.[/sblock]

Alex is up.

 

[Axel]

Keeping one eye on the nearby demon cats Alden can barely keep his hands from shaking as he fumbles in the saddle bags for his crossbow and arrows. How did this happen? I don't want to die in a muddy ditch! I don't want to die at all!!

Finally retrieving the weapon Alden's hands fumble the bolts as he tries to load it, dropping a few bolts onto the stony ground. Finally, something seems to go right, and he succeeds in getting the weapon loaded. Hefting it to his shoulder, the weight of the wooden object is comforting somehow. Taking deep breaths to steady himself, he thinks "Just treat it like target practice. They're big bales of hay... The're big bales of hay..."

[sblock=OOC]
Standard action: Retrieve crossbow and bolts.
Move action: Load crossbow.

Good to be back in the game! I didn't realise I would miss it so much.
[/sblock]

 

[HolyMan]

[sblock=OOC] NP and WB [/sblock]

The odd cats take to growling low in their throats as the gnolls yip and bark back at them. Neither side ready to make a move, both ready to charge into the other.

[sblock=OOC2] Ok I think that last post was round 3 - round 4 the beasties all growl at one another. Better take a shot while you can, before they all get mixed up in melee.[/sblock]

 

[Axel]

Squinting along the length of the crossbow with his left eye, Alden lines on the closest demon-cat.

Jerking the weapon's trigger, precisely how he was trained not to do, Alden hears a "Twang!" followed by the second most unnerving sound he has heard today. He had completely forgotten that crossbows produced that horrible, unearthly scream as the bolt flew through the air in an arc well above the demon-cat.

Cursing his own ineptness, he kneels down and fumbles to reload his weapon.

[sblock=OOC]
standard action: shoot southernmost Krenshar.
move action: reload crossbow.

Thanks for the opportunity to catch up. Good to be back in civilization, with no communal shower blocks...
[/sblock]

 

[Zerith]

[sblock=OoC] your notice Alexander took a step back; IE a 5; step, thus avoiding the possibility of claw attacks. But I’ll try to be more clear on the matter in the future.[/sblock]

The animal was more aggressive than Alexander had initially realized; he would have to slay it before it could find a nick in his defense to wound him through. Just because he had not done anything to him yet did not mean he would not or could not respect what it could do if he allowed it to.
Alexander leaned in and motioned to stab downwards into the things body at a diagonal before rotating his weapon mid swing[FONT=&quot], attempting to turn the thrust into a pummel strike to the head to stun the animal so that he could end things quickly, however the animal daftly ducked the blow, his attack ending in failure again Alexander made an abrupt leap backwards to escape its reach before it could attack him again.

[sblock=OoC] actions: attack, 5’ step backwards.
Also, with these crapy rolls, they are going to mule Aliden and the Gholls in 5, 4, 3, 2…[/sblock]
[/FONT]

 

[HolyMan]

Alex horse bolts away from the fight as he and the krenshar are now locked in... mortal combat.

_______________________________________________________

The crossbow bolt goes wide of it's target. The twang of the string is as almost as good as fight bell as the two group rush forward clawing, stabbing, and biting.

 

[HolyMan]

OCC:Moving up

[sblock=Combat]

Character      AC  HP  InHand/Condition
Alex           [COLOR=RoyalBlue]16[/COLOR][COLOR=Orange]   4[/COLOR]  rapier/[I][COLOR=RoyalBlue]mage armor[/COLOR][/I]
Alden          14   6  c.bow/none
gnolls(3)      13  11  spears/none
Wet Nose       ??  ??  b.axe/none
Poo Breath     ??  ??  l.spear/[COLOR=Cyan][I]scared[/I][/COLOR]
krensharA      15   [COLOR=Orange]7[/COLOR]  none/none
krenshars(4)   15  11  none/none

[/sblock]

 

[Axel]

Hefting his crossbow to his shoulder again, Alden squints down the sights. All he can see is the back of a dog trying to bite a cat. In the middle of the road. OK, this is just getting weird now.

"Get out of the way you stupid dog! I can't see anything!" he shouts, before moving around to get a better angle. Ready for the horrendous shriek of the crossbow this time, a stone rolls under his foot just as he squeezes the trigger. The bolt flies harmlessly wide, not even close to the demon cat to draw its attention.

[sblock=OOC&combat description]
Move action: Move diagonally south-west 2 squares (15'). Move west 3 squares (15'). Have assumed not difficult terrain for the green squares. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Std action: Shoot southern Krenshar. Should be just the -4 for shooting into melee.

It's official...my eDice hate me just as hard as my real dice... Last RL session I made 6 successful skill checks to ambush a sorceror using slippers of spider climb or somesuch. Then a 1 on my attack roll...

Still itching for the chance to eShout 20!!!!!!
[/sblock]

 

[Zerith]

Alexander had thought the arcane might he was bathing in was far superior to what it actually was and over reached to dire results.
When it attacked, instead of trying to entirely evade the strike he chose to grab its head and put a swift end to the conflict, and he briefly succeeded.
he grabbed it by its lowers jaw, raised it high onto its hind legs and drew the lion’s share of his armor onto his left hand to prevent it from harming his hand. Seeing his victory nigh Alexander Grinned with a devilish malice unrivaled by common men as he pulled his rapier back and started to send it plummeting into the animal’s left eye in a final death blow; it was over, or so he thought.

The beast was clawing frantically at what he assumed was it’s final moment; with the aura covering his breast thinned considerably, there was nothing preventing it from sundering his flesh as it swiped across his chest. Suffering his first true wound Alexander’s grip loosened and his strike hit the beat’s exposed skull and did no more than paining the animal while it escaped his grasp and he stumbled back while roaring out in agony as he clutched at his wounded chest; his situation just turned dire. If he turned about and simply fled it would ketch him in an instant, and if he hastened himself with an Arcana before trying to flee it would fall him before he could both get the spell off and turn about to fleet.
He was out of options; he was never out of options. This was not suppose to happen, this couldn't happen, This could not be the end.

He looked at his hand with wide eyes filled to the rim with panic and fright, it was soaked in blood and his face turned pale as he realized his own mortality, his own weakness and arrogance flashed before his eyes, then his pride and ire caused him to roar “NEVER!!!”he bellowed out gutturally while clenching his teeth, flaring his brows furiously and steeling himself one last time while surging all the arcane might he could muster around himself to reinvigorate his armor.
His eyes flared with rage; he then sought to murder it with pure bloodlust.

A shattering end was nigh.

 

[HolyMan]

Most of the gnolls visiously attack to no avail while Wet Nose and another cut deeply into two of the creatures.

The wounded krenshar growl and flee as the ones remaining attack. Wet Nose takes a little scratch while the gnoll closest to Alden gets mauled nearly to death.

_____________________________________________

Meanwhile Alex's slight blow across the creatures flank just causes it to attack even savagely than before. His armor manages to keep the creatures claws at bay but it's sharp teeth break through the enchantment to sink into the young nobles arm.