To the noble BORN 6/9/08 (finished)

[Evilhalfling]

The farmer freezes for just an instant and then clutches the horse harder.
Xaros' bolt slams into the rump of the horse, but the war-trained beast barely flinches as it continues across the fields.

With the rest of the party dismounted, Rayburn is the only person in position to follow the rider, although Lilly could stay close enough to provide support.

Cait you move to where farmer was, you can see immediately that some of the "weeds " ...
IRL: DM runs to catch bus

... that the farmer was pulling was actually wheat. The area is somewhat disturbed, but its hard to tell more than that.

 

[knight_isa]

Rayburn looks around, realizes that he's the only one on horseback and mutters "Wonderful" before setting off after the rider.

If he manages to close to wand of magic missile range (130'), he'll shoot the rider.
If he approaches a tree line or embankment or something else that could hide an ambush, he'll stop.

 

[Evilhalfling]

The Chase is on!
Across the fields the two (three?) novice riders gallop, and slowly the rest of you can see Rayburn closeing on his target. There does not seem to be any other ambushers in the immediate area. Craig Climbs ontop of a wagon "I don't see anyone else nearby." (and neither does Xaros whose eyes are probably better)

Rayburn the weeks you have spent with this steed are paying off and it responds to you putting on greater speed. But after riding for 3 rounds, you can see a shallow gully coming up, and it looks like the other guy is going to jump it. Your not sure if your within wand range, you think he is close to the max range.

OOC: Rayburn's horsemanship 12+3+2(cirumstance)=17
Farmers horsemanship = 9.
Lily, if you are following you are 1 round behind Rayburn.

 

[Dekana]

Lily gives chase, but she is unsure of what to do if she catches up with the farmer. He hasn't made any overtly hostile actions; he could have simply seen the band of heavily armored nobles approaching then fled thinking they were bandits. With this in mind, she doesn't let loose an arrow just yet.

 

[Jack of Tales]

Cait looks to those who haven't given chase and points to the ground. She bends over and picks up a few broken strands of grain and shakes it angrily towards the fleeing rider. " He's obviously a spy of some sort. This isn't weeding, it's just destruction of someone's field. We should see what happened to the real farmer. Shall we check out the inside of the shanty while our companions catch him?"

 

[WarShrike]

"Good call. Uh, ladies first." says Xaros, reloading.

 

[Fenris]

"Wouldn't that make you first Xaros" laughs Kerin as he continues to head to the shed.

 

[knight_isa]

I really shouldn't have skipped those riding lessons...

Rayburn hopes fervently that the fleeing rider fails in his attempt to clear the gully, but visions of himself tumbling end over end into the mud with the horse rolling over him stop him short of jumping it himself. He wont spend a charge on the wand unless he is sure the rider is within range.

If the rider does crash and burn so Rayburn can catch up to him, Rayburn will try to get him to surrender rather than shoot him.

 

[Evilhalfling]

"YeeHa!" the farmer clears the gully with a mighty bound, while a moment later Rayburn pulls up short, and looks down into the watery trench. The man hits another track and gallops off to the west, making good on his escape.

Meanwhile the halflings still cluster defensively around their wagons, Keef standing among them with the horses.
Cait, Kerin and Xaros surround the door of the shack, who is opening it again?



OOC: farmer horsemanship= nat 20

 

[knight_isa]

Rayburn grimaces as the rider disappears from view. "It's a pity I'm not a dashing swordsman," he mutters to himself.

He waits a moment longer, watching for a horde of bandits or some such to appear, then returns to the others.