Old Ways IC

[Roland St. Jude]

Jeanne continues to cover both doors from the middle of the large chamber. The flames continue to burn and smoke in the one room.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon coughs from the smoke and asks in a hoarse, uncertain-sounding voice, "I don't have much experience with burning oil. Is it supposed to still be burning?"

"I hope that my fears prove groundless and the fire isn't going on by burning something else, like the roof or the walls."

[Roland St. Jude]

Brandon stands guard at the flaming door, off to one side but within a sword's reach should any goblins emerge. Jeanne waits in the middle of the room with her bow and arrow ready and her attention split between both doors.

Stefan moves to support Nathros and Gregaros near the other door and Talsarios waits nearby, careful not to get between the elven archer and either door.

Spoiler

Show

Some DM action there but nothing unexpected, I'd wager.

[jmbrown]

"Well, a single oil pot burns for a good 6 hours when concentrated, yes? Give it a minute or two. The goblins inside should be suffocating."

Jeanne holds her position, shifting her attention to the party's flank.

[Valameer]

Stefan readies his sling when the others are ready to attack.

"Does anyone hear them panicking? Maybe they're not even there anymore. But anyway, I'm set if we want to go in on this side."

Spoiler

Show

HP: 2/2 AC: 2 THAC0: 19
This is Stefan's sling attack roll for when the door opens.
To hit: (1d20)[17]
Damage: (1d4)[2]

[Matthew]

If somebody opens the door, Nathros hurls his spear at any goblins visible.

Spoiler

Show

Nathros, Level One Dwarf: AC 5(3); HP 4(1); THAC0 19.

Attack Roll: (1d20+1)[8]
Damage Roll: (1d6+1)[7]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Weak and pale, Brandon gestures vaguely with his shield, "Why don't the rest of you go help Nathros and Gregoras? I'll stay here and guard this door in case the flames die down and any goblins attack again."

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Spoiler

Show

Talsarios continues to wait for a target, sling ready.

[Roland St. Jude]

Brandon waits outside the doorway of the room in flames, waiting around the corner should anything emerge. Other than a bit of smoke, nothing does.

Everyone else takes up positions around the other door.

[jmbrown]

"A most effective tactic, if I do say so myself. They're either asphyxiated or retreated further in."

[Matthew]

Nathros grips his spear, palms sweating.

[Roland St. Jude]

The flames seem to die down a bit, though something on the floor still burns and gives off smoke.

No sound can be heard from either side room, either through the door or through the crackling flame.

[Sterngir]

Gregaros opened the door.

[Roland St. Jude]

Gregaros opens the door with Nathros and Stefan nearby ready to attack. The door opens into an empty room, the floor strewn with straw, and little light slipping in through the arrow slits along the left wall. At the far end is the suggestion of a set of stone stairs leading up.

[Matthew]

"Looks like our little spiders wish to lure us further into the web." Nathros proceeds carefully towards the stairwell, looking for signs of a trap and periodically prodding the straw ahead with his spear.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

"Are we going to press on, then? Hold on a moment," says Talsarios, and moves over to Brandon.
"Look, old chap," he says, patting the fighter on his armoured shoulder, "I think we're going to try to push on a little farther - at least to explore a bit and see what we're up against. Of course we'll retreat when things get hairy - my man and I are both somewhat frail types from the Old Country, not like you doughty, tough colonials. So, buck up, eh? And we'll be all the better prepared when we come back.
With that, he turns away and raises his eyebrows pointedly at Gregaros, nodding toward the shadowy room and stairs ahead.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon nods a bit listlessly. He says, "Just peek."

Some silence, then he says, "You know... They know this keep a lot better than we do. Is there any reason we -have- to follow them immediately? We're bound to walk into an ambush sooner or later."

"Why don't we just barricade the door and rest a bit? They probably have their storeroom on the ground floor. Goblin victuals will tide us over for a day at least."

[Sterngir]

"A day? In their keep?"
Gregaros shook his head momentarily, then crossed the room to the stairwell and swept up it, sword held in front of him and teeth gritted.

Spoiler

Show

If he comes across a door, he opens it. If he comes across multiple openings or turnings, take the left one. Should he encounter anything that looks hostile, attack.
AC 6, HP 1, THACO 19
Attack: (1d20)[8]
Damage: (1d8)[2]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

Brandon looks confused, "Uh, is it still their keep when we control the entire ground floor?"

[Roland St. Jude]

Gregaros rushes through the straw-littered room, past an overturned wooden table and chairs, and up the stairs. What little light filters in from the murder holes barely illuminates the stairs. The tower level above seems to be a single dark room, with no windows, but a stairway that continues up to another level above. What little light there is pours down that stairway from above.

Gregaros finds himself faces with a trio of bow-wielding goblins. They fire out of their shadowy cover against the far wall and catch him with a single arrow.

Spoiler

Show

Gregaros -2 hp

Everyone else can have followed him as closely as you'd like.

[Matthew]

"Wait!" Nathros strains to keep pace with his rash companion, and seeing him go down in a hail of arrows waxes hot with anger, charging into the midst of the archers.

Spoiler

Show

Nathros, Level One Dwarf: AC 5(3); HP 4(1); THAC0 19.

Attack Roll: (1d20+1)[9]
Damage Roll: (1d6+1)[5]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Brandon is too tired to talk, too tired for rage or despair, and certainly too tired for lusty battle-cries.

He hesitates a heartbeat when Gregaros takes an arrow, but when Nathros' rushes forward, Bran sighs.

He solemnly takes his second and last flask of oil, calls out in a flat voice, "Prepare to throw a torch," and hurls the flask as best as he can at the rear-most goblin, hoping to set them all aflame before they can loose more shafts.

Spoiler

Show

Hit Points: 2/8.

Attack: (1d20)[16]
Thac0: 19
Damage: To be determined.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

His fatigue almost makes Brandon forget, but he also says, "Stefan, help him, please."

Spoiler

Show

With the above attack roll, I'm presuming that the tower is not very wide across and Brandon needs to walk forward only a short distance to throw his flask of oil without a penalty.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Hearing the twang of bow strings and the thump of a falling human-sized body, Talsarios rushes up the stairs and looks around for Gregaros in the gloom.
You rash fool! thinks Talsarios - whether thinking of Gregaros or himself, he wouldn't be able to tell you.

Spoiler

Show

If Talsarios can see Gregaros, he'll drag him as quickly as he can back to the stairwell...

[Sterngir]

Oh.
Gregaros slid limply onto the floor and passed out.

Spoiler

Show

Save vs Death Ray 13
(1d20)[1]

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros rushes forward, stepping over his fallen comrade on the landing, and swings his axe in the face of the three small goblin archers. The dark was no barrier to Nathros' eyes, and he spied them kneeling against the far wall, fumbling to reload. He scans the small tower level, maybe 15 feet in diameter and sees no other immediate threats.

Talasarios was almost as fast after his friend, grabbing Gregaros by the collar in preparation to drag him back down the stairs.

"Stop that," says Stefan through clenched teeth, as he shoulders past Talsarios. He attempts to staunch the bleeding from the fallen man's wounds, with some success.*

Jeanne rushes to the base of the stairs but doesn't have a clear shot though the crowd at the landing.

Brandon makes it almost as far, oil drawn.

Spoiler

Show

That's about how much everyone could do in Round 1.

*DM action. Stefan rolled an 7 Heal check and 2 healing. +2 hp to Gregaros.

The goblin archers struggle to reload for their Round 2 action. (There's a reason those arrows coming out of the murder holes were all disorganized.)

The landing is quite small and now bottled up with three people. Moving past them is possible, but narrate the difficulty.

PCs turn.

[jmbrown]

Jeanne shoulders her bow and produces her shield to block the arrows. "We can't get bottlenecked here, push in!"

[Sterngir]

Sadly, Gregaros' blood loss had been staunched already by the cessation of his heart.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

"No! Not Gregoras! Nooooo!"
Talsarios snatches up his fallen friend's sword and rushes the closest goblin in a fury, swearing and screaming loudly!

Spoiler

Show

Incompetent sword use - (1d20-1)[17]
Sadly low damage - (1d4)[2]

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros fells one of the goblin archers and Talsarios charges in next to him, planting Gregaros' blade into another goblin. Jeanne, shield raised, rushes to the top of the stairwell and stands beside the kneeling Stefan.

The goblins fire again, but pressed against the wall with steel in their faces, they miss

Spoiler

Show

DM action for Nathros.

Two goblin archers remain, one badly injured.

PCs turn