AvB - Estellise

[Rizban]

"The docks are pretty safe during the day, and all the disappearances happen at night. In the morning, all signs have already been cleaned up. I suspect the work of some evil creature that can pass for human during the day. Of note is that only humans have been targeted."

[Selinia]

"Only humans? That's... interesting. As is the timing. Docks it is. I suppose we have a few options then... but a lot of them take time, and I don't exactly fancy the idea of wasting time while more people vanish. It's getting late, and by now I'm tempted to try and draw them out personally. At the very least, see what kind of creature we're dealing with. But I don't want to put any of you in danger unless you're sure you are ready to fight. As much as I would like for this to end peacefully, I somehow doubt a kidnapper - and likely a murderer - is going to quietly go along with us."

"I thank you for your help so far, but I just want to say that I don't want you to come unless you want to come." At this point, Estellise's air of exaggerated seriousness dropped as she cracked a grin. "On the other hand, if you're willing to go on a moronic and likely suicidal adventure for the sake of truth and justice, then I'm sure it will be a pleasure working with you, Sister Marion!"

"Either way... the evening is growing long. If we want a chance to catch the perpetrators, we'll need to get going soon. Or I'll need a map, if my guide would rather not risk life and limb for a complete stranger."

[Rizban]

"Well, I'm not exactly human, so I'm not exactly at risk. Let's go. We should start down by the piers. Sundown is in about two hours, so we should get moving now if we're going tonight."

The docks are on the other side of the river. This side of the river is a steep stone embankment, giving the city a natural defensive feature. The only bridge linking the two banks for miles is the King's Causeway. A fortress is built on an island in the middle of the river, and it is across this island that the King's Causeway runs. Two massive gatehouses at the ends of the Causeway close and lock at sundown, leaving anyone on the far side of the river locked out of the city until dawn.

[Selinia]

"Well, if we're looking for lawlessness, might as well get as far from the law as we can." Keeping up a brisk pace, Estellise strode quickly through the city gates, leaving the 'civil' parts of civilization behind her. "... and there we go. 'The lines of battle have been drawn, and only the first move awaits', as my grandfather would say. You know, I wonder if I look delicious enough to ambush."

Happily strolling into the slum-like docks, the young knight addressed her companion. "By the way, what did you mean when you said you were 'not exactly' human?" For the first time, Estellise gave a real, detailed look at the Sister assigned to be her guide.

[Rizban]

You notice that not only is her hair red, but so are her eyes. The pupils are cross shaped, like a goat's eyes. Other than that, she seems to be entirely human.

"You might say that my grandfather had a very... fiendish disposition."

The two of you arrive in the docks district shortly after night fall. Things are eerily quite, and the streets are desolate. Even the rats seem to be afraid to wander the streets at night. You have recently heard a rumor that Pier 7 is known as "Death's Door" due to anyone moored there overnight being found dead the next morning. It seems as good a place to start as any.

[Selinia]

Estellise continues towards the so-called "Death's door". For one, it was called the bloody Death's Door. And for second...

...

Well, that was actually pretty good by itself, given the circumstances and what they were looking for. You never read stories about the serial killer taking refuge in the den of merry rainbows.

[Rizban]

As you approach the pier, you hear the sounds the combat. On Pier 7, you spot a person in full plate fighting a man armed with only a dagger and a loincloth. Two city guards, heavily bruised and bloody with obvious wounds from a spiked chain, are tied up against one of the pylons of the pier. An injured merchant lies on the ground just behind the person in full plate, barely clinging to life.

Before you can react, two fiery missiles fly in from the side, impacting the person in plate and the unarmored one. A human and half-elf immediately rush to the pier and attempt to stabilize the wounds of both so that neither die, but the man in the loincloth was too heavily injured by Mr. Platemail to survive the energy missile.

After the human finished binding the wounds of the injured man in plate, he turns to tend to the injured merchant. Before he can even begin, four more half-naked men like the first appear as if from nowhere and begin trying to stab the two to death. They stand back to back against the edge of the pier, trying to protect one another from the unexpected assault, but soon the human finds himself heavily wounded and unable to withstand another hit. The half-elf doesn't appear to be in very good condition either. Just as you are about to act, they manage to fell one of the four attackers, but you don't think they'll survive much longer.

Sister Marion leans over to you and whispers, "Maybe we should help them instead of just watching..."

[Rizban]

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{table]|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I
1|w|w|w||||w|w|w
2|w|w|w|A|||w|w|w
3|w|w|w|H|||w|w|w
4|w|w|w|K|A||w|w|w
5|w|w|w|A|||w|w|w
6|w|w|w||||w|w|w
7|
8|
9|X|X|X|X|X|||X|X
10|X|X|X|X|X|E|M|X|X[/table]

E = Estellise
M = Marion
w = water
X = building
H = Human
K = Half-Elf
A = Attacker

[Selinia]

"Obviously. Come on, no time to waste! You try to take the..."

Shouting commands, rushes forward, stringing an arrow and doing her best to make herself seen. Stringing an arrow, she lets fly at the foe engaging the human, who seemed to be on death's door.

Her companion moved forward, releasing a mouthful of deadly spittle on the injured assailant harassing the battered human as well.

Spoiler

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Estellise moves to space E7. Shoots at the skulk targeting the injured human in D2. To-Hit: [roll]1d20+6[/roll] || Damage [roll]1d8+3[/roll]

Marion moves to space F6, shoots Dissolving Spittle at the attacker in space D2 To-Hit(1d20+4)[10] || Damage: (4d6)[15]

[Selinia]

Estellise bowshot.

To-Hit: (1d20+6)[19] || Damage (1d8+3)[9]

[Rizban]

Sister Marion shouts at them, "Foul scum, return to the dirt from where you crawled! Fight me, if you aren't too much of a COWARD!"

[Rizban]

A man in blue armor coming from the opposite way appears, and without any noticeable spellcasting to the casual observer, five blue energy missiles strike Sister Marion. She takes 27 damage.

(You're still going to have to wait for the rest of the turn order to finish out.)

The armored man seems to flinch for a moment, then calls out, "Sorry about that. I didn't see the skulks at first. Should have payed more attention. Do y'all need help?"

[Selinia]

"Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Please, direct all attacks towards the naked lunatics with knives! Also, you almost killed a Sister of Salvation, you idiot! Protect her!"

[Rizban]

He nods slightly at you.

The human near death unleashes a barrage of energy missiles against the three remaining creatures, killing the one attacking him and wounding the other two. He then steps away from the two and further away from shore and picks something up off the ground.

The two remaining creatures move into flanking positions around the half-elf, attempting to stab it to death.

A group of four of the same creature has apparently been following you and Marion since sundown, and they have chosen now to join the fight. They step out of the shadows and surround Estellise, before you even notice them, their daggers are already stabbing into you. Your armor turns two of the knives, but the other two find gaps in the armor.

Damage - (1d4+6)[9] + Bane - (2d6)[4]
Damage - (1d4+6)[7] + Bane - (2d6)[7]


(It's now the half-elf's turn followed by yours and Marion's)

[Rizban]

The half-elf hisses in pain as the dagger stabs him. He glances at the newly arrived group and sighs quietly.

"Any and all help would be grateful. My friend is badly wounded and could use some healing."

He then readjusts his grip and activates one of his maneuvers causing a small fiery elemental to appear behind the creature who had hit him. He takes advantage of the distraction to launch an attack against the creature, cutting it down where it stands. He then takes a small step to guard the human.

(Estellise's turn, then Marion's)

[Selinia]

Things looked... bad. The creatures just kept coming, as if crawling out of the woodwork of the little shanty town around the docks. It hit Estellise...

She was probably going to die here.

She'd know that, in a sort of glib way. But meeting it head on... she grit her teeth, and reached down inside herself for whatever courage she could find. If she was to meet the Invincible, she at least wanted one good story to tell. Slipping through the web of thrusts and slashes, she raised her voice in an old battle hymn. If she died today, it would likely be the last one House Lothian ever sang.

As the darkness gathers all around/The silence falls without a sound
A clash of blades/A flash of sparks
And hope returns to weary hearts...

It was a sad song, of a bold, final effort. But it was fitting, and those around would feel their hearts lifted by the words.

Spoiler

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Estellise 5-foot-steps to D6. She activates Bardsong.

Marion 5-foot-steps to F5. She casts (spits? incarnifies?) Dissolving Spittle on the Skulk in D5. To-Hit: (1d20+4)[17] || Damage: (4d6)[22]

Knowledge check. Local: What the heck are these things? (1d20+10)[18]

[Rizban]

As you sing, the gathered defenders' spirits lift a small amount.

Sister Marion spits acid at the last remaining creature on the pier. Overcome by the acidic burns, it drops to the ground, lifeless. It seems that the pier itself appears clear and safe... for the moment. Now, if only Estellise can manage to get behind the half-elf, she might be safe for a bit.

The man in blue platemail fires off another volley of missiles at the nearest creature to him. It seems relatively unfazed by this.

The human being guarded by the half-elf fires off another volley of energy missiles, hitting all four creatures. The one that got hit with the magic missiles seems to have resisted the worst of it. The other three take the full hit.

The creature farthest in from the dock takes a 5ft step to follow Estellise and stabs her, a blow she narrowly avoids. Unfortunately, the other one leaves a nasty gash on her back: Damage - (1d4+6)[8] + Bane - (2d6)[8].

The other two look a moment at the man in blue platemail, and charge him. He cowers behind his shield, which takes the pair of blows.

The half-elf attacks the nearest creature, nearly chopping it in half, but it continues to stand, albeit unsteadily.

Updated Map:

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{table]|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I
0|w|w|w|w|w|w|w|w|w
1|w|w|w||||w|w|w
2|w|w|w|H|||w|w|w
3|w|w|w||||w|w|w
4|w|w|w|K|||w|w|w
5|w|w|w|A||M|w|w|w
6|w|w|w|E|||w|w|w
7|P|A|||A
8||A|||
9|X|X|X|X|X|||X|X
10|X|X|X|X|X|||X|X[/table]

E = Estellise
M = Marion
w = water
X = building
H = Human
K = Half-Elf
A = Attacker
P = Mr. Blue Platemail

[Selinia]

Estellise collapses from her injuries, hitting the ground with a dull crash of metal. She was breathing - still alive, but... barely.

Marion fires off another globule of acid, falling back further. There was no sense in vainly rushing forward to save a girl she only barely knew.

Spoiler

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Estellise is dying and at -1 HP. Ergo, she cannot take any action. Roll to stabilize (1d100)[73]

Marion shoots Dissolving Spittle at the Skulk in D5, then moves to D3. To-Hit: (1d20+5)[18] || Damage (4d6)[4]

[Rizban]

The man in blue plate fires another volley of missiles at the same target. Unfortunately, he left himself vulnerable and one of them managed to slip a blade in through a gap in his armor. The armorclad warrior remains standing, though.

The injured human in the back says to the half-elf, "She'll keep for now, take the skulks down first. Wand her after they're dealt with."

He blasts the skulks again with his missiles.

B7 and D5 drop from the blasts.

B8's dagger rings off of the Mr. Blue Platemail's helmet harmlessly.

E7 takes an offhand swipe at you to finish you off....


and misses, taking off a lock of your hair, but failing to stab through her face. (natural 1, you got darn lucky, and minimum damage would have put you at -10.)

Then the skulk moves off to get closer to the injured human, hugging the far right side of the pier to avoid attacks from the half-elf and scooting around the unarmed Sister Marion.

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{table]|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I
0|w|w|w|w|w|w|w|w|w
1|w|w|w||||w|w|w
2|w|w|w|H|A||w|w|w
3|w|w|w||M||w|w|w
4|w|w|w|K|||w|w|w
5|w|w|w||||w|w|w
6|w|w|w|E|||w|w|w
7|P||||
8||A|||
9|X|X|X|X|X|||X|X
10|X|X|X|X|X|||X|X[/table]

[Selinia]

No-fluff post. Too sleepy.

Estellise rolls to stabilize. Currently at -2. (1d100)[69]

Marion 5-foot-steps to E4. She shoots acid at the mook in E2. To-hit: (1d20+5)[13] || Damage: (4d10)[18]

[Rizban]

Mr Blue Platemail fires more missiles into the last skulk before him, who drops to the ground, bleeding internally.

The half-elf moves to attack the last skulk, but his weapon is deflected by an unseen barrier.


The human ponders for a split second then comes to a decision.

"Screw it."

He blasts the skulk in front of him and any other skulks which might still be alive. With the mighty blast, all the skulks still drawing breath stop, save the one in front of him. He, however, went from menacing threat to shivering wreck. His body convulses from a last pitiful attempt to stave off the inevitable, and stops. It stops breathing within seconds.

Watching the skulks drop, the heavily injured human leaps into action.

"Kel, get that woman stabilized and healing, then I'm going to need the 2nd charge on that wand.

You, acid girl, grab their daggers and anything else. We don't want them recovering any of it.

Magicy Platemail guy, stay alert for any more!

We have to move if we want to get inside before more of these things show up."

He then quickly checks the merchant for valuables then starts stripping the dead human in platemail of his gear and stuffing it into a bag.

Spoiler

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Estellise gains 3,150xp
Marion gains 2,100xp

[Selinia]

Marion nods and begins collection of the daggers from among the skulk corpses. The filthy creatures seemed to be naked, but she kept an eye out for anything that might not be immediately obvious. It looked like the lot of them might actually live through this after all.

Spoiler

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Estellise is at -3. Roll to stabilize. (1d100)[30]

Marion begins looting the mooks. This isn't combat time, so I don't think I really need to worry about counting the rounds (assuming the half-elf keeps good on healing Est next round). Spot check to see anything they might have on them besides their daggers. (1d20+3)[11]

[planswalker]

Spoiler

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this happens before you drop to -3

Sheathing his weapon, Kel takes out his wand and walks over to the dying woman. He mutters an arcane chat and taps her with the wand, her wounds slowly start to heal. He then repeats the process on Hagan, healing some of his wounds as well.
"Greetings Tim, my name is Kel. Now how shall we begin to seperate this bit of magical weaponary?", the half-drow states.

Marion notices something very odd about the ones that attacked Estellise first: their chests seemed, well, wrinkled. Not as in wrinkly with age but wrinkled like a shirt that has been bunched up.

[Selinia]

Inspect one/all of the unusual Skulks. Search check: Roll (1d20+2)[21]

[planswalker]

It does not take very much skill at all in your searches to realize that what you at first took to be their bare chests were in fact glamered shirts. Underneath them they wore black chain shirts.

[Selinia]

Loot the chain-mail. Loot it, I say! Marion helpfully informs everyone else to check for illusory armor, in the event that they missed it themselves.

Before we discussing loot distribution, could I get a list of what all we as a group pulled off the baddies? I'm counting 12 daggers, and 4 of these unknown chain-shirts. Also, I'd like to know when enough rounds pass for Est to wake up. We kinda need to get out of the streets.

[Rizban]

Estellise awakens just as the looting is finished. She sees the injured human male cast some spell into his armor and throw an unconscious man over his shoulder.

"Let's get out of here."

[Rizban]

Temporary team up thread.

[Selinia]

Estellise coughs slightly, shaking her head groggily as she rose.

"Ach, no complaints there. Some rescue that turned out to be, getting ambushed trying to save someone from an ambush." She winced again, clutching her gut. "Celestia, that hurts. But thanks. Do you have somewhere in mind? There are an awful lot of buildings around here, and I have to agree that stepping inside would be for the best. There could be more of those... things."

Looking around, she takes in the aftermath of the battle. Glancing at her companion, she voices with genuine concern. "Hey, Marion, you okay? Glad to see you did a little better than me." Estellise lets out a chuckle, quickly regretting it as it becomes a nasty cough.

[Rizban]

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You might want to move that to the group thread I linked.