Kingdom of Arim I (IC)

[Archmage1]

Alexis attempts to distract the guards for a bit longer by speaking in a draconic, kobold accent(like that Sharpbite fellow we ran into earlier...).

"You not mention this to anyone. If you do..."

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trying to convince the kobolds that Alexis is SharpBite... somehow, I suspect this is not going to work...

[Comissar]

Tensing in anticipation for a fight, Darius looked to Alexis. Whatever she was saying, it seemed to be the same language as the Kobolds so it seemed wisest to follow her lead in this. He quietly lifted his halberd slightly, gave a questioning look and gestured softly towards the sound of the lizardfolk's voices.

[Archmage1]

Alexis holds up her hand, indicating Darius to pause, pending the outcome of the response.

[Keylac]

From the cellar come murmurs, the sound of the kobolds whispering in confusion. Shortly, you hear one of them say something to low to hear in a commanding voice, and then the sounds of one of them moving closer to the stairs.

[Archmage1]

Whispered:
"Well, it was worth a shot. I tried to convince them that we were that kobold hunting party. Looks like they did not buy it. Time for plan b."

Alexis prepares to fire her bow at the first kobold she sees

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readied action to shoot the first kobold

[Holice]

Seeing the group tense up, Uriell is sure this means a confrontation is about to take place. Too far to see what is going on near the bottom of the stairs, Uriell grabs his spear with a grip meant for throwing, in case the need arises.

Looking towards Hu, Uriell whispers loudly, "Heel boy!", not wanting the him to go lunging down the steps at the first sight or smell of an enemy. Hu obliges and stands stiffly behind Uriell, but does not remove the snarl from his face, which only adds to the feeling that this is going to get messy...very soon.

[Keylac]

The sound of movement comes closer, and a few breathes later, a kobold steps into the dim light at the bottom of the stairs. It's difficult for most to make out it's expression, but Alexis can clearly see the shock on it's face, mouth agape, as it finds himself faced with the party.

Before it can voice it's surprise, it's expression is hidden behind the fletching of the arrow she fired straight into it's open mouth. Shouts of anger come from the cellar, as the others see the scout fall.

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And with that, combat starts.

Groups are:

Group 1: Anthony
Group 2: Kobolds
Group 3: Everyone Else

[Morbis Meh]

Anthony lets rip a fierce battle cry and charges into the fray, striking the first kobold that comes his way.

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I doubt if I can charge since I am on stairs... but then again i am going down so as long as they're directly in front of me. Will use a maneuver just need to roll for it.

[Keylac]

Antony charges down the stairs, pushing those in front of him out of the way, before rushing a few feet into the room. It's almost pitch black down here, the only light coming from the sunrod halfway up the stairs, spilling out to within a few feet of the bottom. In the dim light, you can see that no kobolds are within range, giving you a moment to size up the room - as well as you can.

The cellar is dark and cool, with crates and boxes stacked haphazardly everywhere, among the filth of habitation. Several intact barrels still sit in the back amidst a puddle of oil; from the smell, it's cooking oil that long since went rancid. Apparently, the current residents don't mind the smell. You could ask them, but they don't seem too happy to see you.

You don't have long to appreciate the view; within a breathe of you entering the cellar, you hear a hissed command come from the shadows to your left, to low to make out. The darkness seems to explode with kobolds as they charge towards you.

Four of them move to stop you from moving further forward, near surrounding you and stabbing at you with their spears. You manage to parry and block all but one of the blows, but the one to your left manages to get through your guard.

From the darkness, more kobolds send a flight of sling-stones at you. You can't see the slingers, but you can hear the clatter as stones that missed bounce off the stone walls. Another bounces off your armor, and one glances off the side of your head, causing a stining pain.

Just as you being to think you've weathered their counterattack, you hear the kobold to the left hiss more strange words. Before you can consider what he's doing, a ray of flame leaps out of the darkness towards you, dazzling you with it's brightness. Only a hasty duck on your part allows you to avoid it; you feel the heat of it's passage on your head as it passes over to strike the wall to your right.

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Allright, Group 3, you're up. Anthony, you took 3 damage from the spear and 2 from the sling stone.

[Comissar]

Darius was surprised to see Anthony charge past him in the way he did, he'd expected a more co-ordinated assault down the stairs.

Reckless fool...

He followed the Crusader down into the chamber and, seeing how many Kobolds there were, attempted to get the attention of a few away from Anthony by lunging at them with the tip of his blade.

[Archmage1]

Not good. I think those kobolds need to take a nap.

Alexis will advance so that she has line of sight, and she will then cast sleep, putting the kobold slingers to sleep as rapidly as possible.

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So, dc 15, but if she gets surprise(unlikly), add 1

[AvocadoAvenger]

Here we go, Tulkar things as Anthony runs past him, a chance to test my mettle. The time to stop being a kid. Glory.

Tulkar charges in just behind Anthony, and attacks one of the spearmen with both of his attacks, or a second with his second attack if the first one falls from his first attack.

[Electrobolt]

Tamni'el shook his head, as he simply hurried down the stairs, once he got past Alexis, before approaching the closest kobold and striking at it.

[Holice]

Seeing the others charge into battle, Uriell swiftly follows.

With a quick "Sic 'em'" command, Hu moves in as well to try and bite the calf off of one of the kobolds surrounding Anthony.

Seeing Hu make a dash for one of the kobold, Uriell goes for the one next to it, trying to drive his spear through the nasty creature.

[Keylac]

The kobolds are resetting their feet, preparing for another strike against Anthony, when the rest of the party rushes out of the stairs. Whether he'd intended to be or not, it's clear Anthony made excellent bait, pulling them out where you could get at them.

Darius' rush down the stairs to threaten them from the flank seems to work, even as his attack misses. The kobold he attacked turns halfway towards him, trying to keep from being flanked by him and Anthony.

Alexis, stopped partway up the stairs, spots the two kobold slingers closest to each other, and with a word, attempts to send them off into slumber. One of the kobolds crumples to the ground, already asleep, but the other only staggers, shaking it off.

Tulkar's rush down the stairs is straight at the kobold to Anthony's right. His furious strikes miss, the kobold wildly dodging them, almost losing it's balance.

The room is suddenly illuminated better, allowing the humans to see, as Tamni'el rushes in behind Tulkar, breaking towards the right and the kobold Darius missed. Taking advantage of it's distraction, he runs it through, dipping his scimitar under it's guard and through the weak point on it's leather armor at the armpit.

To complete the madness, Uriell and Hu aren't far behind. Hu uses his superior speed to run around the knot of kobolds and fighters, attacking them from behind. His first snap of the jaws pulls the kobold down; his next rips out it's throat. Uriell's strike with his spear is less successful, but his target is clearly worried, trapped between Tulkar, Uriell, and Hu.

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Allright, here's a Map. The Red squares in the background are the caster (on the far left) and the slingers. The slinger with the badly drawn "S" is asleep. The small red squares are dead kobolds, just to tell you where they were.

Note that all of you guys can see now that Tamni'el brought in the Sunrod, so no worries about that.

Anthony, you're up.

[Morbis Meh]

Anthony roars with fury, almost like a wild barbarian as he ignores the hits, looking at his nearest opponent he brings down his massive axe with all of his might. As his weapon makes contact an odd sight occurs, it appears that his wounds stop bleeding and almost seal up completely.

[Keylac]

As the kobold Anthony killed drops to the ground, the survivors recover from their surprise. Though their ranks have now been rather brutally reduced, they press the attack. From the left, the same voice which ordered the attack is heard, exhorting the others.

The surviving spearman, trapped between half the party, hesitates for a moment, clearly unsure who to attack, before deciding on Tulkar. Spinning to his left, he brings his spear up and attacks, screaming a battle cry. His desperation seems to lend him strength, and his spear manages to dodge between Tulkar's axes, stabbing into his thigh.

The slingers respond with their own attacks, and another small hail of sling stones flies at the party. Most of the stones miss, clattering off the stone, but one, surprisingly accurate, finds its target. Uriell staggers a bit as the stone slams into his head, briefly making his vision explode into light.

The shaman himself turns to muttering again. Anthony, dimly, recognizes the words, but before he can call out a warning, another ray of fire slices across the room, the air itself crackling in it's wake. This time, it strikes true, and Darius flinches as the flame strikes him. Luckily for him, the fire doesn't catch.

Draconic Speakers

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Kobold Shaman: "Kill them! If you fail, Gryax will gnaw your bones!"
Kobold Spearman: "Die by the Clawed Fist!"

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Uriell is very lucky that the slingers can't confirm a crit worth a damn by the way. Natural 20, max Damage... failed confirm.

Tulkar takes 3 Damage from the spearman.
Uriell takes 3 Damage from a slinger.
Darius takes 5 Fire Damage from the Shaman. (with a nat 20 on the Reflex save to avoid being caught on fire).

Group 2, up.

[Archmage1]

Looks like that Shaman is going to be a problem. Time to get rid of him

(in Draconic)
"Gryax will gnaw your bones for failing to stop 6 weak adventurers. He ordered me to test your power, Shaman. I have not been impressed so far. Perhaps he was correct in requesting reinforcements. You can aid us, and live to serve in his name, or you can aid your clan, and die in the knowledge that you failed him. The choice is yours"

Alexis shoots one of the slingers.

[Electrobolt]

After having struck the kobold good, Tamni'el sighed as he at least managed a hit. After moving himself closer to one of the slinger kobolds that are alive and awake, he then slashed at it.

[Comissar]

Darius flinched in pain as the fire seared him. Striving to maintain his focus, he turned his attention to the last remaining spearman. With a cold look in his eyes, he swiftly moved towards the Kobold and swung his Halberd with great force towards it.

[AvocadoAvenger]

Tulkar winces in pain as the spear pierces his leg. He is taken off his guard, but by no means looses his determination to keep fighting. Taking advantage of the thrust spear he attacks, this time trying to cover himself where the spear struck as best he can with his axes.

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OOC: a normal full attack

[Keylac]

As the light form the ray of flame fades, the party continues to kill kobolds with ruthless dispatch.

Alexis' attempt to bluff the kobold shaman doesn't seem to have had an effect; either it didn't believe her, or is now in a panic about it's fate. Her shot at one of the slingers is also ineffective, the arrow burying itself into a box at least a foot from the kobold.

Tamni'el also turns his attention to the slingers. The light wavers eerily, shadows whirling, as he runs towards the nearest one, ducking around containers. As he moves around the last crate, a quick slice with his scimitar carves it's way through the kobold, dropping it to the ground.

The last spearman is dispatched as quickly, with Tulkar drawing it's attention, forcing it to parry his strikes, before Darius steps up behind it and cuts it in half with his halberd.

The only thing that seems to keep the parties victory from being complete is Uriell. Rather than take the chance to charge one of the remaining slingers, the druid staggers backward, hand going to his head and clutching his temple. The strike from the kobold appears to have left him temporarily too dizzy to act. Hu, with a yip of concern, rushes to his masters side, trying to shield him.

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That's long enough to wait for Holice. I wonder if he lives up where Sandy hit? In any case, he's thematically taking a defensive action until he returns.

Anthony, you're up. Then the Kobolds

Here's the new map. Remember, red boxes that don't fill the square are corpses, the one with the S is asleep, the the one on the far left shoots jets of flame out of his fingers.

[Keylac]

With their numbers so reduced, it's obvious from the kobolds body language how terrified they are. They glance longingly at the door leading deeper into the cellar, but appear to terrified to run.

The remaining slinger on the right, cut off from the others, seems the most afraid. With a somewhat doomed fatalism he drops his sling and rushes at Anthony, drawing a spear along the way. His battlecry is nothing more than a high pitched shriek - half fear, half challenge. All the bravery in the world doesn't make this fight equal however, and Anthony is able to almost casually bat the strike aside.

At the same time, Tamni'el is the victim of an unpleasant surprise. It seems that the shaman had either a better grasp of tactics, or was at least more cautious, that it had at first appeared. This is demonstrated when another spearman, hiding behind boxes in front of the shaman, steps out from behind them, stabbing at Tamni'el's back. Only his armor saves him from a wicked wound, but he still feels blood seep down his back.

The shaman leaves the lightly armored elf to his minion and continues the attack on Darius. A few more muttered words and another ray of flame flies across the room. Darius attempts to avoid, but here his armor hinders more than it helps. He lets out another gasp of pain as the blast catches him squarely in the chest, heating his armor beyond comfort in mere seconds. Worse, he realizes that his clothing has actually been set aflame, a situation that wont end well if he doesn't put the fire out quickly.

As the paladin catches aflame, a shriek of triumph, accompanied by more draconic, issues from the shaman.

Draconic Speakers

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Shaman: "I will burn you all to ash! Die by the hand of Fireclaw!"

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Funny, there's only 4 of them left, 3 awake, and this might be their most effective round yet.

Tamni'el, you take 2 damage from the spearman.

Darius, you take 6 damage from the flames, and need to put them out or you'll burn every round.

Everyone but Anthony (ie, Group 3) you're up.

Here's the updated Map.

[Electrobolt]

After yelping in pain from the back-attack, he turned around to face the attacker. Seeing it was a kobold wielding a spear, he focused on striking hard and slashed swiftly.

[Archmage1]

Having nothing better to do, Alexis shoots at the shaman. However, when she realizes Darius is on fire
"Tulkar, here, use my waterskin to put him out."
She tosses Tulkar her water skin

[Comissar]

Darius roared in pain as he was engulfed by the flames. He dropped to the ground in an effort to quench the flames more quickly, but found that it all came to nought as they continued to spread across his body.

[AvocadoAvenger]

Tulkar sees Darius go down, and looks to his friends to help him. "Water?! does anyone have water?" he asks the group. When Alexis responds, he catches the water and takes a five foot step forwards, (which may become important next round). Next, he kneels down, opens the bottle and applies it to the burning Darius. He also helps to pat the fires out with his hand. "Are you ok? Here"

[Keylac]

The shaman hisses in pain as Alexis wings it with an arrow, but the arrow speeds past, only cutting it's arm. It's hiss of pain changes to a howl of glee as it watches Darius fall to the floor, rolling to try and extinguish the flames. It begins chanting one word over and over, clearly beyond reason. Even watching Tulkar jump at Darius, smothering the flames and pouring water from Alexis' waterskin doesn't seem to faze him.

Meanwhile, Tamni'el's response to being stabbed in the back is swift. His strike blows through the kobolds guard, slicing his spear in half, before carrying through and beheading the unfortunate spearman.

Across the room, Uriell's still clutches his head in pain, still to dazed to act. Hu remains at his side, guarding him against any attackers that would try and take advantage of the druids difficulties.

Draconic Speakers

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Kobold Shaman: "Burn." Over and over.

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I'm going to count Tulkar's assistance as at least as good as an Aid Another action Darius, so the flames are now put out, without you taking any additional damage.

Oh, and nice crit for Tamni'el.

Anthony, you're up.

[Morbis Meh]

As Anthony's axe cleaves through his last victim he pivots, using the momentum from his previous swing to slice horizontally across this new annoyance's chest.

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So begins the low rolling again lol

[Keylac]

Ducking under Anthony's blow, the slinger turned spearman seems shocked at it's continued existence as a going concern. It's obvious it still expects to die at any moment, but for now, it continues to strike back. A wild stab with the spear follows, but it's such a poor blow that Anthony barely has to shift his feet at all to dodge.

The shaman doesn't even seem to notice the fight going on across the room. Eyes gone mad, it seems interested only in hurting the party before it dies. It breaks off it's cackling and suddenly darts forward, scrambling around boxes and crates, chanting as it moves. Skidding to a stop in the blood left from the spearman that already died, it throws it's hands forward, shrieking out the last words of the spell.

A wave of fire rushes forward form it's hand, licking over the bodies, drying the spilled blood, and filling the room with the smell of burned meat. Boxes and crates catch fire, and the wave crashes over Tulkar and Darius.

Darius, already flat on the ground, is able to roll partially aside from the flames, throwing his arm in front of his face to avoid the worst of it. Tulkar is less fortunate. Still kneeling next to Darius, he takes the full force of the flame.

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Darius, you take another 1 Fire Damage.

Tulkar, you take 3 Fire Damage.

He's an updated Map. Tulkar, I didn't move you, because I wasn't sure which square you'd moved "forward" into. It'll be obvious pretty soon, I'm sure.

Everyone but Anthony, you're up.