[4E] Zeitgeist: The Gears of Revolution

[mullensmd]

Aurora leaves the upper entrance- if the others want to build it up further fine. But she moves to the lower entrance and begins to build up its barracade.

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Athletics:(1d20)[17]

[Tukka]

The fey drakes advance and start tearing away pieces of the outer barricade with their tails. Aeric answers the assault with gunfire, with aim aided by the arcane illumination of Tintau's Punishing Eye, he dispatches two of the creatures; the air elemental joins in the attack as well, and manages to push one of the fey drakes over the ledge to its doom.

Aurora and Leif continue their work repairing the barricade, undoing some of the damage done by the drakes, while Saradoc and Taral attempt to set more wards outside the lighthouse, while Tintau does the same inside.

Just as the last drake is slain, Tintau's punishing eye flashes red once more, then drops to the ground with a clank.

Then several more enemies enter attack range.

Battlefield Map

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Round 5 action summary

Air elemental: Battle, kills 1 fey drake
Aeric: Battle/Snipe, kills 2 fey drakes (with an assist from the Punishing Eye)
Aurora: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 17 (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: -1 (Outside Lighthouse)
Saradoc: Set Ward, Arcana check: 9 -- failure (Outside Lighthouse)
Taral: Set Ward, Arcana check: 21 -- success (Outside Lighthouse)
Tintau: Set Ward, Arcana check: 10 -- failure (Inside Lighthouse)

Fey drake 1: Damage Barricade (1 point)
Fey drake 2: Damage Barricade(1 point)
Fey drake 3: Damage Barricade (1 point)

Round 6 action queue

Air elemental: Battle, at-will (Sea Wall)
Aeric: Battle, at-will Piercing Strike (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Assemble Barricade (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Battle, encounter Valorous Smite (Sea Wall)
Saradoc: Intimidating Bluff, check result: 14 (Inside Lighthouse)
Taral: Intimidating Bluff, check result: 19 (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Battle, at-will Magic Weapon (Inside Lighthouse)

[Falconknight06]

Man, I really hope the army gets here soon, I don't know how long we can hold these soldiers off, and I'd prefer this was done with less bloodshed Aeric says to himself, as he continues sniping into the crowd of approaching soldiers.

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Another piercing strike with my pistol

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

His morbid ward set, Taral looks back to the half-elf. "I doubt they will stop, but I'll give them one last chance." Moving to stand before the oncoming forces, Taral shouts at them, sword and shield at the ready and assuming an imposing pose.

"Your parents taught you to fear my kind! Your instructors and leaders told you to be vary! All those tales of the horrendous things the horned devils would do to you if one caught you!

Ask yourself, if every one of your superiors fear me, what hope to do have against me? I will eat the flesh from your bones, like that of those that have already fallen to my blade. Smell the flesh I've burnt, see the corpses you must trudge though! Unless you plan to join them, turn back now! I might let you live to tell the tale of the day to met the devil!!"

He lets out a throaty laugh, before finishing his taunt in an eerie whisper.

So do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first."

Blade still dripping with drake blood, and his shadowy arcane aura flaring to life, his golden eyes gleam with danger.

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Bluff to keep them distracted (1d20+14)[19]
Also, whisper.

Edit: Good thing I have that huge modifier.

[mullensmd]

Aurora grunts at Aeric's musings and starrts fortifying the lower entrance. She knows that what they're doing is nothing compared to what the main force will do once it arrives- a drop in the bucket so to speak.

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Athletics:(1d20)[10]

[atomiclemming]

Tintau smiles a little knowing his creation has done its job well. He makes a mental note to collect it if he can. Much to be learned from its flight. Perhaps ways of making it better and at the least parts to be reused.
Yes much to measure as well.

He looses a bolt at the oncoming horde and falls back into the inside of the lighthouse.

[Frothingslosh]

Seeing an opportunity present itself, Saradoc will use his skills to help sow dissent and worry among the coming troops.

Using Ghost Sound (Encounter Arcane, Illusion), he will make it sound like the enemy is considering flight, (e.g. "The Risur fleet is here, we need to run!", "The Duchess lied to us.", "They are to strong in the lighthouse, we need to fall back.", etc..)

Bluff - (1d20+10)[14] (or intimidate or diplomacy if you prefer - all the same bonus).

Following that Saradoc continues to move around the lighthouse to keep the shadows about him with his Shadow Walk.

[Rannoch]

Leif

Brandishing her sword and shield Leif rejoins Taral on the other side of the barricade.

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Battle, Valorous Smite (Encounter = 2 Enemies)
Preferably targeting any magic/ranged users first.

[Tukka]

Aeric, Tintau, Leif and the air elemental battle on, while Taral and Saradoc sow discord and uncertainty among the oncoming attackers with their combination of threats and trickery.

The attacking constables not only manage to bring down many foes, including several patrolman, a soldier, an investigator and a wizard, but they also lend hard credibility to Taral's threats, as does Saradoc's arcane deception. The enemies mill about ineffectively -- a few arrows are loosed at the lighthouse, and the constables on the sea wall are attacked now and then, but the enemies are uncoordinated and ineffective.

The best the rebels are able to accomplish over the course of the minute is to nearly destroy the barricade on the Sea Wall, which rumbles ominously with each strike. An unfortunate brute finally triggers Tintau's trap and knocks him to the ground; he doesn't get up.

Aurora manages to patch some of the damage to the barricade, but it's still in poor shape. The rebels will probably make short work of it soon.

A fierce-eyed, fiery haired female commander shouts, "Come on you dogs, pay no heed to their infernal trickery! Form up and attack, or I'll feed the lot of you to the Duchess's ghost wolves!". She seems to be making some progress in restoring discipline to the crowd.

The lights of the approach fleet grow brighter; constables in the lighthouse can estimate its arrival time -- about 4 minutes. It looks like the next wave of massing, approaching rebels arrive slightly sooner than that.

Battlefield Map

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The next wave of enemies will arrive on round 9. The fleet will arrive on round 10.

Remember that you guys can use healing powers/Second Wind as essentially no action.

It may be possible to continue to stall them, but it's going to get more difficult, especially if you continue to rely on trickery (Bluff).

Round 6 action summary

Air elemental: Battle, kills 1 group of patrolmen (Sea Wall)
Aeric: Battle/Snipe, kills 1 group of patrolmen (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Assemble Barricade, adds 1 point of barricade (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Battle/encounter power, kills 1 wizard and 1 investigator (Outside Lighthouse)
Saradoc: Aid another on Taral's Stall check -- success (Inside Lighthouse)
Taral: Stall -- success (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Battle, kills 1 soldier (Inside Lighthouse)
Tintau's Ward kills 1 brute

The enemies manage 4 points of damage to the Outside Lighthouse barricade but for the most part waste their actions in confusion and indecision.

Round 7 action queue

Air elemental: Battle, at-will (Sea Wall)
Aeric:
Aurora: Battle, at-will (Sea Wall)
Leif: Battle, at-will + Lay Hands (Sea Wall)
Saradoc: Stall, Diplomacy check: 26 (Sea Wall)
Taral: Battle, Daily (Stirring Shout) (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Battle, at-will (Outside Lighthouse)

[mullensmd]

Aurora abandons the work of strengthening the barracade and charges forward to Pounce the front lines .

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Attack roll for Pounce:(1d20+4)[18]

[/b]If'n it hits:[/b] (1d8+3)[6]

[atomiclemming]

Tintau smiles a little as the trap unleashes a sonic blast taking out an attacker. He looks at the current group and the ones seemingly right behind it.
Need to get a little closer.. dont want to but need to.. can still move back yes.
He moves to the outer lighthouse area and concentrates causing his turret to ratchet and hum as a glowing metalish bolt loads and fires into the group at the barricade.
He calls out to his companions
a few more minutes all we need.. hopefully we broke the gate enough. fall back if we need to easier to defend

[Rannoch]

Leif

Leif's hands glow with divine light as her bruises fade and wounds close.

"Let us defeat this group before retreating!" Leif yells, striking out with her sword.

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Lay on Hands, self
Battle, at-will
Targeting caster>ranged>melee preferably.

[Frothingslosh]

Saradoc will continue to sow dischord and confusion among the enemy.

We know the Duchess and her minions can be persuasive, but they show their true colors! Fight or you will be killed!?! That is no leader. That is a tyrant and traitor afraid of being caught for her crimes! Stop now and Rushed and the RHC will recognize your wisdom. You don't need to anything but stop. We won't ask or demand that you fight and kill your countrymen. Put down your arms and we will be merciful. The fleet's arrival is nigh, and it will not be stopped. Make the wise choice.

Diplomacy - (1d20+10)[26]

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

A fierce-eyed, fiery haired female commander shouts, "Come on you dogs, pay no heed to their infernal trickery! Form up and attack, or I'll feed the lot of you to the Duchess's ghost wolves!". She seems to be making some progress in restoring discipline to the crowd.

Lifting his blade so the hilt touches his temple, he taps it against the base of his horns and laughs at the woman. "You think I'm that simple to ignore. You see boys, another superior that wants you to die in her place. Well, I'll do you a favor. Do as these lads suggest, and I'll spare you. A show of faith, I'll take out your leader for you!"

Swinging his blade down and forward with a flourish, he points the razor tipped point directly at the commander, and mutters the simple word.
"DIE!"

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Use Stirring Shout to kill her, and the closest two that were inspired by her speech. De-motivation is the key to warfare.

[Tukka]

Saradoc persuasively implores the attackers to stand down. The rebels seem reluctant to lay down their arms while they are under attack, but enough of them listen that those who do put up a fight are still uncoordinated and look primarily to their own defense.

A wizard at the rear of the attackers manages to batter the outer barricade to scrap with a barrage of daggers surrounded by tiny whirlwinds, but air elemental bursts into sight beside her and gives her a taste of her own medicine, ultimately laying her low.

The other attackers are unable to get past Taral and Leif to take advantage of the breach in their defenses. Taral's rousing shout causes his nearby enemies to quail, and Leif restores some her vitality with glowing hands. The two set to work driving back and putting down their foes.

Taral pierces the heart of the female commander, and lands the killing blow on a few patrolmen and a soldier besides. Leif strikes down a shillelagh-wielding investigator.

Aurora transforms into a cat and leaps over the shattered remains of the barricade to pounce on the nearest shoulder, and then continues to dart around him, biting and mauling until he falls. Tintau's turret relentlessly fires from the lighthouse window, striking down the remaining investigator. Aeric finishes off the last soldier with gunfire.

Battlefield Map

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The next wave of enemies will arrive on round 9; it's a big one. The fleet will arrive on round 10.

Round 7 action summary

Air elemental: Battle, at-will, kills 1 wizard (Sea Wall)
Aeric: Battle/Snipe at-will, kills 1 soldier (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Battle, at-will, kills 1 soldier (Sea Wall)
Leif: Battle, at-will, kills 1 investigator (Sea Wall)
Saradoc: Stall, Diplomacy check: 26 -- success (Inside Lighthouse)
Taral: Battle, daily, kills 2 soldiers + 1 group of patrolmen (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Battle, at will, kills 1 investigator (Inside Lighthouse)

The enemies were again ineffective this round (the Diplomacy DC for Saradoc's check was 22, btw) apart from destroying the Outer Lighthouse barricade.

Round 8 action queue

Aeric: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 5 (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 4 (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 14 (Outside Lighthouse)
Saradoc: Set Ward, Arcana check: 23 (Outside Lighthouse)
Taral: Set Ward(?), Arcana check: 14 (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Set Ward, Arcana check: 15 (Inside Lighthouse)

[Frothingslosh]

Taking advantage of the brief respite, Saradoc reinforces his magical wards outside the lighthouse (and retreating back in if I can).

Set Ward - (1d20+9)[23]

[Falconknight06]

Aeric will say a brief prayer for those who have been slain, as he begins fortifying the barrier inside the lighthouse (if it matters, the barrier closest to the gate controls) then he quickly reloads his pistols in preparation for another push by the enemy.

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Athletics
(1d20)[5]

[atomiclemming]

Tintau looks pleased at the irony on the wind user getting felled by wind.
The forces are almost here.. just need to slow them down a little longer. Soon very soon
He scribes a few words on the barricade using his thundering armor power to enforce it further.

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(1d20+9)[15]

everyone fall back into the lighthouse. lets hold it for a bit longer

[Rannoch]

Leif

Leif looks forlornly at the pieces of her shattered barricade.
Then, squaring her shoulders, she begins rebuilding.

"We should be able to hold them until the fleet gets here. Tintau, I plan to use my ranged ability* to knock out some of their casting support before retreating inside the lighthouse... I'd rather not be stuck inside a tower with lightning clouds."

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Build Barricade in outer lighthouse area (yellow)
(1d20-4)[14]

*Radiant Delirium if anyone wondered

[mullensmd]

At first Aurora settles down to clean her paws of blood, but seeing Leif return to rebuilding the barricade she gets up, shifts back and begins to help quietly.

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Athletics:(1d20)[4]

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

Shaking his head, the scarred Tiefling stands firm. "We hold this line. Retreat as the last option, but we can't afford to let them make any further headway. We hold this line, until reinforcements arrive." With that, he lifts his shoulders then taking a knee, slams his fist into the ground. A loud clap can be heard, but those that look carefully would notice a small fizzle between his knuckles and the ground.

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Arcana (1d20+6)[14]

Something tells me that's a no go. So much for inspirational talks.
Fully planning to use Majestic Word on self if he takes +12 damage as a free action.

[Tukka]

The constables make their final fortifications. Those in the lighthouse my spare a glance out the window to see the fleet drawing very close now, sailing towards the greeting arms of the open sea gate, but the approaching rebel forces is nearer still. They quicken their pace and charge forward headlong, desperate to prevent at least a fraction of the entering the fortress harbor.

Battlefield Map

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20 enemies arrive; the vanguard of the fleet will arrive next round.

Round 8 action summary

Aeric: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 5 - added 1 point of barricade (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 4 - added 1 point of barricade (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Assemble Barricade, Athletics check: 14 - added 1 point of barricade (Outside Lighthouse)
Saradoc: Set Ward, Arcana check: 23 - success (Outside Lighthouse)
Taral: Set Ward(?), Arcana check: 14 - failure (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Set Ward, Arcana check: 15 - failure (Inside Lighthouse)

Round 9 action queue

Air elemental: Battle, at-will (Sea Wall)
Aeric: Battle/Snipe (success), at-will (Inside Lighthouse)
Aurora: Battle, at-will (Outside Lighthouse)
Leif: Battle, Daily (Outside Lighthouse)
Saradoc: Battle, at-will (Inside Lighthouse)
Taral: Battle, encounter (Sea Wall)
Tintau: Battle, encounter (Outside Lighthouse)

[Falconknight06]

Aeric finishes his quick barricade, and makes his way to his sniping position. He says one more quick prayer and takes aim, shooting another group of soldiers, trying to incapacitate if possible. He is sick of killing those he was supposed to be working with.

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Another at-will attack since all of my encounters require them to be within ten squares of me.

Stealth to snipe
(1d20+8)[14]

[Tegu8788]

Taral Kasha

Also tired of fighting through those he had hoped to one with, he drops any further attempts at charades to turn his foes back, instead concentrating on the minds of the oncoming assault force. Reaching out with his thoughts, he finds the frenzied minds of those with knowledge of the arcane arts. Taking the form of a feathered serpent, he projects that vicious creature towards them, devouring them with his mental onslaught, leaving nothing but bodies to fall to the floor.

Drawing the serpents wings together, he quickly sweeps his powerful limbs open, feathers flying in every direction, smacking the brains of everyone on the vessel. Blinking, feather shaped spots area in the vision of those that remain. Anyone that tries to look at Taral will find those dark feathers increase in place of the armored Tiefling. Hidden, he takes a deep breath, and whispers to himself. "And so, this ends."

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Use Mind Shadows, encounter power to kill 2 casters as soon as they are in range, ideally while still on the boat. Then use Hidden Lore to become invisible until the end of the next turn, while staying in place. Prepared to use Majestic Word on self if he takes 10 damage, and will slide back behind the barricades.

Also, I am taking some liberties describing what's happening, because I know I'm going to hit in this encounter. I will not normally describe actions like this.

[atomiclemming]

Tintau
Tintau shakes his head as the others stand their ground. He sighs heavily
"can't let them die, need to stay alive a bit longer. The fleet will be here soon"
Tintau nods at the air elemental sending it to harrass and attack another target and moves back to the outer lighthouse area and rummages in his bag looking for something
"Aha , yes this is just what I was looking for."
He pulls out a small metal cage made of thin iron weave. It seems rather fragile but doesnt seem to have trouble holding its shape. Tintau concentrates and chants while striking the object with a piece of flint rock. A spark catches and arcs along the cage walls. The spark fades quickly but the cube starts to hum and vibrate in Tintau's palm.
He waits until the first wave gets close and throws it into the group. As it hits the ground the cube explodes and a wave of force radiates from hit blasting the soldiers.

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Shielding Cube

[Rannoch]

Leif

Leif's sword glows with divine power as she points it at the oncoming force.
"Be filled with the light of my god!"

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Ranged attack using Radiant Delirium (daily, 3 targets) from the yellow area into the blue area.

Targeting Leaders>Casters>Ranged>Rest preferably.

[mullensmd]

Aurora shifts once more, becoming a panther darker than night and melting into the shadows to await her hopefully unsuspecting prey.

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Stealth roll: (1d20+4)[19]

[Frothingslosh]

Believing that continued discussion may be ineffective, Saradoc unleashes his cloud of shadows into the oncoming horde.

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Fascinating Shadows At-Will

[Tukka]

The battle continues.

Aeric lays down cover fire for the other constables and manages to incapacitate a few rebel patrolmen over the course of the battle. Saradoc similarly wears down the attackers with waves of confounding shadows.

Taral makes his stand on the Sea Wall, haunting two nearby wizards with a shadowy assault; one of them conjures a small thundercloud above Taral's head. A brute charges in and gives him a good smack with his warhammer, while a few patrolmen hang back and needle him with arrow shots. Taral takes a breath and heals himself with a word, but suffers a few shocks from the wizard's thundercloud.

The air elemental harries a brute until it falls, but also suffers some damage, by the glaives of two of the soldiers at the vanguard.

Taral and the air elemental manage to extricate themselves from the melee and disappear from sight almost simultaneously, aided in part by the distraction and protection provided the forceful impact of Tintau's Shielding Cube, which finishes off one of the soldiers and scatters a group of patrolmen to boot.

When Taral and the air elemental do not reappear, the enemies quickly rush forward to attack the barricade, but are given pause by the fierce radiance that suddenly emanates from Leif's longsword. The two remaining rebel investigators stagger to their knees and pass out, but the onslaught continues.

A group of patrolmen lead by a brute reach the barricades and batter it to pieces, then press forward. The first brute is caught unawares by Aurora, who pins him to the ground and mauls and rakes him with her claws.

An intense melee unfolds just outside the lighthouse. Aurora, Leif and Tintau clash with the remaining attacks, using the wards placed by Saradoc and Taral earlier to their advantage. A wintery blast from the maw of a dead fey drake finishes one brute, and a roiling mass of shadows claims several more.

The three constables outside the lighthouse take some injuries in the melee as well, but manage to stay on their feet, and are heartened by the appearance of the vanguard of the Risuri fleet sailing through the open sea gate.

A pair of cutters angle towards the lighthouse. On their decks are riflemen and wizards who send the remaining attackers ducking for cover with gunfire and volleys of magic missiles. Soon those few rebels still left standing throw down their arms and surrender.

Several more ships sail into the harbor, most of them making for the harbor walls, loosing a rain of arrows on the rebel forces. A trio of ships surrounds and overwhelms a caraval, the sole ship the Duchess had patrolling the harbor.

One of the cutters who had come to the constables' aid docks nearby. A stocky middle-aged man disembarks after several soldiers and medics and identifies himself as Captain Peters of the R.N.S. Reliant. He seems a bit confused as he surveys the constables, but after spotting Saradoc and Aurora (if she returns to her humanoid form) he continues.

"Well done, constables. Sit a spell and let my medics have a look at you while my boys corral these rebels.

The Impossible was at the spearpoint of the assault, you might have noticed. Captain Smith will want to debrief you and plan the next stage of the assault. He should be here by the time we get you all patched up, in about a half hour or so."

Several Risuri ships dock near the gates of the harbor. The Duchess's forces have closed the gates, but with Risuri forces are already constructing siege towers, and have the benefit of being able to place forces on the sea wall to boot. It's hard to tell from this distance, but the battle seems to be going well so far.

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I decided to let enemies you killed this round not take actions and cut the encounter short a round (you were supposed to have to hold out until the end of round 10) because 1) I was late in posting this update, 2) I didn't want to drag this encounter out any longer, and 3) there was no way the enemies were going to be able to take the lighthouse and undo your sabotage in time no matter how the combat went.

Below is the action summary for round 9. Damage you guys took is bolded.

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24 enemies.
1 patrolman KO'd by Aeric
1 brute attacks Taral (6 damage)
1 patrolman attacks Taral (6 damage)
1 wizard dead from Taral (6 damage)
1 investigator dead from Taral
1 wizard attacks Taral (6 damage)
1 soldier attacks the air elemental (6 damage)
1 soldier attacks the air elemental (6 damage) -- the elemental is bloodied
1 soldier killed by Tintau
1 patrolman killed by Tintau
1 soldier killled by Leif
1 soldier killed by Leif
1 brute attacks barricade
1 patrolman attacks barricade
1 brute killed by Saradoc
1 brute killed by Aurora
1 brute killed by Taral's trap
1 brute killed by Saradoc's trap
1 patrolman killed by Saradoc's trap
The 5 remaining enemies attack Leif 3 times for a total of 18 damage, and Aurora and Tintau once each for 6 damage.

Everyone recovers hp as if they had spent one healing surge (without having to spend a healing surge) from the medics' attentions. You can also take as many short rests as you want now to efficiently heal the rest of your hp.

I'm going to update my last post in the OOC thread now, and I'll probably make another post tomorrow.

[Falconknight06]

Aeric exits the lighthouse with a defeated smile on his face. The toll of killing those he thought his allies weighing heavily on the constable more used to working on busting drug rings and such. He wasn't a soldier, and his thoughts flashed back to stories he heard from his parents about the war. But they had done their first job well, and as he was being patched up, he says to Captain Peters, I have a feeling that many of these guards were being mislead by the duchess, and we tried to leave some alive. It might be prudent to insure their survival and find out what they know and where there true allegiance lies Aeric takes a breath, not knowing how long he had been holding it, and then asks also, would any of you happen to have some spare ammunition? I'm running a bit low, especially if we are to continue fighting

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I'm down to ten bullets left, as I only brought twenty. I still have 37 shurikens though.