a Very (un)Common Quest -ic

[inexorabletruth]

Rodney breaks concentration for a moment when Elrond drops like a box of rocks.

"Gods help us." he rasps.

In Orcish:
"TWO! Do you really want to die?! It doesn't have to end this way!"

Ready Action: Attack if Grul tries another attack or moves out of his square.

Attack: (1d20+4)[17]
Damage: (1d8)[6]

[Dudeons]

Aaron was shocked as he saw his attack, as well as those of the others, were practically useless against the orc. Aaron watched as Elrond collapsed to the ground after the orc struck him. Aaron knew a corpse when he saw one, and that's what laid before Grul. Aaron stepped back into the trees, waiting for the orc to turn his back again before leaping out and swinging his shovel at the orc again.

Spoiler

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5-foot step into D16, then attack Grul if he's alive on my turn.
(1d20+4)[12]
(1d8+4)[8]

[redzimmer]

Randolph

For the second time in as many days, Randolph saw his faith in others dashed.

Focusing all his rage and hate, he lets another burst of energy fire at the orc.

Spoiler

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(1d20+3)[19] to hit
(1d6)[2]

[Trivino]

Round 3:

Ellie- 19

Spoiler

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Ellie barely stifles a scream as the elf falls to the onslaught of the orc. Refusing to recognize how terrified she is, the young swashbuckler simply focuses her mind on the thrust of her rapier. As she attacks, it occurs to her that the orc only has one eye left. She shifts her attack towards the healthy eye, but overadjusts, stabbing the air over Grul's head.

Charles- 16

Spoiler

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Charles is momentarily distracted by the reflection of the sun on a nearby tree...

Grul- 13

Spoiler

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Grul takes a moment to check his wounds and let's out one final growl before jumping onto a tree branch above him. Before too long, the Orc is climbing at a furious rate, then swings from limb to limb, obscured from view...

(He does provoke attacks of opportunities from Ellie, Aaron, Tommy, and Randolph)

End of Battle.

[Dudeons]

Aaron sees Grul leaping up onto a tree branch. Aaron swings his shovel at the orc as he starts climbing up the tree. After attacking, Aaron watches as Grul swings across the higher up branches.

"The grave will claim you some other day, it seems," Aaron mutters. He shifts his shovel into one hand and looks around to see if Grul had any reinforcements.

Spoiler

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Spot check
(1d20+4)[23]

[Newcomer]

Ellie also attacks the ascending orc, jabbing with her rapier one last time.

Spoiler

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Attack: (1d20+1)[11]
Damage: (2d6-2)[4]
Crit Confirm: (1d20+1)[6]
Crit Damage: (1d6-2)[0]

[nersxe]

Charles shrugs off his distraction, pulling another arrow out and nocking it. He takes a deep breath, then lets it fly, purposefully blocking out Elrond's death for the moment.

Spoiler

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Attack: (1d20+5)[11]
Damage: (1d8+2)[3]
Critical confirmation: (1d20+5)[20]

[moskeeto]

Tommy takes a quick swing at the Orc as it tries to disappear up through the trees...

Spoiler

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(1d20+2)[7]
(2d6+2)[8]
punishing stance- (1d6)[6]

[Trivino]

As Grul disappears into the trees, the peasants are left to themselves in the quiet of the woods. The silence is quickly broken however as a coughing fit from Elrond catches everyone's attention.

"You have done well Peasants of Ro. You have fought hard and are ready to fight. Go West, find... this... Val... go... fight..."

Elrond goes silent as blood continues to pour from his gaping wound. Before the party can continue towards Ro, a familiar face appears from the woods... Aldaer!

[redzimmer]

Randolph

Spoiler

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bluff (1d20+15)[35]

Randolph feigns great grief over the body of Elrond as he appraises the body for loot.

"You had so much more to teach me shalafi!"

[inexorabletruth]

Rodney can't help but feel a little burst of pride when something finally succeeds as the crossbow bolt plunges deep into the haunches of the mighty orc.

"He's not like the other orcs." He says with a hint of relief as Grul hops away.

He looks down at Elrond as he says his final words. Still uncomfortable with death, he chooses to remain silent, then observes Randolph's overly-dramatic display with a touch of curiosity.

Sense Motive (1d20+1)[10]

Then walks over to Randolph and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey..." he says sympathetically, "he died so that we could save our friend. Val still needs us. I'm sorry... but we have to go before more orcs come. Let's take what he taught us and make sure his sacrifice is worth it."

[redzimmer]

Randolph

O Bitter Hand, give me strength.

Randolph nods, taking in the quick inventory of the dead elf for future reference.

He points to the fellow Roan who now fancied himself a swordsman, Aaron was it? No, Tommy.

"He would have wanted you to have his weapon, Tommy."

Feeling on a roll now, he addresses the whole lot.

"He has given us so much, we must honor him by completing his mission. We must restore the true king!"

[Dudeons]

Seeing nothing dangerous approach, Aaron walks over to the others, who are standing over Elrond's body. He watches the one named Randolph melodramatically mourn the loss of their comrade before he immediately discusses looting the corpse of said comrade. Aaron stands behind Randolph, not pleased by what he was discussing.

"He has given us so much, we must honor him by completing our mission..." Randolph says to the others. Already he switched back to his 'mourn our comrade' personality. What was happening in this man's mind? Whatever it was, Aaron didn't like the concept of disturbing the dead in such a manner.

"And would it honor him at all," Aaron asks, displeasure present in his voice, "to strip bare his corpse and leave him to rot?"

[nersxe]

"It won't help anyone if the sword lies here to rust," Charles says quietly, throwing his bow over his shoulder.

[moskeeto]

Tommy watched as the one-eyed Orc disappeared into the trees. He shook his head, disappointed.

We'll find you... and get our vengeance.

"He would have wanted you to have his weapon, Tommy."

Tommy's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by Randolph. He looked his friend over, and exhaled slowly.

"I will use his sword... and slice that Orc in half with it!" Tommy says coldly as he pulls the sword from Elrond's cold grip. "And that... is how I will honor Elrond. But we must make quick work of getting to Val. The gods only know if he's still alive, let alone still at Ro."

[redzimmer]

Randolph

The gravedigger lectures me on how to treat a corpse?

He seemed to be seeing right through his song-and-dance though. He would have to be on guard with this one.

[Elrihm]

Aldaer will sigh, and rub a hand over his face. An elf is dying, and an orc is fleeing into the woods, that makes perfect sense. He wonders if anyone even noticed him gone. "I suppose that's my curse..."

"It's nice to see you bastards as well. Can someone tell me what the **** is going on?""

[Newcomer]

As Grul manages his escape, Ellie looks around nervously. She sees no other orcs approaching, only Aldaer.

And Elrond, who passed away after a few final words. And now he was dead. He was walking and talking with them minutes ago, and now his body lay lifeless on the ground. Ellie had seen the orcs die yesterday, but that was different. They were monsters, coming to attack the village. They needed to die. But Elrond was a friend, an ally. A day ago, she didn't know he existed, but today he was one of them, and he died for them.

It's all a bit shocking, and Ellie isn't sure how to react to it, but she knows it isn't good. What do they do now? Do elves bury their bodies? Randolph in particular seemed to be taking it roughly. Ellie stands in silence.

Then a thought occurs to her, as she watches the Ghost of Ro standing over the dead. Though she shudders a little as she resolves to speak to him; she feels like it would be a good gesture. So she walks up to Aaron and speaks.

"Mister Aaron, sir.. I've been learning Elven, and since he's an elf..." Here she hesitates, intimidated and slightly embarrassed. "If you have any prayers to say for the dead.. I could repeat them in Elven... for him."

[Dudeons]

Aaron watches Randolph with clear displeasure. The concept of looting a body was horrid, especially one of an ally like this. Suddenly, he hears a voice that sounds different from the others. He looks back and sees Ellie. This wasn't a time to anger him, and nothing could possibly anger him more than this girl. He prepared to fire something offensive in response to whatever she said, but he was surprised by what he heard from her.

"Mister Aaron, sir.. I've been learning Elven, and since he's an elf..." she started, trailing off a little, "If you have any prayers to say for the dead.. I could repeat them in Elven... for him."

Aaron was actually shocked by what he heard. Wasn't this the girl who danced upon graves and mocked the resting dead with her presence? Was this not who he thought she was? Whatever the case, her offer was kind and she obviously wasn't being sarcastic in what she said. He looked down at her and smiled a little bit.

"Sure," Aaron says, "I'll pray in Common so you can translate to Elven. I'm sure Elrond would appreciate it."

He clasps his hands together behind him, seeing if he could think of any prayers that elves used for their dead. Once he's gathered his words, he kneels next to the body of Elrond and solemnly prays, making sure he's loud enough for Ellie to hear him.

Spoiler

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Knowledge (Religion) check, if it's necessary.

(1d20+4)[21]

[inexorabletruth]

Rodney, much more motivated to get out of here than honor a man they barely knew, feels a wave of relief when Aldear pops up out of the blue. Solemnly and out of respect for the gravity of the situation as Ellie and Aaron pay their respects, Rodney ushers Aldear to a quieter place away from the main group.

In an excited whisper, "Gods, Aldear! You're alive. We assumed you'd been captured or killed in th' city. How in the hell did you escape? And how in the hell did you find us?"

Assuming Aldear doesn't interrupt him, Rodney prattles on, explaining the circumstances that led them here and what their next steps are.

All the while, he keeps looking over his shoulder and around blind spots, expecting to see another orc party come charging through the woods at any second.

Spot: (1d20+1)[17]

[Elrihm]

Aldaer will fill in his search for the party, and at the end of the conversation will pull out his pipe, then light it.

"I am glad you are safe, I'll never be surprised at the depravity of the nobility. Let's bury the dead, and move on. Val must be in dire straits, we never should have left him."

He'll clap Rodney on the shoulder, and then head over to the party.

[Newcomer]

Ellie is relieved to see Aaron smile at her, taking her seriously. She kneels next to him and chants his prayer in Elven, as best she can. She hopes it is a fitting tribute to the elf she didn't really know, and she tries to remember the words of the prayer. If this is going to be a war, it would be a useful thing to know.

[Trivino]

As Elrond is properly taken care of and Aldaer becomes reacquainted, the peasants of Ro look West. Somewhere in that direction sits Ro, their quiet, peasant town. Somewhere in that direction sits Val, hopefully alive, awaiting his dear peasant friends.

The sun shines brightly onto the peasants as they make their way back to Ro. The forest seems quiet, no movements or stirrings outside of the small group...

Spoiler

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For the Grul battle, finding Aldaer, and handling Elrond in a proper fashion... you all get a level up in your respective classes. Fast paced, I know, but I figured you would all appreciate not sitting at level 1 for a long time!

[redzimmer]

Randolph

Randolph reveled in his newfound power to the point of hardly noticing the eorld around. He all but bounds towatds Ro without heed to any possible dangers.

Spoiler: Questions

Show

1. Are we ECL 4 now, meaning a Stat increase?
2. Did Elrond have anything worth looting?
3. Does that last question make me seem callous?

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson Claps Aldaer on the shoulder. Glad to see you didn't get caught by the orcs, Al.

He hangs his head, and whispers, repeating the prayers said over Elrond's grave.

[Trivino]

After what seems like an incredibly long walk, the peasants of Ro return home. Ro looks exactly how it was left, save for the dead Orcs littering the ground. Your homes look overly inviting, and the shops look ready to open for business. The other peasants are nowhere to be seen, but it feels like you've never left...

[nersxe]

Charles rolls his shoulders uncomfortably, but doesn't speak. Though there are dead orcs nearly everywhere, that doesn't mean there aren't live ones somewhere.

[redzimmer]

Randolph

"I always thought orcs eat their dead. What, too soon?"

Because he can, Randolph looks around for anything invisible lurking about.

[Dudeons]

Aaron walks into the town with the others, noting how undamaged the town seemed to be. The buildings looked untouched, and the only signs that anything unusual ever happened here were the dead orcs lying about.

"Perhaps Val was victorious against the orcs," Aaron thinks, "If the orcs had succeeded, they would have surely burned the town."

Aaron looks around, trying to see if any orcs were still alive and nearby. Once he's confirmed nothing interesting is happening (such as the appearance of orcs or the discovery of Val), he looks off towards his graveyard to see if anything is happening there.

Spoiler

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Spot check (for the graveyard and the orcs)

(1d20+6)[9]

[Newcomer]

As Ellie returns to the town and sees the orc bodies in the empty village, a flood of memories from the past day rushes past her.

The town meeting, hidden in a cart full of hay...the news that the village was about to be attacked...hiding in the tree and helping to stop the orc band...the journey to the king's castle...being arrested...hours in a cramped and dirty prison cell...being sold to the orcs as slaves...riding in the slave cart...the escape...Elrond and his camp...the sumptuous feast in that friendly elf woman's tent...the battle where Elrond died...and the weary journey home.

So many momentous events, and it's only been a day. More has happened in this past day than the village of Ro could expect to happen in a lifetime. Big things. Ellie feels the urge to climb up onto the roofs and play, to sneak into Morgana's shop and hide in a corner, watching people gossip and shop. But that was part of a different life. Ellie feels different now; she's grown up in a day.

She tentatively walks into the village, keeping an eye out for any movement. If it seems clear, she starts toward her shack. There's something she needs to take care of.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Spot: (1d20+1)[11]
Listen: (1d20+1)[19]