D&D 3.5: A Madness in Hepmonaland (IC)

[missmvicious]

Lydia knew that when weapons were being drawn that she should follow suit and so she pulled the small dagger off her hip. It wasn't her first choice but she hardly needed to justify this lot's trap by showing off her magic. Though if things got rough she'd do what she had to. Her free fingers run subconsciously over her spell component pouch.

"Was your plan honestly to attack and murder a woman at a bar with no proof of any arcane ability?" she scoffed. "I guess thats a brilliant follow up for the cowards that slay old men in their baths." she pauses considering Stanley's plea. "We should take this outside, settle it like real class acts, not wrecking bars or setting up traps for strangers to jump them for gold." Okay I think my smack talk is getting better, Mo would be proud.

Spoiler: Spoliers!

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So Lydia is gonna ready an attack. She's not eager for this fight but, well it looks unavoidable since they came here with the purpose of killing one us, or more. So if one of those wanna be PC bastards tries attacking them Lydia is gonna stab them.

[TheEggKing]

Siegfried raises his shield and moves between Aria and Gwen. "Aye, what the little one said. I'd much rather not stain poor Stanley's floors with your blood."

Spoiler: Ability: Relevant to Aria

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Gonna go ahead and mark Aria with my Constant Guardian ability. Aria gets +2 Dodge bonus until she's more than 10 feet from me or until the start of my next turn, though we're not at turns right now. Just consider it constant unless I say otherwise or we get to a turn order, it's a free action so I can just renew it as much as I want.

[Mavame]

Kyara quickly realizes that she failed to find a nonviolent solution as more weapons are being drawn 'I should have fled the bar'. Shaken by the aggression she takes a few steps back missing a few notes of the tune she started to play. Kyara quickly changed her tune and start a poem to inspire as she continues to move away from Isamu's party towards Aria.

"We will protect the innocents from pain,
murder is the madness not the arcane"

"Challenging us is just as insane,
as our enemies shall be slain"

"Together We will stand strong as one,
each battle we fight shall be won"

Spoiler: Party Benefits

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+1 morale bonus on saves VS Charm and Fear and you will deal an extra 1d6 of force damage with weapons

This bonus last as long as you can hear Kyara and 5 rounds there after.

[inexorabletruth]

Gwen grins sadistically as she pulls on the hair trigger of her crossbow. A bolt soars at Aria, but sudden inspiration causes her to twitch just slightly to the left. It grazes off her shoulder, glancing off the finely crafted mail to arch slowly towards Belvar, who swats it aside with his hammer while reaching for a pouch to his sid.e

He stops abruptly, looking down at the space where his pouch used to be. “What in the-“ he begins as he looks around, bewildered for his pouch.

“NOW Belvar!” Branda yells, an edge of nervous tension in her voice.

Lydia flings her dagger at Gwen, but the dagger arches low, clanging against the ground a foot from where Gwen now crouches. Gwen looks at the dagger incredulously… half expecting this to be some kind of weird trap. “Now Belver!” Gwen shouts. “Hurry!”

“I cannae find it, lass!” Belvar roars in frustration.

Spoiler: Initiative

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1. Vlad
2. Belvar
3. Lydia
4. Isamu
5. Aria
6. Kyara
7. Branda
8. Siegfried
9. Gwen
10. Natalie

Battle Map:

[missmvicious]

Lydia looks from her dagger now on the floor over to Siegfried and says sheepishly "I'm not great at throwing things."
And now I am unarmed she adds in head. Smooth.

[RaggedAngel]

The bolt being fired marks the beginning of the first fight of Aria's life, and she decides to begin things on her own terms. She feels the subtle power in the bard's song, and her utterance is still gently shaping reality. In this case, she told the world that she was skillful at all things, and the world had decided to listen. Her eyes distant, she slides forward in a single smooth step, putting herself right next to the belligerent dwarf. Her stance is light and her hand is held over the handle of her morningstar almost delicately. Suddenly with a single smooth motion she draws her weapon and attacks, whipping the spiked metal mace at the killer's head as she shouts a wordless challenge.

Spoiler: Actions

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Free action to shift forward.

Iaijutsu Focus as a part of drawing her weapon and then attacking: (1d20+7)[14]

Spoiler: Bonus Damage

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10-14: (1d6)[4]
15-19: +(1d6)[2]
20-24: +(1d6)[6]
25-29: +(1d6)[1]

Attack: (1d20+1)[19]
Damage: (1d8+1)[2] + (1d6)[3] Force damage + [4] Iaijutsu bonus damage

[missmvicious]

Vlad pulls out a dagger coldly and closes the distance between himself and Belvar "You really think this is a good idea? We got you out numbered and out gunned. You should take your little friends and get out of here before you get hurt. I'm not some poor old man who you caught off guard. So get out of here before you get yourself killed."

Spoiler: Spoilers!

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Gonna intimidate Belvar (1d20+7)[25]
Hoping to cause him to be shaken.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

“I’m sorry. Is my thrilling tale of adventure, death and glory interrupting your boring, inane banter? Please, do go on about this, Naoki and his lessons. I’m sure it’s a thousand thrills per sentence to hear.”

"Haha, what? Sorry, girl, did y'all need me for something?"

Having not been paying attention, Natalie is taken by surprise as the situation quickly escalates.

"Huh? Why... wait, y'all adventurers did WHAT?! That horrible! Why would you do that?!"

Suddenly, everyone around her is brandishing weapons and a crossbow bolt is bouncing off of Aria's shoulder and over her head. "Gwah! Hey! ...are you okay?" she asks Aria. Armor or no, getting shot probably stings...

For a moment, Natalie hesitates. A gang of angry adventurers is scary. But, Kyara's song of courage pushes her over the edge. Even if she doesn't necessarily believe all of the words, she can't just leave her friends to the wolves!

"...Um..."

...her herding stick is still under the table.

[inexorabletruth]

Belvar, seeing Vlad approaches, grins horribly at the opportunity to bash in a skull. But Vlad’s icy demeanor and none-too-subtle threat gives Belvar pause. The dragonfire adepts eyes pierce into Belvar’s dark orbs like two torches in a cave.

“We ain’t after yerself, boy.” He says, trying to regain his composure. “Ye don’t need ta be a part o’ this.”

• Belvar is shaken for one round.
• In order for Intimidate to work, you have to be able to threaten them in melee. Therefore, I had to move Vlad forward one. If this is not ok, please let me know and we’ll re-write. However, Belvar will not be shaken in that case.

Seeing that Vlad is not backing down, Belvar snarls and ducks behind his shield, charging through Vlad like an angry bull!

• Vlad, you may make an Attack of Opportunity if you wish.

Vlad’s dagger swipes high over the ducking dwarf a moment before Belvar crashes into Vlad like a rolling barrel of ale, but Vlad reacts quickly, dipping his shoulder to square of against the impact. They crash into each other, roaring and grunting like two springtime elks fighting over a mate. Belvar and Vlad both stagger backward to a full stand. Belvar shakes his head in surprise and astonishment as Vlad returns to a combat stance.

Lydia, you're up.

[missmvicious]

Lydia looks over at her dagger, a forlorn expression on her face. I'm really not great at throwing things She lets out a quick sigh and made her decision. She takes a few deliberate steps around the the corner of the bar and stands before Isamu. Her cool grey eyes meet his and she raises her right arm and touches her arm pit with her left hand. "Fsieshei." She said simply as she reached out and touched Isamu and smirks.

Spoiler: Rolls and stuff!

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Touch spell with Touch of Fatigue
Attack (1d20+1)[13]
Thats a DC17 Fort (13+4 for greater spell focus)
And pass or fail he's shaken for one round.

[inexorabletruth]

Caught off guard, Isamu flails wildly at Lydia in defense, but her diminutive hand smears her armpit sweat down the side of Isamu’s face anyway.

Sputtering and cursing, Isamu hops back and tries to rub his face on his new leather armor. “What in the NINE HELLS?!”

• Isamu is Fatigued. (-2 STR,DEX)
• Isamu is Shaken. (-2 Atk, Save, Skill, Ability rolls)

Gwen’s eyes go wide with confusion as he watches Isamu swoon momentarily. “Are you ok?!”

Isamu, losing much of his will to continue this fight, stumbles for a moment. “This bony little s**t smeared her…” he grunts and sluggishly lunges his kukri towards Lydia’s belly. But his arm is limp and his grip is shaky. Lydia easily swats the attack away, remembering a simple defensive maneuver Monica taught her years ago.

Feeling unexpectedly overpowered by this disgusting girl, he staggers back to stand beside Gwen.

Aria’s attack hammers into the confused dwarf’s chest while he’s still recovering from the failed overrun attempt. Air explodes from Belvar’s mouth in a loud cough and he slumps over in pain, clutching his bruised chest.

Kyara, you’re up.

[Mavame]

Kyara is uncertain what to do as she has never been in real combat before she braces herself for the fact that she might be struck while still continuing her words of encouragement.

"Look at the little Belvar that wounded dwarf
soon and we will be hiding his corpse in the wharf"

"They should have listened to what they have been told
but failing to listen because of temptation of gold"

"So here we still stand as one
And Isamu's team shall be gone"

Spoiler: Actions

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Kyara will take a standard action for Total Defense and keeps using her Inspire Courage

[inexorabletruth]

“Belvar, shut that bloody bard up!” Branda yells as she plunges her dagger at Siegfried’s knee. The tip of the blade plunges into his clothing, but stops short at Siegfrieds scale armor. Even leaning hard into the thrust, her tiny body lacks the strength to penetrate Siegfried’s defenses.

She changes strategies, realizing she picked the wrong foe, and somersaults under the table, rolling out to the other side where Natalie is sitting.

• Branda succeeded on her tumble check to avoid AoO from Siegfried.
• Branda succeeded on her tumble check to avoid AoO from Kyara.
• Siegfried, you’re up.

[TheEggKing]

"Har, what's wrong, my meat have too much gristle for your tastes?" Siegfried shouts as he moves around the table to chase Branda and get between the group and the other two attackers. He raises his sword and brings it down in a brutal diagonal cleave, shouting in fury.

Spoiler: Abilities and Attack Rolls

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Activating Constant Guardian on Lydia as a free action. Lydia gets a +2 Dodge bonus until the start of my next turn or until she's more than ten feet away from me.

Spending one of my Knight's Challenge uses to place a Fighting Challenge (PHB2 pg 25) on Branda, granting me +1 on attack and damage rolls against her and +1 on Will saves against her.

Then, attack! As a Knight, I am forgoing my flanking bonus, though I still provide it to Natalie if she wants it. I also get a -2 on the attack roll for having Constant Guardian in effect.
Attack roll: (1d20+2)[6]
Damage roll: (1d8+2)[4] + (1d6)[5] for Bardic Inspiration

[inexorabletruth]

Branda squeaks in surprise at Siegfried’s spryness. But, the tight space works to her advantage, guiding the large weapon into a predictable arc that Branda easily ducks away from, letting the longsword take a chunk of table away in her stead. Splinters of wood fly away, peppering her hair and skidding off to the floor.

“I’ll get her!” Gwen loads another bolt into her crossbow and fires a shot at Kyara. The bolt spins through the air, biting into Kyara’s left shoulder with blinding speed. Kyara’s leather armor absorbs most of the blow, but the bolt vibrates from the impact sending waves of pain shooting through her arm.

• Kyara, you take 1 damage.
• Please roll a Concentration check, DC 11 to continue playing.
• Natalie, you’re up.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Natalie springs out of her chair, flips it out of the way, and-

"Uwah!!" *CRackACK-thunk*

Siegfried's attack smashes in the table, leaving Natalie in the awkward position of having to go to the other side to get at what passes for her weapon.

"Hey, watch it! I'm trying to... huh?"

Branda pops out right next to her. Natalie's eyes lock onto the halfling. She was planning on running over to get the lady with the crossbow shooting everyone, but... the halfling's pretty much instigated this whole thing, so maybe if she can pin her down... well, Natalie doesn't plan that far ahead.

"...Alright, c'mere, you!"

Natalie dives to grab Branda around the waist with all the animal-wrangling skill she can muster, but the slippery varmint just retreats back under the table to dodge. She might also nip at Natalie with the dagger, but that's nothing new.

Spoiler

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Rolls - Branda gets an AOO and will probably hit and make it irrelevant, but... well, Natalie doesn't usually do this with armed people, so I guess that would still kind of make sense.

Melee touch attack, for the grab: (1d20+2)[5]

Grapple check, for wrasslin': (1d20+2)[12] (Branda gets -4 for the size...)

[Lexin]

"Well, you've had your chance." says Vlad, as he lunges at the dwarf with his dagger.
He sounded a lot more confident than he felt, knowing that he learned only the bare basics of melee combat. That said breathing fire inside this fine establishment might not be the brightest idea.

Spoiler: OOC

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Standard Action- Dagger Attack
Attack (1d20-2)[16]
Damage (1d4-1)[1] + (1d6)[2] (bard's song)

Free Action: Kn: Architecture and Engineering - Can the Dragonfire breath weapon be used in this tavern without causing too much damage?
(1d20+9)[10]

[Mavame]

Kyara screams loudly as the bolt struck her shoulder. The sudden surge of pain was worse then she could have imagined and completely destroys her concentration rendering Kyara unable to continue her bard's song.

Spoiler: OOC

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Inspire Courage now last for 5 more rounds.

[inexorabletruth]

Natalie may be new to combat, but Branda moves with the practiced ease of someone who has seen a battle or two. Continuing to use the table as a barrier she shuffles back as Natalie charges in for the grapple, then swings hard in an executioners chop at the back of Natalie’s neck with her tiny dagger. The blade tears through armor, flesh and sinew like the fang of a serpent, embedding itself nearly to the hilt in Natalie’s left shoulder, just barely missing Natalie’s spinal column.

• Branda scores a critical hit.
• Natalie, you take 4 damage.

Belvar, still shaken by the most recent events, steps backward at Vlad’s advance and slips on some spilled ale, causing his arms to fly wide just as Vlad’s dagger soars in at his belly. The dagger bites through the leather armor, leaving a trail of thick, dwarven blood to dribble down his pants. Belvar bellows in rage at his horrible luck and tries to stoically shake off the wound. It’s obvious that he is beginning to weaken from the battle, but his fear is gone as survival mode kicks in.

Belvar belches a savage roar and swings his hammer low, going for Vlad’s legs in a sidelong swipe. But Vlad skips away from the bone-crushing assault, causing the hammer to slap ineffectively against the hem of his trousers as the hammerhead whooshes past him. In a flash, he pulls his shield back in place and carefully side steps to avoid being flanked by the two dangerous foes.

• Belvar is no longer shaken.
• Belvar shifts left.
• Round 2 (5 rounds of Bardic Song left)
• Lydia, you’re up.

[missmvicious]

Lydia glances back at the group at the table and decides that another mess of limbs is not needed there. When her eyes fall on Kyara she decides what to do next.

Lydia takes off around the table to face off against Gwen before the half elf can get any more bolts off. "Stop shooting people you half wit." Lydia said trying to get the hand crossbow out of Gwen's hands.

Spoiler: Donuts

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So first Branda should get an AoO as I move away from her. Since I am under Siegfried's protection thingy I will get a +2 dodge bonus on that.
I'm moving left and down to avoid Isamu.
Going to attempt a disarm
First Gwen kinda should get an AoO for the attempt, but you also aren't supposed to be able to use an AoO with a ranged weapon by RAW as far as I understand. So not sure how that works out, but it would be totally cool if she didn't get that AoO. If she gets it and she hit then the disarm fails.
Then opposed attack rolls! She's at -4 cause she's using a ranged weapon. I am also at -4 since I am unarmed.
(1d20-3)[14]
If successful I will then have the hand crossbow.

[inexorabletruth]

Branda is a little too distracted with her duel between Natalie and Siegfried flanking her to notice Lydia leave.

Branda declines her AoO

Lydia rounds the bend, swatting at Gwen’s light crossbow. “Hey!” she groans as she struggles to hang on to her weapon, but the frail wizard has caught Gwen completely by surprise. After a few seconds of tug-of-war, the crossbow ends up in Lydia’s hands.

“Isamu!” Gwen shrieks, her bravado now completely gone from her. Gwen holds her hands up feebly as she backpedals to get away from the newly equipped waif.

Isamu’s face twists in rage. Growling like an animal, he charges at Lydia, slamming into her like a pouncing jungle cat. “RUN GWEN!”

Reflexively, Lydia drops the crossbow and sticks her hand out in an open-palm strike, another remnant of Monica’s self-defense lessons, and connects squarely with Isamu’s narrow jaw. The his isn’t hard, but it’s hard enough to deflect Isamu’s attack. A small bruise forms at Isamu’s chin. “The gods are against us!” he cries with confusion and frustration.

Aria, you’re up.

[RaggedAngel]

Aria grips her morningstar deftly, her palms surprisingly dry. She had expected a cold grip of fear in her stomach, or weakness in her knees; perhaps chattering teeth or tunnel vision. This was a fight, a struggle potentially for her very life, and she had read a number of books on the subject.

None of them had told her that she would feel so alive. She had always been prepared for fear, for her fight-or-flight response to tell her to run. But now Aria was in the middle of a brawl, and all she could think about was how good it had felt to slam her morningstar into the disgraced dwarf's chest.

"Did you enjoy that, Bel-Var?" She jeers, emphasizing the two parts of the dwarf's name. "No wonder you're such a disgrace, if an untrained Illumian can knock the wind out of you." She glances down at her morningstar again, contemplating. It was a good design, but she could surely improve on it; the balance was a bit off, and the grip could be adjusted to better suit her slender hand. It was interesting how quickly she learned by doing rather than reading about what others had done.

Speaking of doing... she looked at her new brother-in-arms. The dwarf didn't want to be between the two of them, naturally. She would have to do something to fix that. She could just bull past the dwarf, but her utterance was still working, forcing the world to believe that she was skillful and talented.

She began moving almost without thinking, drawing on that short-term talent. She crouched, braced her body, and then she hurled herself forward in a leap, turning over completely before landing on her feet, putting herself well past the dwarf. Now flanking him, she turned the force of her spin into an attack, bringing her morningstar back around into the besieged dwarf.

Spoiler: Actions

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Tumble, +2 Dex, -1 Armor, +5 Universal Aptitude (which also makes it count as trained), DC 15: (1d20+6)[26] She's just going to move to flank Belvar. If she can just shift and attack to flank him, she'll do that instead.

Attack: (1d20+3)[8] Includes flanking bonus.
Damage: (1d8+1)[7] + (1d6)[4] Force

[inexorabletruth]

Belvar raises his shield, anticipating an attack from Aria, but blinding himself to her flurry of motion as she twirls and side flips over to the stage, landing gracefully onto the platform above Belvar’s left shoulder. Leaning into the spin, the jagged ball of her morningstar zooms down at Belvar’s head like a pendulum of doom!

But Belvar registers the “tock, tock” sound of Aria’s feet landing on the stage. On impulse, he leans into his shield, falling to the floor and rolling like some strange boulder a foot and a half away from a swing that may have otherwise torn his black-maned head off. “To hell with the gods! Get yer head outta yer rear, Isamu!” he shouts, trying to ignore Aria’s taunts.

• Aria, while you have high ground, you'll have a +1 to hit.
• Kyara, you’re up.

[Mavame]

Kyara realizes she can't stay passive in this fight now she has become a target. Slowly she puts away her lute while looking at the options she has, when she stares at the door a thought comes to her mind for a brief moment'Running away is a option now that dwarf moved'

But then she sees Lydia taking on Isamu and disarming Gwen all by her own she draws one of her daggers without thinking and pointing it at Gwen and shouts in elvish "Yui rhuirn lud heya nula dhed. luw I en sunnailr llus irrui suw!" Hoping Gwen doesn't realize that she never used her weapon before.

Spoiler: Elvish

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You should not have done that. now I am coming for you cow!

Spoiler: Actions

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Kyara uses a move action to secure her lute and forgo's her standard action for another move action to draw a dagger.

[inexorabletruth]

Gwen sputters, both furious at the insult and terrified that she us now unarmed, targeted and apparently losing a fight she was so sure they were going to win.

Branda isn’t done yet. Sidestepping away from the crowded corner of the bar, Branda keeps her dagger waving dangerously in front her. “You like that, hillbilly? Stings, don't it?” She taunts with a deadly glare in her eyes. She glances over at the towering knight with a wicked smile on her face. “Best keep your distance, tin man. I’ll slit her thro-“ [time ran out]

She continues to move around the table, backing up and keeping her knife waving menacingly at Natalie. She fails to notice that Vlad is now right beside her.

• Branda Withdraws
• Natalie and Vlad: If you are armed, you may make an AoO to stop her movement. Otherwise, she appears to be heading to the door.
• Siegfried, you're up.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"GWAAH! Owww, ow ow ow..."

Natalie's right hand clutches her left collarbone in a poorly-planned attempt to stop the bleeding. "Yes! I mean, yes, it hurts, not yes, I like it... ow... Slit my throat?! Crazy varmint, what's wrong with y'all?!"

For some reason, the girl now seems more insulted than terrified for her life as she probably should be. Apparently, even if actual combat is new to her, Natalie's no stranger to serious personal injury. The effects of the bard song don't hurt, either.

[inexorabletruth]

Vlad’s dagger races in at the retreating halfling, but Branda sees the attack out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly realizing her misstep, her face twists in to a scowl as she spins to face Vlad and swings her arm up defensively, trying to slap away the dagger. Vlad’s knife rebounds off of Branda’s armguard, digging a deep scar against her otherwise unscathed attire.

Siegfried, you’re up.

[TheEggKing]

With a defiant roar, Siegfried charges past Natalie, eager to catch the fleeing fileter of farmhands. He swings his blade again, hoping to give the halfling a taste of her own medicine.

Spoiler: Abilities and Attack Rolls

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First, putting my Constant Guardian on Natalie. Natalie gets a +2 to her dodge and I get -2 to my attack.

Next, I'm moving to the square below Branda and to the right of Natalie.

Then, attack! Here goes nothing!
Attack roll: (1d20+2)[6]
Damage roll: (1d8+2)[3] plus (1d6)[2] for the Bard's Song

[inexorabletruth]

Still recovering from Vlad’s unexpected assault, Branda spins on her heels to face off against the roaring Siegfried, dipping back almost into a backbend to avoid the wild assault, her eyes wide with surprise by Siegfried’s savage aggression.

Gwen, in a panic, slaps out at Lydia with a wild, right hook, shouting, “NnnnnOOOOOO!” then turns to charge off behind the bar, looking for an easy exit.

• Gwen missed.
• Natalie, you’re up.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Uh..."

Shooty vaults over Stabby's head towards the door as Siegfried flails wildly. That probably qualifies as a distraction! Natalie takes the opportunity to reach under the round table for her staff, pushing aside the debris from before.

"Ah, come on... got it!"

...now what?

She looks up and notices her horse struggling with her hitch outside the window, her ears twitching in response to the ruckus. This really has gotten out of control; they're scaring Horsie!

Natalie picks up her staff and adjusts her grip, leaving bloody hand prints on the wood as she brandishes the herding tool at Branda. "Okay, that's enough! SIT!"