[D&D 3.5e / IC] Lightning Rails and Whispers of the Vampire's Blade

[whoiam]

"A couple. But I don't think 'break it' will be terribly practical and I don't much fancy 'touch it'. I'm leaning more towards getting some spare bedding off the Captain, wrapping the thing up tightly, shoving it deep into a bag, and hoping that's protection enough to keep it from corrupting us until we can hire a Warforged to carry it back for us..."

[esorscher]

Don nods his assent to the "wrap it in bedding" plan.

[rax]

"What... what happened? Where's Lucan?" Quire rasps, eyes blinking as if trying to adjust to a sudden bright light. "OW! My head feels like a whole Karrnathi regiment is goose-stepping through it!"

[TaiLiu]

Don searches the remains of Lucan's body. He doesn't find any kind of identifying ring, but he does find Lucan's identification papers. He also finds Lucan's travelling papers, the pouch that Lady ir'Krell gave him, enchanted armour, magical boots, and a leather glove that almost seems to move its fingers on its own.

The soul blade hisses like a cornered animal as Don and Mamellek discuss ways of bringing it back to the Dark Lanterns. There is bedding in the cabin, should any member of the party choose to wrap up the soul blade now. "You're making a mistake!" shouts the soul blade. It screams into your heads like an amplified thought. "Bring me to Karrnath! They will shower you with gold and platinum! You will be rich beyond your wildest dreams!"

And then Quire comes out of his madness, along with the couple. As Quire rubs his head, the couple breaks out into tears again, thanking the party for saving their lives. If the party will take it, they offer you some of their old family jewelry.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Loot!

Lucan's:

- Identification Papers, Travelling Papers, Small Grey Pouch from ir'Krell;
- +1 Studded Leather Armour;
- Boots of Striding and Springing;
- Glove of Storing.

Couple's

- 500 gold pieces' worth of jewelry.

[rax]

When the couple offer their jewellery to the team, Quire's eyes flicker momentarily to the body of their child. "I... I thank you for the offer, but I couldn't possibly take your money. I have done nothing to deserve it." A feeling of nausea threatens to overwhelm him. And I need a drink. No, a whole raft of drinks. No, I'm going to empty every bottle on this ship before we reach port.

"As for you," Quire turns in the direction of the sword, seemingly addressing thin air. "You need to shut whatever orifice you're speaking through right now. The fact that you want to go to Karrnath is reason enough to make sure you never get there. But if you keep talking, I'll also make it my personal business to end your wretched existence post haste. Do I make myself clear?!"

Quire then marches over to one of the beds, grabs the thickest quilt he can find and lays it out on the floor. Using his glaive, he pitches the sword into the bedding and wraps it up tightly, tearing strips from a sheet to tie the whole package together.

"So, who wants to carry this cursed piece of iron?" he asks his companions.

[whoiam]

"I'm guessing 'none of us'." Mamellek shucks her pack off, opens it, and drops it on the floor next to the rolled-up package. "But I'll take it. At least if it still manages to affect me, the armour makes me poorly suited to chasing the rest of you down."

Like Quire, Mamellek shows no interest in taking the family's jewellery. "I'm sorry, but you just got caught in the crossfire between a Vampire and the adventurers that were hunting him down. That's really not something you should be paying us for..." Even as she talks, Mamellek has drawn her sword, and started pushing the wrapped soul-blade package into her open backpack with it.

"Anyway, we're not done yet. There's still another airship out there - presumably looking for Lucan, one way or another. We should probably go share the news... or try running away as fast as we can, one or the other..."

[rax]

"Indeed, the game may still be afoot, and we owe the captain a report regardless. But before we go - either of you fancy any of Lucan's gear? Some of it's magical, right Don?"

OOC: I'm assuming only Don has really had the time to discover which items are magical, since he's the one searching the corpse.

[esorscher]

"Indeed," Don says, describing the items. He too declines payment for his services from the innocents, though only due to peer pressure. "Let's head back to the captain and report back." He puts Lucan's identification papers in his backpack to present to V.

[rax]

Before they go, Quire strips Lucan's body of the glove and the boots. "Heh, looting the corpse of a corpse. Haven't done that since the war," he chuckles mirthlessly. Stuffing both items in his backpack, he then indicates his readiness to head topside and report to the captain.

@TaiLiu: BTW, I've been operating under the assumption that the child has been confirmed as properly dead, i.e. not in a condition that Quire might be able to fix by administering one or more potions of healing. Because if that were possible, he definitely would. The child's death is, after all, partly due to his plan.

[TaiLiu]

The soul blade screams a wordless scream as it is being wrapped up and jammed away into Mamellek's backpack. The couple covers their ears, though that does nothing to help – the scream is internal, in your head, and it would shatter glass if it were genuine sound. But wrapping it forces it to fall silent.

The couple continues to push the jewelry, only stopping when all three members of the party decline their offer. They sing another chorus of praise for the party's heroism and generosity. As the party loots Lucan and heads up to the captain, the woman softly and wordlessly pulls her dead child up for a final embrace. Fresh tears fill the couple's eyes. In the privacy of their cabin, they grieve.

The uppermost floor of the cabin is packed and noisy. Save for the couple and their child, all the passengers from the bottommost floor are gathered there, as are the passengers from the floor between the first and last. All the cabin doors are thrown open. The conversation is fearful and thick. Amongst the crowd are Panitari and Parmelk, who notice Don and the party first. They see your weapons drawn and the sweat of battle clinging to your skin, and they smell the decay and burnt flesh wafting from you.

"Brother!" Parmelk speaks to Don. "We heard that the three of you ran down to slay the vampire. We trust that you were successful."

"There may still be danger yet," says Panitari, who speaks to the entire party, "some final act of heroism needed before the night is over."

"The other passengers say that an airship is trailing us, and that some sailors have boarded and are conversing with the captain."

"They say that the conversations neither bode well for the captain, nor for us."

Should the party head up to investigate, you find that the captain, the first mate, and all the rest of the airship crew standing side by side in the forecastle, forming a barrier with their bodies. On the other side of the barrier stands a man and six of his inferiors. From where you stand, you can make out some of their features, although the crew obscures most of them. You see that the man has vibrant green eyes and golden hair. He wears armour, as do his inferiors. They are helmeted, though he is not. You can also see an insignia on the left front of his armour – a viridescent cross between the fingers of a fire and a spread hand. It's on the armour of his inferiors, too.

"We're doing you a kindness, you know." The man speaks softly, almost hypnotically. "The boss told us to board and slaughter you all, but we'd prefer to save us all the bloodshed."

Captain Morgis crosses his arms. "Get off my ship."

"The vampire," the man says, "has something that belongs to us. That should belong to us. Show us to him. We'll deal with him and get out of your way."

"This is my ship," says the captain. "And what I say goes. I know your kind." He stares straight through the man and his insignia, almost as if he could will them to leave.

The man smiles and raises an eyebrow. "My kind?"

"Get off my ship." This time, his voice is harder, firmer, stone turned to iron, steel, unbreakable adamantine. "I will not entertain requests from the Emerald Claw."

"That's too bad," says the man. He smiles sweetly and holds two finger up. Immediately, simultaneously, his soldiers draw their weapons and point them at the sailors. The captain and his first mate are unmoved. The rest of the crew is shaken. "You got six seconds to point us to the vampire, captain, before we're forced to do this the hard way. What will it be?"

What do you do?

[esorscher]

"The vampire jumped overboard," Don lies. "We disarmed him, and sent the sword falling below. He dove after it. You want to chase him, go for it." ((1d20+2)[17] Bluff)

[rax]

"Emerald Claw, eh?" Quire grunts, spitting noisily on the ship's deck. "Who cares what traitors and outlaws have to say? Even your own country won't have anything to do with you. And for the record, I killed plenty of your useless, zombie-shagging "knights" during the war, and I'm happy to add some more to the tally. So you've got six seconds to get off this ship or all of you are leaving it the same way Lucan did."

[TaiLiu]

"Ah, brave passengers. You must be mercenaries or adventurers." The man's smile expands. "The boss won't be too happy about this development, but I suppose we'll have to live with it." His hand transforms into a casual and dismissive wave. "Asta, go back and tell the boss the news. Have the ship go down to find Lucan."

The woman to his right salutes him and takes her leave.

"Captain, this airship is now under the command of the Emerald Claw. Once our airship descends to find Lucan, you are to follow."

The dragonmark on Captain Morgis arm lights up. The captain livid, draws his shortsword. "I'd rather die than give up my ship!" The soldiers of the Order of the Emerald Claw start twirling their flails in response.

"And as for you, adventurer" - here he addresses Quire - "why don't you come up here and say that to my face?" Maintaining that same creepy smile, the man draws his own flail – his larger and heavier than those of his inferiors. Holding it with both hands, he takes a few sample swings. The spiked iron ball on the end cuts through the air with an unexpected celerity. "I will give you and your friends the kindness of first blow, to ease the sting of inevitable regret. The captain will be slaughtered, his first mate will be slaughtered, and his crew will be slaughtered. You and your friends will be slaughtered, as will all the passengers on this ship.

"You have forced my hand. No one defies the Emerald Claw. My name is Evetius. You will remember it before the morning sun rises."

Spoiler: Mechanics

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I currently lack access to the captain's Initiative modifier, or the Emerald Claw's. So Initiative will be (1) party first, followed by (2) the Emerald Claw and (3) the captain and his crew.

[whoiam]

With the crew in front of her, Mamellek can't charge... but she can squeeze through her allies, placing herself in between the two crews. She then smiles sweetly at Evetius, and tells him, "Oh, Evey... I've forgotten you already."

Then aims her chain straight at his face.

Spoiler

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Using Mountain Hammer for a little extra damage on the first round.
Mamellek is still in the Iron Guard's Glare stance, giving a -4 penalty to anyone she threatens who attempts to attack one of her allies. If the enemy crew are all standing side-by-side then this covers Evetius and 4 of his remaining 5 crew.

"Attack" - (1d20+9)[16]
[roll="Damage"]2d6+2d4+4[/roll]

This attack automatically ignores damage reduction, assuming Evetius has any.

[esorscher]

Don targets Evetius's spiked chain with a psionic grease spell.

Spoiler

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Reflex save DC 15 to not drop the item, and again every time he wants to use the item.

[rax]

"Promises, promises," Quire replies, a nasty grin on his face. He brings his glaive up into a guard position and... suddenly Mamellek barges past him and lashes out at the Emerald Claw leader. "Oh. Well. Another time then," he quips, giving Evetius a little wave.

Making space for Mamellek to wield her chain, he addresses the rest of the Emerald Claw soldiers. "So, which of you lot would like to die for the glory of Karrnath in the next ten seconds?" Without waiting for a reply, he charges the nearest of them, bringing his glaive down for a vicious overhead stroke.

Spoiler: Actions

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Charge! (1d20+11)[30]
Damage (1d10+5)[10]

Crit confirmation if necessary (1d20+11)[25]
Extra crit damage if necessary (2d10+10)[16]

[TaiLiu]

With a blend of incredible finesse and might, Mamellek brings her spiked chain crashing down like a potent landslide. The Emerald Claw soldier just barely jumps out of the way, and the chain splinters and damages the section of wooden floor it landed on. "Have it your way," Evetius says, smiling again. "I will not hesitate to do the same to you."

From Don's fingertips, a ray of ectoplasm emerges and attempts to smear the handle of Evetius' heavy flail, but Evetius pulls away, and the psychic attack just bearly touches his weapon. It's not enough, unfortunately, to reproduce the technique that ultimately disarmed Lucan of his tainted weapon. "Your aim is off," the soldier jeers, "as is the aim of your companion. Hunting the vampire must have tired you out."

Meanwhile, Quire has more luck with attacking Evetius' inferiors. Quire's downward stroke skillfully cuts through a soldier's shield, armour, and skin with ease, almost like the cut of an old butcher familiar with the joints of animals. Blood freely flows from her, in a quantity unfamiliar to her. She bites her lower lip, holds up her shield, and readies her flail, aware that getting closer might very well mean death.

Evetius is familiar with the chaos of combat, and calming shouts out commands to his inferiors. The bloodied soldier is told to hold her ground. Two are ordered to kill the captain and the rest of his crew, one is ordered to attack Don, and the last is ordered to go down and slaughter the passengers. They scurry off and attempt to do their duty. "Let them face the might of the Emerald Claw!" Evetius shouts. "Karrnath shall rise again!"

He then swings his flail at Mamellek once, twice, aiming again and again for her head. He swings with an incredible force, almost as if possessed by a supernatural power. The bloodied soldier charges and attempts to crack Quire's skull with her flail. The rest of the soldiers charge the captain and the airship crew, trying to break the barrier.

"Don't give in!" the captain shouts. "They will kill us whether we submit or not!" He thrusts his shortsword at an attacking soldier. His first mate draws her dagger and attempts to skewer another one. The crew, too, tries to fight back, but they are not trained for combat. In the chaos of battle, you can see the stalker airship going down - one successful victory for the night, if nothing else.

Spoiler: HP and Positions

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Emerald Claw

Evetius - 50/50 HP; fighting Mamellek
Soldier 1 - 4/14 HP; fighting Quire
Soldier 2 - 10/14 HP; fighting Captain Morgis
Soldier 3 - 14/14 HP; fighting Captain Morgis + attacked by Ieleen
Soldier 4 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 1 to attack Don
Soldier 5 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 2 to kill passengers

Airship Crew

Captain Morgis - 20/20; fighting Soldier 2
First Mate Ieleen - 14/14; fighting Soldier 3
Sailor 1 - 5/5; fighting Soldier 4
Sailor 2 - 3/5; fighting Soldier 5
Sailor 3 - 5/5
Sailor 4 - 5/5
Sailor 5 - 5/5
Sailor 6 - 5/5
Sailor 7 - 5/5
Sailor 8 - 5/5
Sailor 9 - 5/5
Sailor 10 - 5/5

Spoiler: Other Mechanics

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Party

Mamellek misses.

Evetius makes his reflex save for Don's grease power. Because Evetius made the initial reflex save, he doesn't have to make any additional saves.

Quire hits.

Emerald Claw

Evetius enters Rage (Variant: Whirling Frenzy), and will continue to be enraged for five rounds. He gains +4 to Strength, and +2 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. He also gains the option to make an additional attack per round, although all attacks during that round will take a -2 to attack.

Evetius attacks twice: (1d20+10)[11] and (1d20+10)[25]. If any hit, they deal (1d10+6)[8] and (1d10+6)[11].

Soldier 1 takes a five foot step and makes an attack against Quire: (1d20+3)[5]. If it hits, Quire takes (1d8+1)[7] damage.

Soldier 2 makes an attack against Captain Morgis: (1d20+3)[10]. If it hits, the captain takes (1d8+1)[4] damage.

Soldier 3 makes an attack against Captain Morgis: (1d20+3)[8]. If it hits, the captain takes (1d8+1)[4] damage.

Soldiers 4 and 5 attack Sailors 1 and 2: (1d20+3)[4] and (1d20+3)[19]. If either hits, they do (1d8+1)[8] and (1d8+1)[2] damage.

Airship Crew

Captain Morgis makes an attack against Soldier 2: (1d20+5)[15]. If it hits, the soldier will take (1d6+3)[4] damage.

Ieleen makes an attack against Soldier 3: (1d20+5)[7]. If it hits, the soldier will take (1d4+3)[6] damage.

Mechanically, the rest of the crew does not make attack or damage rolls.

[whoiam]

Spoiler: Evetius' Attacks

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Mamellek was hit the second time only; Taking 1 point of Damage and filling her 10-point Steely Resolve pool.

"Oh, no, a berserker. Whatever will I do?"

...Mamellek isn't much of an actress.

Spoiler

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Using Tactical Strike this round - I don't think anyone's in position to use the free 5' step, but I'll take the bonus damage.
The 10 points in her Steely Resolve pool give a +2 bonus to Hit and to Damage.
Mamellek is using Stone Power, subtracting 3 from her To Hit to gain 6 temporary hit points.

"Attack" - (1d20+8)[11]
"Damage" - (2d6)[9] + "Damage Part 2" - (2d4+6)[11]

At the end of her round, Mamellek's Steely Resolve pool empties, wiping out her 6 temporary hit points and doing 4 points of damage to Mamellek herself.

[rax]

"Not even close, girl," Quire growls. Catching the wounded soldier's flail with his glaive, he gives it a tug, pulling her slightly off balance, allowing him to step back and making space for a straight thrust at her throat... while bringing him close to the soldiers attacking Captain Morgis.

Spoiler: Actions

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5-foot step backwards and sideways to get closer to the Captain's assailants. I.e. hopefully allowing him to attack them next round.
Standard Action to attack the wounded soldier (1d20+9)[17]
Damage (1d10+5)[15]

Crit confirmation if necessary (1d20+9)[13]
Extra crit damage if necessary (2d10+10)[27]

[esorscher]

Don manifests a second Grease power in such a way that it affects the Emerald Claw heading for the passengers, as well as another Emerald Claw, without affecting the sailors.

Spoiler

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Reflex DC 15

[TaiLiu]

Blood spills from friend and foe. All red. There is red spilling from the neck of the soldier Quire was fighting, who clutches the wound and gives Quire a horrified look before collapsing. Red dances on the shortsword of Captain Morgis, illuminated by the golden light of Siberys' corpse. Red shines and drips from a large cut on Enilam's breast, whose mind was stolen and freed by the party, and whose life now looks to be in danger of being stolen, too. Red, a ray from Aryth through the windows. Red, smeared on clothing and weaponry. Red, all over the forecastle floor. Red, red, red.

There is no red on Mamellek. Her armour and combat techniques keep her from serious injury, despite Evetius' forceful and constant blows that threaten to crush her skull. Unfortunately, her defense seems to be costing her the offense - her spiked chain misses again, this time by a wide margin. "I would suggest you focus on your aim rather than your wit," Evetius says, a self-satisfied grin on his face. A carefully placed manifestation from Don quickly shutters that grin. Two of his soldiers hold out their arms eagle-style and try to balance on freshly conjured ectoplasmic oil and fat. One slips, and lands on his back with a moan. The other looks about ready to fall. And there's the issue of the bloody soldier that Quire wounded and killed...

"Rush the sailors! Slaughter the passengers! Hold hostages! Take the ship!" He repeats the last dictum a couple of times, and then Evetius turns from Mamellek and rushes the sailors himself. He takes off running, takes a deep breath, and then bounds above the sailors' heads, landing close to Don and the entrance down. His weight and force causes the forecastle to temporarily shudder. "You can't keep doing that trick forever," Evetius says to Don, "and your warriors are on the other side of the barricade." A slim smile creeps back to his face. He steps closer to the manifester. "You're as good as dead. I would recommend begging for your life."

While Evetius speaks, one engreased soldier swings at a sailor while the other crawls away from the grease and onto more resistant ground. The other two soldiers continue in their attempt to kill Captain Morgis, who fights heartedly alongside his first mate.

"One got in!" shouts a frightened sailor.

"Don't break rank! Hold the barrier! More'll come in if there's an opening!" Captain Morgis thrusts at an opening in one soldier's armour. First Mate Ieleen attempts to slit the neck of another. "Don't worry about me!" the captain says to the newly-adjacent Quire. "Don't worry about any of us!" he says, this time to the whole party. "Protect the passengers!"

Spoiler: HP and Positions

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Emerald Claw

Evetius - 50/50 HP; fighting Mamellek
Soldier 1 - DEAD; was fighting Quire
Soldier 2 - 10/14 HP; fighting Captain Morgis
Soldier 3 - 14/14 HP; fighting Captain Morgis + attacked by Ieleen
Soldier 4 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 1 to kill passengers
Soldier 5 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 2 to kill passengers

Airship Crew

Captain Morgis - 13/20; fighting Soldier 2
First Mate Ieleen - 14/14; fighting Soldier 3
Sailor 1 - 3/5; fighting Soldier 4
Sailor 2 - 3/5; fighting Soldier 5
Sailor 3 - 5/5
Sailor 4 - 5/5
Sailor 5 - 5/5
Sailor 6 - 5/5
Sailor 7 - 5/5
Sailor 8 - 5/5
Sailor 9 - 5/5
Sailor 10 - 5/5

Spoiler: Other Mechanics

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Party

Mamellek misses again. (Alas!)

Don successfully manifests grease.

Quire hits, and outright kills Soldier 1.

Emerald Claw

Evetius is in Rage (Variant: Whirling Frenzy), and will continue to be enraged for four rounds. He gains +4 to Strength, and +2 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. He also gains the option to make an additional attack per round, although all attacks during that round will take a -2 to attack.

Evetius makes two move actions. He runs up to the sailors, jumps above them, and moves closer to Don and the entrance to the passengers.

Soldiers 2 and 3 attack Captain Morgis. They are under Iron Guard's Glare, giving them a -4 to their attack rolls. Attacks: (1d20-1)[15] and (1d20-1)[9]. If they hit, the captain takes (1d8+1)[7] and (1d8+1)[8] damage.

Soldiers 4 and 5 attack Sailors 1 and 2. They are under Iron Guard's Glare, giving them a -4 to their attack rolls. Attacks: (1d20-1)[15] and (1d20-1)[6]. If either hit, the sailors takes (1d8+1)[2] and (1d8+1)[3] damage.

Soldier 5 crawls away five feet, and then stands up from prone.

EDIT: Whoops again! Soldier 5 is crawling away, not attacking.

Airship Crew

Captain Morgis makes an attack against Soldier 2: (1d20+5)[11]. If it hits, the soldier will take (1d6+3)[8] damage.

Ieleen makes an attack against Soldier 3: (1d20+5)[14]. If it hits, the soldier will take (1d4+3)[6] damage.

[rax]

"Can't risk 'em killing you, Captain. Then who'll fly the ship?" Quire deadpans as he makes a great, sweeping stroke with his glaive against the soldiers attacking Captain Morgis.

Spoiler: Actions

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Move action: Move as needed to set up flanking attack against soldiers fighting Captain Morgis.

Use Steel Wind maneuver to attack both soldiers with a standard action. Rolls assume +2 flanking bonus.
Attack #1 (1d20+11)[31]
Damage (1d10+5)[6]

Attack #2 (1d20+11)[19]
Damage (1d10+5)[14]

Crit confirmation #1 (1d20+11)[28]
Crit damage (2d10+10)[21]

Crit confirmation #2 (1d20+11)[26]
Crit damage (2d10+10)[20]

[esorscher]

"Wanna bet?" Don says, manifesting Grease for a third time, again on Evetius's weapon. Then, he darts around the battlefield, moving to create some more distance between himself and the Emerald Claw soldier, hopefully bringing himself into a position closer to his allies.

Spoiler

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DC 15

[whoiam]

Spoiler: AOOs vs moving barbarian

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By my count, Mamellek's entitled to 2 of these - Evetius would have started his movement by walking around inside her threatened area, and then started his jump from inside it. She'd probably qualify for more, but her Dex bonus is only +1, so even with combat reflexes she can't take more than 2.

"Attack" - (1d20+9)[27]
"Damage" - (2d4+4)[10]
"Attack" - (1d20+9)[21]
"Damage" - (2d4+4)[12]

Getting behind the crew was easier for Mamellek - they weren't fighting to stop her getting through after all - so where Evetius had to jump, she could just walk through after him.

And then try hitting him again.

Spoiler

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Mamellek is automatically granted Crusader's Strike this round, as it's the only manoeuvre left to grant.

And she'll use it.

Since Mamellek's taken no damage this round, she is not using Stone Power, and she's got nothing in her Steely Resolve pool.

"Attack" - (1d20+9)[29]
"Damage" - (2d4+4)[10]
"Healing" - (1d6+5)[11]
The healing only happens if she scores a hit, and will be spent on recovering her missing 5 HP.

[TaiLiu]

Quire's swipe rips through both of the captain's attackers. One lands on their chin, bleeding and barely stable. Another is cut into two, his bloody head landing in front of the captain's feet, his armoured body collapsing in front of Quire. The other soldiers freeze, quiver, and then immediately run for their lives. They duck behind your opportunistic attacks and attempt to jump off the ship.

Evetius watches as his soldiers flee, screams obscenities at them, his strange smile lost. Twin lacerations run across his back, pulsing with red flesh and thick blood, Mamellek's name all over his wounds. He dodges another ectoplasmic ray from Don, but his movements leave him vulnerable for yet another spiked chain attack. Three for three! The crusader's weapon is covered in blood, and Evetius looks significantly less cocky than he did beforehand. He looks at Mamellek, and then at the opening to the passengers. He looks at Don, and at Quire, and at the captain and his first mate.

"I'm not an idiot," he says aloud. "I never would've made commander if I were. Good fight. We'll cut our losses and go after Lucan instead." With a swing of his flail, he smashes open one of the windows in the forecastle, drops his weapon, and jumps out. Just before he falls, he yells out one final threat to the party. "You've made a powerful enemy. The Emerald Claw will have your heads!"

Silence, and the cold sting of fear. Shock, relief, laughter, joy. Praise the Host, thank the gods; thank you, thank you, thank you! The crew surrounds the party, gratefully clutching your hands, arms, shoulder, hugging you. Ieleen steps up and shakes the party's hands. "You must be professionals," she says, looking into your eyes. "The crew of Cloud's Destiny will be forever grateful for what you have done."

"Not a single crew member dead, or a passenger injured," Captain Morgis says, agreeing. "You truly are heroes."

"Brother!" Parmelk is the first out of the entrance, a massive grin on his face. He is followed by Panitari, and then the rest of the passengers, clapping and cheering. "We heard everything. A rousing defeat of the agents of the Dreaming Dark!"

"But we heard everything," says Panitari. "Is it true, then? Does your quest for the vampire continue?"

"We have life rings that my crew can bring out," Captain Morgis says. "There's a feather fall enchantment on them. You can use it to float down after the vampire. And whatever resources you need, we'll supply it if we can. Least we can do after you saved us all."

Spoiler: HP and Positions

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Emerald Claw

Evetius - 28/50 HP; fled the battle
Soldier 1 - DEAD; was fighting Quire
Soldier 2 - DEAD; was fighting Captain Morgis
Soldier 3 - 0/14 HP; was fighting Captain Morgis + attacked by Ieleen
Soldier 4 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 1 to kill passengers
Soldier 5 - 14/14 HP; fighting Sailor 2 to kill passengers

Airship Crew

Captain Morgis - 13/20; was fighting Soldier 2
First Mate Ieleen - 14/14; was fighting Soldier 3
Sailor 1 - 3/5; was fighting Soldier 4
Sailor 2 - 3/5; was fighting Soldier 5
Sailor 3 - 5/5
Sailor 4 - 5/5
Sailor 5 - 5/5
Sailor 6 - 5/5
Sailor 7 - 5/5
Sailor 8 - 5/5
Sailor 9 - 5/5
Sailor 10 - 5/5

Spoiler: Other Mechanics

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Party

Mamellek makes two AOO and one attack, all successful.

Don manifests grease, but Evetius makes his saving throw.

Quire attacks Soldier 2 and 3. The former is now dead. The latter is at 0 HP.

Emerald Claw

Evetius is in Rage (Variant: Whirling Frenzy), and will continue to be enraged for three rounds. He gains +4 to Strength, and +2 dodge bonus to AC and Reflex saves. He also gains the option to make an additional attack per round, although all attacks during that round will take a -2 to attack.

Evetius takes a standard action to smash open the window, and a move action to jump out of the window.

Soldier 1 and 2 are dead, and cannot act. Soldier 3 is disabled, and is not acting.

Soldiers 4 and 5 take move actions to jump off the ship.

Airship Crew

No one needs to act.

[rax]

Quire laughs out loud as the crew and passengers gather round. "Thank you captain, but that won't be necessary. It turns out that Don here has quite the mouth on him. The vampire is dead, but thanks to Don's porky those Emerald numbskulls will be spending a considerable amount of time looking for him groundside. In the meantime, I recommend that we put as much distance between them and the Cloud's Destiny as we can."

"For our part, we're keen to get to Sharn as quickly as possible. I don't suppose you could set us down somewhere we can catch a ride to Sharn in a hurry?"

[esorscher]

Don smirks, and turns to Parmelk. "Once I've received my reward for my work here, I'm interested in taking a more active role in your cause. How can I contact you?"

[whoiam]

"More old soldiers than heroes. Keeping the people behind me safe is what I was raised for." Mamellek wasn't that interested in being praised for her work. Sure she was in general, but she'd just heard something that hit rather higher on her list of priorities.

"Tired of our company already, Don? That wounds me, right here!" There's a loud 'clang' as Mamellek raps her breastplate somewhere in the approximate vicinity of her heart. But she then drops her chain and closes the gap to her colleague. And spreads her arms into a wordless invitation for a hug. "It's been fun having you and your freaky psion-powers along for the last couple of jobs. Just don't forget Quire and me if you find yourself in need of Mercs to back you up. We offer special rates for ex-colleagues!"

[TaiLiu]

Parmelk gives Don a hearty pat on the back and throws his arm over the psion's shoulder. "Brilliant, brother! A rousing defeat of the agents of the Dreaming Dark!"

"We're headed to Starilaskur," the captain says, "but we can swing by Sharn and drop y'all off at their airship port. We're not scheduled to land there, but I'm sure the port folk can make an exception for new heroes - or old soldiers, as the case may be."

"And once we land in Sharn, we can show you our base of operations," says Parmelk. "We have an address you can send letters to, and people you can contact. We may be small, brother, but we are growing!" The kalashtar beams with pride. "And now we have you."

"We are always in need of fighters," Panitari says, this time to the whole party. "We are agents of il-Yannah, and we are not foolish enough to limit ourselves to our fellow kalashtar. There is always more to do. The Dreaming Dark schemes even as we speak."

"Brother, it would be an honour if all three of you could join us."

"What say you?"

[esorscher]

Don nods. "I'm in," he says, looking forward to what new adventures the future will hold.

(Great game everyone!)