Archon's Way of the Wicked.

[dathom]

Not wanting to risk any other possibly mishaps that could cause him to end up in the stew below, Inigo ascended back up the chimney just as the ogre squeezed through the door. Instinctively tightening his grip on his dagger, the former butcher did his best to keep calm, knowing that the ogre would be a useful asset should the group end up in melee.

"The kitchen is below us. Seems there are about three people there. Don't think they are guards," Inigo stated as the group prepared to move down the stairs. Before Inigo could recommend they still try and be stealthy however, he cussed as he saw Caleb rush down the stairs, intoning Asmodeus' name. "Subtle," he muttered to Amber sarcastically as he readied himself for the upcoming combat.

[Farmerbink]

As Caleb charges down the stairs, the Half-Orc mutters with a wry smirk, "Ya can't blame that on me." He gives way to anyone else looking to hurry, before following the outspoken cleric into the kitchen.

[Zweanslord]

Amber Tash

As the Ogre steps out and actually.. compliments her, Amber nervously gives a wry smile and then wisely steps back. It also helps with backing out of the foul odour coming from the large creature.

Seeing Inigo climb up, Amber nods in acknowledgement of the information. Quickly looking at the stairs as Caleb proclaims his faith and Inigo cusses, she then replies to Inigo's statement with a sarcastic tone of her own. "Very." Smirking for a moment about the joke, she then grabs the dagger tightly and follows along with the others downstairs, keeping to the back.

[Ionbound]

Mira rolls her eyes as she hears Caleb intone about Asmodeus, muttering, "Great. Just great." She sighs, then looks at Inigo and says, "At least we can agree on one thing," then heads downstairs to assess the damage done by the zealous cleric.

[Hellfire014]

Giving her sword a few swings to get a feel of the weight, the now equipped redhead follows the others down.

[archon_huskie]

Surprise round
PCs go down the stairs with their weapons ready.
The stairwell opens not into a kitchen, but a hallway. Stone masonry finely fitted together comprises the walls and there are four doors in this hallway. One at the end which is a large double wooden door and presumably the entrance. On the right wall is a single wooden door in the middle of the hallway. The left has two doors about evenly spaced. Two guards stand in the middle leaning against the wall, their swords sheathed, but shields strapped to their arms. They are dressed identically to the two guards you defeated upstairs, save that these two wear helmets.
Caleb strolls up unnoticed by the guards. He is almost upon them when they notice him. "Have you heard the Word of Asmodeus? He hates you and wants you to be on fire." he says channeling the fires of hell upon them.

And thus the two guards begin to burn. And to be clear, they are on fire. Not their clothing, not their hair, but their flesh is on fire. Both guards hollow in pain. This reveals another difference between them and the guards upstairs. From the sound of their screams of pain, and the pitch of their voices, these guards are both female.

Initiative order & action
Amber – 21
Guard 2 – 21 stop drop and roll
Guard 1 – 14 stop drop and roll
Gail – 12
X- 11
Inigo – 6
Mira - 6
Caleb - 2

[Zweanslord]

Amber Tash

Amber had intended to keep to the back, but as they moved down the stairs, she saw the flames licking off the bodies as Caleb holds up the pentacle. With the flickering of the flames reflected in her eyes, she listened to the screams of agony. Before she fully realised it herself, Amber had dashed forward to make use of the beautiful opportunity presented before her to exploit. "You heard him!" A deep breath, a rustling of fingers as she spoke an indiscernable word, swinging her arm to thrust her hand forward and scorching flames rolled from the pale-skinned tiefling foward, enveloping the already burning guards.

Spoiler: Burning Hands

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Move action: Move forward to a distance so the 15ft Burning Hands cone hits both guards.
Standard action: Cast Burning Hands, 15ft cone of fire damage on both guards. (1d4)[2] damage, DC 15 for half damage.

Any creature in the area of the flames takes 1d4 points of fire damage per caster level (maximum 5d4).
Flammable materials burn if the flames touch them. A character can extinguish burning items as a full-round action.

[Farmerbink]

The Half Orc's measured gait manages to make even his hustling form appear to be a deliberate prowl. Without bothering with any sort of introduction, he approaches the nearest guard with full intent of introducing her to the business end of his acquired club.

Spoiler: X, round 1

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X
M CE Half-Orc Sorcerer 1, Level 1, Init 1, HP 9/9, Speed 30
AC 11, Touch 11, Flat-footed 10, CMD 14, Fort 3, Ref 1, Will 1, CMB +3, Base Attack Bonus 0
Claws +3 (1d4+3, x2)
Club +3 (1d6+3, x2)
(+1 Dex)
Abilities Str 17, Dex 13, Con 17, Int 11, Wis 8, Cha 20
Condition 1st level spells: 5/5
Claws: 7/8

I'm not sure, but I suspect this attack may resolve against a prone target, if indeed they are falling prone to try to put out the fires.
(1d20+3)[19] club attack
(1d20+3)[8] CC (23, x2)
(1d6+3)[4] dmg
(1d6+3)[8] crit bonus dmg

[Hellfire014]

With a yell, the weaker redhead rushes towards the downed guards, her sword raised.

Spoiler: Rolls and OoC

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But seriously, how long until somebody asks for her name?
Attacking the one that X didn't attack
(1d20+1)[9] charge. If charging isn't possible, lower by 2
(1d6-1)[3] damage

[dathom]

Inigo rushing forwards, his lightfooted movement is still quite quiet in the bustle of the developing assault. Dagger in hand, he rushes in to surroud one of the prone guards, stabbing at the women with merciless efficiency.

Spoiler: Rolls and actions

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Move action to close with the guards. With the number of people saround the prone guards, I am assuming that there is a place that Inigo can reach to set up a flank. If not,
reduce attack rool by 2 and ignore sneak damage. Attack vs prone guard 2
Flank attack - (1d20+6)[23]
Damage - (1d4+2)[4]
Sneak damage - (1d6)[5]

[Ionbound]

Mira winces as she realizes the guards are women and steps forwards, saying, "I'd have given you the chance to surrender, but...You're in our way," and swipes at the nearest one with her new armament.

Spoiler: OOC

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(1d20+6)[7]
(1d8+5)[11]

[CasualViking]

Death by club!!! (1d20+5)[23], damage (1d6+5)[9]

[Zweanslord]

Amber Tash

Seeing the others move to strike the guards, Amber follows up if there is still room in the fight to join without leaving an opportunity to the guards to strike. Holding her dagger tightly, she seeks for an opening to strike.

Spoiler: Dagger Attack

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If there's still room in the melee, Amber will move to strike whichever target she can get to with her dagger.
Attack: (1d20-1)[9] Damage: (1d4-1)[1]

[archon_huskie]

While the lady guards drop to the ground, the fugitives from justice rush them. Sword swings miss the prone guards, but the unnamed Sorcerer and the priest manage to bash the head of the left most guard she goes still. the right most guard manages to get the flames out but not to her benefit. the lack of fire allows Inigo to casually grip her hair and end her life with a quick slash across the throat.

The southern door on the left hallway opens. You see the Sergeant who'd branded you peek into the hallway. He quickly shuts the door and locks it.

Grumblejack, being a large creature has been squeezing his way down a stairway designed by Dwarves for medium creatures. He gets to the bottom of the stairs at the end of combat.

[dathom]

Seeing the Sergeant peek his head out, Inigo glares as the man quickly retreats. There's the bastard, the former butcher thought as he leaves the body and makes his way to the door. As he moves, he calls to Grumblejack, "Keep an eye on the doors big guy. The rest of us have a bit of business with the Sergeant." Once he nears the door, he draws out the tools given to him with the goal of getting to work on unlocking the door.

OOC: Uncertain if we are still running in combat rounds or not. Let me know and I can change.

[Farmerbink]

The sorcerer looks on with some small satisfaction as the object of his violence falls still. As Inigo begins his work on the door, the Half-Orc turns back to their oversized companion. For a few moments, he waits- listening to the rogue strive to impose his will upon the locks between their company and the sergeant.

Spoiler: OOC

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If Inigo doesn't pass on the first attempt, he will direct Grumblejack to kick the door in.

[Zweanslord]

Amber Tash

"Phew.." Amber lets out when both guards are dropped. When she sees the Sergeant responsible for the branding, her face turns into a scowl as she looks with a piercing glare at the door. She nods to Inigo as he gets to work, then moves to the guard which got slashed across the throat by Inigo. There, she looks through the guard's pockets, to see if there are any keys or other useful items present.

[Ionbound]

As Inigo starts to work on the lock, Mira knocks on the door a few times as far away from the lock as she can, and calls, "Hello in there! I'm sure you're aware of the situation you're in, so why not come out and make things easier for the both of us?! We might even let you live, or at least kill you less painfully than we did the guards on the way down! I'm sure you heard them screaming!"

Spoiler: Intimidate Check:

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(1d20+7)[15]

[Hellfire014]

"Red" leans against the wall, annoyed that she missed a free target. "Don't be like that, Mr. Butcher. I'm sure Grumblejack would like to have a polite conversation with the good Sergeant as well." She considers frisking the corpses with the other frail lady, but decides to save her energy for her captor.

[dathom]

The proper tools in hand, Inigo sets to work to undo the lock that hold the door shut. He cusses as his work seems to only jam up the lock further. Stuffing the tools in his pocket, he takes up his dagger again and moves to the side as he says, "Alright, fine. If the Sargeant doesn't cooperate, have at it Grumblejack. If you get through the door, then you get first swing."

Disable Device - (1d20+10)[11]

[Farmerbink]

The Half Orc smiles, the expression surprisingly mirthful. "Yes, and do try to give us a good view, would you?" He steps back as the Ogre approaches, but not too far back. His eager expression betrays any pretense that the fanged arcanist is disinterested in the proceedings.

Still, he gives the huge figure a wide berth.

[CasualViking]

Caleb hefts a sword from one of the dead guards, gives it a few test swings, and tosses it back on the floor, giving his club a few appreciative slaps against his open palm.

[archon_huskie]

Amber finds a key marked #2 on the woman's body. Because the body was on fire not the cothing, and was extinguished in one round, the armor shield and weapons are still in good condition. Chain shirt, Longsword, Heavy Steel Shield, longbow and quiver of 20 arrows. Her guard uniform however is soaked in her own blood now.

The other woman is still on fire in the stone hallway. Anything that isn't metal is now burning and the smells of sizzling hair and flesh starts to fill the hallway.

Cabel, taking his first good look at his club notices that it is covered with a leather padding. This type of club is designed to subdue, but not kill opponents.

(In game mechanic terms the clubs do non-lethal damage and half of its damage is non-lethal. This means, the guard upstairs who was knocked unconscious would still be alive if X hadn't declared that he was bashing the man's head in until certain death. And this woman was not killed by being clubbed. Rather she was knocked unconscious and then burned to death as she was still on fire.)

Grumblejack is confused for a moment as he's just been told to watch a door and then to break down a door. The Moment is brief has he realizes that he has a chance to hurt a guard who imprisoned him. “Grumblejack.” He says flexing his biceps. “GRUMBLEJACK!” he repeats leaping at the door. strength check vs door DC 18 - (1d20+9)[14]

[archon_huskie]

He slams hard into the door. the door waivers but holds. This time Grumblejack raises his foot and smashes it into the door. Second STR check vs door. - (1d20+9)[23] This time, using better technique the door gives way as the lock gives along with the hinges. Grumblejack stumbles into a darkened room. This means nothing to an ogre though his eyes dart about the room. "Sargey 'un not in here. he declares. He points to a door across the way. "Maybe in there."

[dathom]

"Hang on there big guy. Let's see what you have found first," Inigo replies, dagger still out. Then, approaching the door that the Sergeant had peeked out of and Grumblejack then smashed open, Inigo takes a peek in to see what can be seen.

[CasualViking]

Caleb walks into the room behind Inigo, pausing to appreciate the devastation wrought on the door.

[Farmerbink]

The Half-Orc follows his companions. "I like the way you think, Grumblejack. I bet he is behind that door!" His hands crackle with latent energy as the moment's excitement threatens to overwhelm him.

Spoiler: OOC

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Holy crap, +NINE!? O_o

#standsoverhere

[Hellfire014]

Gail steps into the room and smirks, "And you didn't want to bring him along."

[Zweanslord]

Amber Tash

Quickly pocketing the key, Amber sighs as she looks at the uniforms. She casts a last glance over the other equipment as she knows she lacks the skill to properly use them. Then she moves to follow the others through the door.

[Ionbound]

Mira grumbles at Gail, "I could have taken the door down on my first try." However, she's happy to not put that to the test, allowing Grumblejack to go for the other door as well.