A Diplomat's Folly [IC Thread]

[The_Snark]

Ariana

Ariana nods slightly, still looking evenly at Poet, until the shout startles the courtyard into action like a flock of startled birds. Her first reaction is to immediately tense, looking sharply towards the barracks; with no threat immediately evident, she follows her sister towards the source of the commotion, still on her toes. Possible sources for the faint crashing sound run through her mind—soldiers knocking down one of the doors, tables or chairs being splintered... it had the uneasy makings of a riot, to her mind, given the mood of the soldiers.

[ZeroNumerous]

The Commotion

When the locked door is finally broken down, the group and a pair of soldiers barrel into the room. The Fleetrunner is leaning against the wall with a crossbow bolt in her left side, just above her spleen. The wizard, Adler, is laying on the ground with blood seeping from beneath his scalp. The sound of steel against steel rattles in the Commander's room.

The door to his room is locked, strangely enough.

Spoiler

Show

I need a Strength check if you're gonna break it down.

[Rachel Lorelei]

Emmaline levels a hand and speaks a Word that immediately fades from the memory of those who hear it, although it can be heard clearly; the lock clicks open.

(Casting Knock.)

[Fax Celestis]

Praxiteles will rage and kick down the door¹ if Emmaline's spell doesn't work. Otherwise, he'll rage and charge into the room. Before he does so, in either case, a gout of lava bursts from his hand and forms itself into the shape of a scimitar².

When Praxiteles rages, his complexion and apparently even his physical structure become even stonier than before. If one hadn't known that Praxiteles was a dwarf before hand, one might even assume that he's a dwarf-shaped earth elemental.

Spoiler

Show

Initiative (1d20+1=4) (if you need it).
¹Strength Check (1d20+6=14)
²Praxiteles has cast flame blade. Attack pattern is: flame blade +9 melee touch (1d8+2 fire, 18-20/x2)

While raging, Praxiteles has the following changes:
+8 Str, +8 Con, +2 morale to Will, +1 Natural Armor, -4 AC

Total changes:
Str 22, Con 24
Fort +12, Will +12
AB: +9 (+10 with dagger)
HP: +4 HP/HD (+20 HP), 55 total
AC: 16, flat 15, touch 13
Rage duration: 10 rounds.

[ZeroNumerous]

Room

You break into the Commander's quarters to see him fighting a small dwarf. The dwarf turns when she sees the door burst open and immediately shouts in Common. "Surrender! No! He~!"

Shepard takes the opening in it's stance to attack again, and he drives ihs longsword into it's stomach. He turns toward you and motions north, toward a broken window. Shouts can be heard from outside the building. (Common)"That way!" (Latharese)"Three more of them, making a break for the north wall. Get after them!"

Everyone rushes back outside and notice 3 dwarves running northward as quickly as possible..

Spoiler

Show

Initiative, please. Also, I'm gonna rule that it only takes a move action to get outside, so this would be the first real 'round'.

Map for the Battle

Key:
Peach - Ariana
Light Purple - Emmaline
Dark Purple - Dornatash
Blue - Poet
Red - Praxiteles
Dark Green - Aeylis
Light Green - Soldiers(Allies)
Light Yellow - Dwarves
Dark Red - The Captain
Dark Gray - The Gate

[Rachel Lorelei]

(Initiative: (1d20+3)[23]
Edit: well then!)

Emmaline promptly throws a pinch of glass dust into the air; a delicate, shimmering hummingbird that seems to be made of stained glass zips out towards the running dwarves... and explodes in their midst, into miniscule fragments of glitter that cling to them and get in their eyes. Then the speaks another Word, the tone of this one much sharper. Like the previous one, it can be heard but not actually discerned.

Spoiler

Show

Glitterdust, DC 18, centered at the point between I and J and between 11 and 12. Then Halt, DC 19, at any dwarf who saved vs. the glitterdust (or the farthest one if none did). If Emmaline can leave the building while Hiding and Moving Silently, she does so, and that should add +1 DC from Cloaked Casting.

[Fax Celestis]

Praxiteles will charge the dwarf at I13 (or the one at J12 if he's dead, or the one at J10 if he's dead), bellowing loudly and swinging his blade of lava in a mighty arc over his head in both hands¹.

Spoiler

Show

¹Attack roll (charging). (1d20+11=17)
Damage (fire) (1d8+2=10)
Praxiteles hits Touch AC 17 for 10 fire damage.

Question: Can I power attack with a flame blade?

Rage duration: 9 rounds left
Flame blade duration: 59 rounds left

[The_Snark]

Ariana

Ariana follows right on her sister's heels, uncoiling like a serpent as she darts forward. She raises a hand towards one of the fleeing dwarves, and fire blossoms from her outstretched arm, forming a fiery line between her and one of them for a moment. The dark orange flames cling to the dwarf persistently, even his armor, which shouldn't burn at all, and despite their darkish, smoky look, there's no actual smoke from the fires.

Spoiler

Show

Initiative 22, rolled in OOC thread.

Ariana moves up to I17, and targets the dwarf at J12 with Brimstone Blast. (1d20+9)[25] ranged touch, (3d6+1)[12] fire damage. Reflex DC 18 or he catches fire and takes another (2d6)[4] fire damage at the beginning of his turn; if he fails that one, he has to make another DC 15 Reflex save to avoid catching on fire normally.

[Aeylis]

Aeylis slips westward through her allies, then north, cutting a path parallel to the dwarves' own from there. As she closes the distance, she retrieves her recently used bow from it's place at her back.

She retrieves an arrow from the quiver at her hip, slender fingers maneuvering it as she moves. By the time she comes to a stop, her bow is strung and ready. She shifts her stance quickly, drawing the bow, hesitating only a moment to judge her target before loosing an arrow at the furthest dwarf.

Spoiler

Show

Init - (1d20+4)[20]

Moving to F13, drawing her bow as part of the action.
Attacking dwarf at J10, presuming he's still in the lead.

attack - (1d20+10)[12]
damage - (1d8+1)[6]

[Ellas Aramond]

Spoiler

Show

Sorry, the the boards chose to wait until now to tell me that more was posted.

Dornatash dashes up to E15 to get closer to the action, while taking his crossbow off his shoulder.

"I call on the spirits of the divine; bring forth the Hammer of Justice!" he calls out, drawing upon his magic to summon forth a hammer made of pure force in front of the dwarf that has been hurt the least, sending it swinging away it him.

Spoiler

Show

I cast Spiritual Weapon and have it start attacking whichever dwarf has been hurt the least when it comes to my turn.

Initiative: (1d20+1)[11]
SW Attack: (1d20+5)[23]
SW Damage: (1d8+2)[8]

Spiritual Weapon duration: 7 rounds left

[Pink]

Poet

A unidentifiable look crosses over Poet's features at Emmaline's Response, however there is no time to scrutinize it as the chaos of battle seems to suddenly erupt. Knowing that The other's are more than capable of handling the attackers, his gaze instead moves over to the wounded fleetrunner and wizard. Swinging his lute from his back into his hands, his fingers start to pluck a battle tune on the instrument, subtle at first before boosting into resonance against the walls of the keep, bringing out an inner strength within all of the mercenaries and soldiers.

Spoiler

Show

Inspiring courage with an Inspirational Boost for +3 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +3 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls and five foot step to 18P.

Inspire Courage lasts 10 rounds.

Question, where are The fleetrunner and Adler located?

[ZeroNumerous]

End Results of the Battle

Spoiler

Show

Dwarves

They fail to save versus Glitterdust. The lead dwarf saves versus Halt. Only the lead dwarf moves to K4. The others didn't move fast enough. Ariana's bolt of fire drops Dwarf J12 quickly. The Spiritual Hammer smashes in the lead dwarf's face, but he survives the blow. Aeylis moves forward and shoots at the lead dwarf, but her arrow misses wide and thuds in the ground beside him.

Guards

One of them steps into Dwarf I13's range. He gets a knife in the gut when I13's turn comes up. The rest take out their crossbows and fire at I13 and K4. They miss I13. K4 takes two arrows in the back and drops. The Captain moves up and stabs I13 in the leg, but he survives the wound.

Praxiteles

The mini-earth elemental attacks the I13 dwarf. The flame blade cuts off the other dwarf's left arm and simultaneously cauterizes the wound. I13 dwarf drops.


Everyone gains 125 XP from killing the assassins.

Post Battle

The 'dwarf' bodies immediately begin convulsing. A jittery soldier fires his crossbow into one of the dwarf corpses, but the wooden bolt fails to stop the shaking. Mere seconds after they began shaking, each dwarf has been replaced by a pale skinned hairless humanoid much taller than a dwarf normally is.

Spoiler

Show

Know(Local) checks can identify the corpses.

[Rachel Lorelei]

Spoiler

Show

Zero, I just realized--Mindsight gives me the type of each mind within range. What was the type of these guys before they died? Not humanoid(dwarf), apparently.

[Fax Celestis]

Praxiteles drops to one knee and examines the corpse in front of him. His stony physique transmutes back to his normal craggy features, and he pokes the corpse tentatively. "This ain't no dwarf, sir," he rumbles to the Captain, "But durned if'n I know what it is."

Spoiler

Show

Untrained Know: Loc (1d20 0=16)

[Pink]

Poet

Seeing the intruders properly dealt with, Poet rushes over to Adler first, pulling from his belt a wand and using it's healing power first on the wizard, then the fleetrunner, before examining both of them further.

Spoiler

Show

CLW on adler - (1d8+1)[9]
CLW on Fera - (1d8+1)[7]
Heal check on Adler - (1d20+3)[16]
Heal check on Fera - (1d20+3)[8]

After being assured that they are stable, Poet slips the wand back into it's loop on his belt and rearranges his Lute upon his back and walks over to inspect the corpses that seem to fascinate the rest of the troop.

Spoiler

Show

Know:Local - (1d20+6)[15]
Also, assuming something is wrong with Adler and Fera but they are still alive, Poet will give a shout out for some proper healers and give another application of the wand to each.

[The_Snark]

Ariana

Ariana looks at the corpses disinterestedly. They had been trying to get them killed, and now they were dead, and that was what was important. It didn't much matter what they had been. Except that there might be more, and she would have to be even more cautious from now on.

Spoiler

Show

I don't think Mindsight gives subtypes, so it might not have been possible to tell until now.

[Ellas Aramond]

"They were going to kill many others, so they had to be killed. Dornatash said to himself, trying his best to believe that there had been no other way to deal with them.

Seeing Poet tend to the wounded, he joins the others in trying to figure out just what these creatures are.

Spoiler

Show

Of course, you pick one of the knowledges that I didn't put any ranks into.

Knowledge (Local): (1d20+4)[7]

[ZeroNumerous]

Spoiler

Show

Alittle FYI: Knowledge checks are trained only. If you lack ranks, don't bother rolling.

Poet

The Fleetrunner is unconscious and wounded, but Adler is quite dead. You gauge that healing her has kept her from dying, but she's still unconscious. Adler appears to have died from blunt force trauma to the back of his head.

[Pink]

Poet

"Changlings, the bastard breed of Dopplegangers." Poet says after a careful glance at them, before walking back to Adler and moving him properly onto his back before closing his eye lids and placing a gold coin on top of each. Poet removes his hat from his head, closes it to his breast, lowering his head in a respectful moment, before rising and addressing the troops and captain. "Does anyone require any immediate healing? One of you soldiers, stop staring at bodies of the dead and go fetch a healer already. They won't be getting back up."

With that, Poet moves to search the bodies, looking most notably for any paper, form of instruction, or sign of alliance or origin.

Spoiler

Show

Search - (1d20+5)[14]
And just in case it's needed to identify origin if somethings found
[roll=Know(Any)]1d20+6[/roll]

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[ZeroNumerous]

Aftermath

The local priest arrives and heals the Fleetrunner. Adler is buried outside the fortress alongside those who died during the siege. The Captain sends the six of you out with the Fleetrunner to track down where those changelings came from. Strangely enough, she also dispatches a good six or seven other groups of soldiers to search.

You travel southwest for a day pretty uneventfully, and camp out near a dense forest.

"We can camp here tonight and keep following their tracks in the morning. Enjoy the respite for now, I feel we're close, but I can't exactly tell one way or another.."

[The_Snark]

Ariana

Travelling is nothing new to Ariana, and she spends most of the day walking in silence, watching the countryside go by impassively. Good to be away. With shapeshifters, a fortress full of people is not a good place to be. Of course, there still were some people here, so it might not matter... the elf finds herself occasionally scrutinizing her travelling companions (except for Emmaline), watching them for signs that something is amiss. It's difficult. How does a changeling look different or act different? How can you tell?

She's tougher than most elves, but when the time comes to stop, she's tired enough that she removes her pack immediately and sits against a rock for a minute or so. Only a minute later, she gets up to stretch for a few minutes and walk around the camp before settling down against a rock and watching the surrounding area, especially the trees.

Spoiler

Show

She's looking for animals, in particular birds. Let me know if she sees any.

[ZeroNumerous]

[Bumpiliciousness]

I'll send out PMs later.

[Fax Celestis]

Praxiteles remains quiet for most of the journey. He seems contemplative and also wonders how close his own neck came to being on the line: If'n they hadn't been changelings, I prob'ly would've been out on me ear. Or dead, for suppos'd treason.

[Aeylis]

Aeylis is obviously troubled by the events of the day. Though she attempts to stay mindful and alert, it is evident that there is a lot going though her eyes behind each watchful glance.

How do changelings fit into this? Could they be working with the Rothunese? Or simply playing sides against the other? Was there any connection to Red's attempted insurrection?

Her obvious lack of knowledge on changelings prevented her from reaching closure during the trip. She resolved to ask Poet when they stopped, as he seemed the most likely to know something.

When they do settle down, she approaches him. Nominally, she addresses him in simplistic Latharese, though she occasionally interjects Meer for words she cannot recall,

"Poet, what did you call those.. (M)beings(M) we fought today? Changelings?" She pauses a moment, perhaps embarrassed by her lack of knowledge, "I'm not (M)familiar(M) with them. Do you know more of them?"

[Rachel Lorelei]

Emmaline tosses her pack down and stretches out on some grass.
"Damn, they couldn't have given us some horses? This is a crappy idea, by the way, slim odds of finding anything useful. I'd love some shapechangers at my disposal--I bet everyone in the fort is looking at each other suspicious-like right now."

[Pink]

Poet

Thus far into the trip Poet's mind races around the score of events that have happened. However he doesn't let his outward appearance reveal his inner calculations instead trying to be a bit lighthearted and trying to take the minds of everyone off of the deaths of the companions that day. To this effect, during the march before the break, Poet spends most of his time reciting one of the few humorous stories of the ongoing feud between the half-brothers Hextor and Heironeous.

Spoiler

Show

The tale he weaves begins with the two gods both leading an army of their priests, paladins and followers against each other in a huge battle. In the middle of the battleground both of them meet and they are locked in mortal combat, neither of them giving and inch as their troops surge at each other beside them. For days this goes on uninterrupted, until finally, a laughing voice interrupts them. Puzzled, both The Invincible and the six-armed tyrant back away from each other and look around. Up above, sitting in a tree and laughing, appearing as a youthful human man, is Olidammara. Snarling with rage, Hextor shouted out "Why do you dare to laugh at the Scourge of Battle?"

"It is not at you alone I laugh, but at your half-brother as well." Chuckled the rogue god. "Here you are, both champions of battle, each of you fighting in your element and you expect to strike a lethal blow to the other? Nay, it is folly, you will forever fight to the end and be lost instead, for neither shall beat the other. See, even look at your men. For days as you fought so they day under your shadow, yet not a loss of even one man to your numbers has either of you sustained."

"If what you say with your laughing lips is true, you would say that we are equals on the field." Say the Invincible in a dangerous tone, for wile upright and just he, like all gods, was proud as well.

"That I would not risk my tongue to say. One of you is no doubt better than the other, however the fight would go on until the end of this world and longer if you were to decide it by battle, for the fight is the strength both of you possess. Instead, if a winner you must have, you should choose it based upon a competition of your weaknesses."

"A winner there must be, for in the end there will only be me ruling over all." Boasted Hextor

"I do not care for challenges, however I will always strive to rid the world of his evil." Came the reply from Heironeous.

"Then perhaps you would agree to a challenge? I shall create a test for both of you that will lie upon an equal weakness of both of you. The winner of this challenge will gain the followers of the other, for I shall trick the minds of men accordingly. With the newly gained power it will be child's play for either of you to destroy the other. What do you say?"

To be continued when I have more time :P

When they finally take a break Poet sits down and tunes his instrument a bit. He also pulls a pair of white boots out of his bag to replace his own, the new boots seeming better made for winter traveling.

At Aeylis's question Poet looks at her with a kind smile before speaking to her in fluent Meer. "They are a cross breed of humans and dopplegangers. No one quite knows how many of them exist since they share much of the same powers of their doppleganger ancestors. Fortunately that's about as far as family resemblance goes on that end, as I've heard that dopplegangers have abilities beyond simple shape changing."

Spoiler

Show

Know:local For further knowledge of changlings - (1d20+5)[21]

[Ellas Aramond]

Dornatash

Well, it looks like the plot is starting to thicken. The kalashtar thinks to himself, only paying attention to the rhythmic sound of his walking stick hitting the ground as they traveled. Those creatures that the Meer sent, they're like less powerful dopplegangers. If there are more of them, then that means anyone with me could be one.

He takes a glance around at his companions, then lets out a sigh, realizing how futile it all is. Ah well, they'll show themselves in time. And when they do, let them see that you are more then a simple scholar.

[Fax Celestis]

"Ye say that like people in the fort wer'nt already lookin' at each other slantwise, elf-lass," Praxiteles grumbles. "These're wartimes, and no-one's ever really trustin' anyones else." He pauses. "'Specially if you come from an unfort'nate background like m'self."

[ZeroNumerous]

Ariana

The only birds in the area are the normal robins and thrushes native to Lathar.

Fleetrunner

"It's not like the humans particularly trust our kind, sir dwarf. No offense, Sir Poet, but your fellow man is abit of a fool to refuse help in a situation like this. To be honest, I do not think we were sent out here for any reason other than protecting the more moderate humans within the fortress.. I'm not quite sure you noticed, but most of those who left were elves and humans who weren't particularly loyal to Shepard."

[The_Snark]

Ariana

Ariana ignores the talk for the most part, watching the trees in silence until she finds a thrush that has settled on a branch. Too late in the day for many birds to be out and active. An owl would be best, for looking by night, but what I have will work. She gets up, walking some distance towards the tree, and stops far enough away that it is clear she doesn't mean to go closer. She calls in a low voice, but rather than words, her voice is a low series of twitters rather than speech. Her manner is calm, inoffensive, and her wide-opened eyes seem almost to beckon, exerting a subtle pull on the bird.

Spoiler

Show

In Thrush: "Thrush!-Do-you-dwell-here?"

(You don't have to relate it exactly how the thrush would if it's inconvenient. Wild empathy to improve its attitude: (1d20+10)[22])