Anarchy in the D&D (IC)

[Meloku]

Renar

"We don't have the men to split up! A tactical strike with a band this size is far more likely to come off successfully."

[Jael_Darkwood]

Aaron

"Let's see if we can split a few off the herd and interrogate them... We'll do much better if we have information." He smiles. Again, as if you didn't know already... its not a nice looking smile. You are beginning to think he does it on purpose.

[warlock2000]

Dart

(Knowledge Arcana on the storm (1d20+7)[15] )

After gazing around Dart turns to everyone eyes still covered by his own cloak under the rain cape.

"I feel this storm is unnatural, if I am right then either the Baron controls it or is having it used against him. Regardless we need to find the source and stop it. If the crops are destroyed by this storm then our coming is for not. If it is a large siege we have a better chance passing through together as a unified force. However with this storm it will be hard to see where the siege is and I don't know how much more this extra rain cloak will take before falling apart. Getting to the Baron's cave seems like our best plan for now."

[Torger]

Xerxes

Xerxes has become increasingly taciturn, withdrawn, and surly as the rain worsened. Finally, he moves his horse to block the hapless Kobold. This is intolerable! You! Find us shelter, or your days will be short!

[Zasabi]

Zasabi silently curses the rain as he feels the acid burning it's way through his cloak. Thankfully, he had pulled the cloak over his shortbow and backpack, otherwise he would be both weaponless and defenseless. He looks to the others and then looks to the Kobold.

"Squire," he asks, his voice low but still loud enough to be heard over the torrent. "Just how far is the Barony?"

Zasabi knew the importance of good information. If he could sneak up to the bandits, he could get a grasp of their numbers and allow the others to develop some good intel. Not to mention that if were to scout out the Barony from the safety of the trees, he could possibly avoid this acid rain. He hoped.

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Fireballs explode? Huh? I'm confused here. Is it literally raining fire, or is it just creating ambiance?

[Voth]

Val

"Whether or not it would be more beneficial for us to strike as a group or spread apart is not an option at this point. If what Sir Dart says is true, we must end this storm with all due haste."

Wheeling his steed around to face the kolbold Val continues, "Your baron's land is in great danger, however we must find a way to break this hellish storm that ravages the surrounding area. Do you know anything of this storm?"

Turning to the group once more Val speaks again, "I suggest that one of us makes for the Baron's cave. He must be informed of our arrival and I am sure he could use the help. If this is acceptable to you all, then I must ask who among you is willing to undertake this task?"

[Jay Emby]

The fireballs are flashing in the sky much like the lightning does :)

It is a rare natural occurrence, but it is happening with great frequency tonight. The acid is also a natural occurrence but it too is far stronger than normal.

[Jay Emby]

Xerxes' blunt attempt to intimidate* Squire would be laughed off by any brave warrior, but this kobold is a coward. He shivers in fright under the warlock's stare. He points straight ahead to where the gorge begins and quietly whimpers "there are alcoves in the cliff, ledges you can hide under." Still whimpering, he answers Zasabi "Only 15 minutes on foot - the horses should be walked the rest of the way, especially in this weather."

Without further questioning, Squire also offers up this helpful tactical information: The last he saw of the siege, a half dozen elves were in the gorge between your position and the baron's cave. Another half dozen elves were in the gorge past the cave. And the rest of the elves stood at the top of the gorge, a dozen on each side of the river.



The map is not to scale - the gorge is nowhere near as wide as it suggests. Between the river and the cliff wall is about 10 feet of fairly steep rising ground.


(*Rolled a 10 total on the check, opposed to Squire's result of 6)

[The_JJ]

As Xerxe's lashes out against the kobold he gets a dirty look from Cefos.
The cleric pulls up his hood.
Sieges take longer then a day to settle. If the baron has yet to fall he will not do so soon. I say we rest.

[Carrion_Humanoid]

From a small scrub on the side of the gorge, a Human comes from the brush, a dog by his side "Sorry, I got lost at the tavern. I wish to serve my king," The human says, walking towards the group, his dog chasing his linen cloak and biting at it.

((Sorry I'm late, I didn't know it started. What'd I miss? What exactly are we killing? Elves I assume.))

[Zasabi]

Zasabi grimly turns to the others, his plain features barely visible beneath the hood of his leather cloak. "I'll scout on ahead. I'm rather skilled at staying unseen. I'll return before nightfall."

Dismounting from his horse, he grabs his gear and proceeds to make his way toward the top of the gorge opposite from where the elves were reported, keeping alert of any unwanted attention.(I'm assuming, due to the picture, that the gorge cliff actually starts near us and doesn't require a climb check. If it does, I'll do it very carefully and slowly, while still taking advantage of jutting rocks to keep from being seen easily.)

Upon making his way to the top of the gorge(assuming he does so), he would proceed to stealthily scout out the area, first making sure that the elves were not on this side of the gorge, and then scouting out their numbers from above. This sort of job was the one that Zasabi was most skilled at.

Spoiler

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Spot checks are +4, Hide checks are +6, and climb(if needed) is +2

OOC: By the way, I hope that your dog is wearing some sort of cloak, or else it might not have much fur at the end of this.

[Torger]

Xerxes

Dropping from his horse, Xerxes takes his horse by the reins and strts movign into the gorge. Come, find shelter for your betters, that e might save your people. Xerxes pulls the Kobold to his feet and pushes him ahead into the gorge. he calls back over his shoulderArguing when the very earth itself turns against us is both futile and stupid. We must seek shelter.

[Voth]

Val

Looking at the newly appeared human, Val walks his horse forward.

"Well met! I am Val. We shall be able to talk more for now, we must seek shelter." Turning towards the direction Samuel took off in, Val softly says a prayer of hope for the archer before turning back to the others. "Come! We must be off! We shall need a place to plan our attack upon these foolish elves."

[Carrion_Humanoid]

"So we shall! Wheres this shelter? The Cave down the gorge?" He says, following the man.

[Voth]

Val

"No my good sir. Alcoves in the cliff, over there." Val replies pointing in the same direction as the Squire. "Now come it is 15 minutes on foot and we must make haste if we are to prepare to break this siege."

[Jael_Darkwood]

Aaron

Cocking his crossbow, he nods. "Bassanius. Attack and kill anyone who tries to suprise us." He smiles. "Use your Halberd once they get in range, otherwise use your sling."

[warlock2000]

Dart

Dart listens intently to the discussion, shaking his head when Xerxes threatens the Kobold. After Zasabi heads off and the others begin to head to shelter, he begins to draw his blanket out of the satchel and throw it over himself. This could be my only chance to see if this Baron is the one I seek, Dart thinks to himself. "Good luck everyone I suppose I will meet you there, I doubt the elves will wait till nightfall again with the sun rising soon.", and with that he heads to the north part of the map attempting to cross without the horse and hoping that the elves don't attack him on sight. If they do I will cast mage armour.

[The_JJ]

The cleric heads to cover. Once he is there he pinds whatever equipment has been most damaged by the rain and casts mend on it. He then turns to the wall and begins to pray/preach, offering the others a chance to join. It is a short sermon, made up on the spot, detailing the need to balence strength and rightiousness on one hand, and compation and the reason that strength is needed; to protect good against foes.

He then draws aside anyone, including the kobold who wish to take a blessing.

[Jay Emby]

The bulk of the party seeks the immediate shelter of ledges, while Aaron's "man-servant" braves the weather to stand watch.

The stealthy guy who is definitely not a ninja thank you very much () vanishes into the forbidding storm, followed not nearly as stealthily by what must be the bravest wizard in the world (level 1 and already venturing solo!).

Stealthy or not, they are lost to sight immediately in the storm.

Zasabi's scouting proves most fruitful. As he approaches closer to the baron's cave he comes across an horrific scene on the cliffs overlooking the gorge. On the river's shore he spies a druid's circle built from wooden posts and beams. In the center is an alter upon which lies a kobold tied up, exposed to the storm's demonic elements, a sacrifice to Mother Nature. Two humanoid figures crouch under the beams, cloaked in heavy leather to protect themselves from the acid rain that falls harshly on the writhing kobold.

(Picture a wooden stonehenge, a kobold in the center melting in acid rain while two figures stand under an arch watching and keeping guard)

As he looks down up the scene from above, Zasabi notices some movement - Dart approaching the circle, unaware.

[Jay Emby]

Squire takes immediately to the idea of a blessing from Cefos. "Pleathe, thir. Bleth me. he pleads. Remembering where his loyalty is supposed to lay, he hastily adds "and Baron Thithle."

[The_JJ]

I bless him, give him a small explenation of my religion, and perform a baptismal like service on him.
Now you are my brother in religion. Maybe when we save the baron, I can bless him to,if he is deserving

[Voth]

Val

"Now, let us get down to business. We shall need a plan if we are to end this siege. I doubt brute force is the answer, for we maybe out numbered. When Samuel returns from scouting we shall know more. If he has not returned by dawn, we must act. Any ideas about strategy?"

Val, turning and looking at each member individually waits and listens.

[Zasabi]

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Fantastic job so far, everyone. Looking good!

Zasabi shook his head, cursing the fates that he should be tailed by such an idiot. If he had known that the wizard would come after him, he would've somehow redirected him. Now the wizard would stumble onto the sacrifice, run in spells blazing, and proceed to die while alerting the rest of the elves to their presence. No, he couldn't afford that. He would need to somehow let the wizard know that there were enemies ahead of him, and simultaneously draw the elves from their captive. Once they were drawn toward the wizard, he could attack them from behind, allowing the wizard to hopefully do something useful, all while keeping the elves far enough away from the gorge that their muffled cries of pain wouldn't draw any attention.

Spying a small rock, he picked it up and, after aiming for a moment, threw it near a small pile of rocks a slight distance in front of Dart. With hope, Dart would notice it and assume there was an enemy approaching and dive behind cover, and the Elves would notice it and assume the same, at least sending out one of their number to investigate.

If his plan succeeded, Zasabi would steathily inch closer to Dart's location, staying out of site of the elves but getting within range for a precise shot. If only one of the Elves headed toward Dart, he would try to get a shot on the one that was remaining closest to the sacrifice, as to prevent him from calling for reinforcements, and then assist the wizard in taking out the remaining one. If Dart missed the signal completely, then Zai would simply get into a position where he could take a pot-shot as the elves ran wildly at the soon-to-be-a-steaming-corpse-on-the-ground Wizard.

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So that's a +6 for bluff, a +6 for hiding, and a +3 to shoot things with my shortbow with an added +1 if they're within 30 feet. And a sneak attack if they're denied their Dex bonus to their AC(sudden strike)

[PlasticSoldier]

Sam (Sorry for not posting, just assume I went to the shelter)


"Well my plan is that we sneak up on one of the groups on top of the cliffs & ambush them with illusions and areas of effect. Then we can take cover and start attacking the people on the other cliff, once were done with them we'll pretty much have the rest cornered."

[Jael_Darkwood]

Aaron

"Bassanius is a puissant fighter, as long as we keep things simple for him. I'll provide a little support fire." He pats his crossbow. "I suggest we start killing while this rain is muffling the noise and keeping visibility low...."

[Jay Emby]

(no problem, Plastic)

By now, the sun is starting to peek ever so slightly through the black clouds and walls of rain. In this bare light, Zasabi notices the green and yellow tinges in the storm where the acid rain is heaviest - concentrated inside the druidic circle, spreading outward in waves.

Even against the swirling winds and driving rain, Zasabi lands the stone where he needed for his plan to work. He watches as Dart jumps at the noise. When he turns to look at the elves, he sees that one has left the cover of the arch, quarterstaff in hand. The other draws out his sling and stands ready, his eyes scanning the landscape, both along the river and up upon the cliffs.

Zasabi begins climbing halfway down the cliff in order to line up his first shot . . .

(you'll get to make the attack after I know how Dart reacts)

[Torger]

Xerxes

Xerxes listens to the religious blowhard yammering about his infidel northrealm god, respecting his zeal, but scoffing at his false baptism. Instead, he stands as fat from the damnable rain as he can, cloak drawn tight around him and listens to the ill-conceived mouthings of the others.

Finally, growing irritated, he speaks. I find that, in the face of natural forces that would melt flesh from bone, I am less inclined to rush off into the night. Perhaps if one of my learned colleagues possessed some means of countering this, we might move on, slay the elves, consume their souls for our preferred Divinities, and move on with this ill-conceived and thus far futile proceedings. Otherwise, we may not form strategy until the bowman returns with information.

[warlock2000]

Dart

Startled by the sound Dart jumps back being quiet as possible. I must be close, he thinks. Stepping next to a tree he summons up a spell of mage armour just in case he is close. Then cast detect magic to see if he can sense anything out there.

[Jay Emby]

Dart ducks behind the tree. After he finishes his protective incantation, he leans out to look down along the path ahead of him. He detects nothing magical, but with his normal senses he sees a cloaked figure pushing through the rain, carefully treading the muddy slope between the cliff and the river. The quarterstaff in his hand seems to be as much for balance as it is for battle. Intent on watching his footing, he does not appear to notice Dart behind the tree, even though he is only a stone's throw away (around 30 feet).

(Man, I rolled a horrible Hide check for Dart, then a ridiculously low Spot check for the elf - so half the wizard's body is exposed to sight, but the guard is looking at his feet!)

Zasabi makes his way down the cliff like a shadow stalking at midnight. His long practice is not hindered by this weather. Indeed, it is his ever-trusty accomplice. The thrill of this hunt sends a shiver down his spine. The elf's fate is in the ninja's hands, but the victim will never know it. Zasabi's arrow pierces cleanly through his victim's heart, dropping him silently.

(Okay, these elf guards are blind, apparently. This one's spot check was miserable, which really didn't matter since Zasabi's Hide check was enormous. Plus, a critical with the arrow combined with Sudden Strike. The ninja has moves)

Dart, you've got a surprise round yourself (one standard action). You can thank Zasabi for that.

[Voth]

Val

"So then my noble allies, after listening to your input I propose another plan. In one group, we approach the group of those devilish elves up on the cliff and take them out with all do haste and subtlety. This shall prohibit them from notifying their kinsmen should we be spotted when trying to cross the gorge. Afterwards, I propose we assault each of the small groups of elves, once again as stealthily as possible to avoid alerting the others. Afterwards, we can rescue the baron from his fate. However I purpose that we wait until our other two allies return from their scouting attempt and see what they learn. With any luck we may be able to find the source of this storms unusual power. In the mean time, if all of you would be so kind, might I inquire your skills?"


((Its magical flavor convo time! YAY! I guess we will just perfect strategy until Zasabi and warlock return from their shenanigans. Its also a good time to learn more about each others characters. Also by skills, Val is referring to classes, but try and think of a cool RP way to explain them.))