Apocalypse Calls [With Free Long Distance]

[TRM]

Claw

"No. I was a merchant before I came here." Claw rolls his eyes under his hair as he turns away from Quint. He wonders what it would be like, to attain your powers through your own skill or inborn talent rather than stealing them like a parasite—from a parasite.

[Inspectre]

"Ah well, guess I'll just have to convince other people we meet to let me borrow their magical power for awhile." Quint says with an easy shrug, turning back to Kaylee.

"Well, I guess I have to agree with the others here that it's probably time to ship out. As the little girl with the big sword said, the sooner we go, the sooner we can come back here . . . for our next assignment." Quint rolls his eyes at this last part, although he did feel a small thrill of excitement at the idea of Kaylee fulfilling her promise of aid following the completion of saving the multiverse. Perhaps she could and even would help him reclaim his lost divinty. And for that, he'd be willing to go through quite a lot.

[Lord_Gareth]

"I've given you all the information I can give. Good luck!"

Kaylee smiles and gestures idly, and all of you experience the horrific pain of being dissasembled at the atomic level.

***

You come to in a well-kept city street with the immediate feeling that you're in an extraplanar realm. The houses here seem pretty well-to-do, but one mansion in particular captures your eyes, and you instinctively know that this is the mansion with your charge inside.

Of the thugs, there is no sign.

[GimliFett]

Boomer

The dwarf eyes the surroundings and nods towards the house. "Well, lah-dee-dah, if this ain't a fancy side o' town, eh? So we jus' gonna walk up an' introduce ourselves? 'Owdy! We's here ta protek tha kid from a gang o' ruthless murderers!" Boomer snickers, but his finger lightly caresses the trigger of his weapon.

[TRM]

Claw

Claw rounds on Boomer with a glare. "Unless you can think of a better story than that, yes.
"I suggest that we tell her that we're affiliated with the father somehow; the more she thinks she knows us, the less suspicious she'll be—it's the same principle with scamming customers out of their money."

He fingers his ring idly, tossing it into the air before sliding it back onto his finger. "Let's go."

[Inspectre]

Quint takes a few deep breaths after arriving at their destination - the means by which they had arrived here was less than pleasant. Still, they seemed to be more or less exactly where Kaylee said they were going to show up at: right outside the manor. Hearing Boomer and Claw's comments, Quint nods.

"More or less I think that's exactly what we're going to do. Kyria is probably busy in labor at the moment, so we should just need to talk our way past whatever apparently incompetent bodyguards are in place. I say we skip the whole "there's an assassination attempt!" bit unless pressed. Instead we're simply friends of the family who are here to ensure Kyria's labor goes smoothly."

Quint idly brushes his clothing off and straightens it, and then makes sure his hair is lying flat and not sticking up at odd angles after the painful teleportation here. Satisfied with his appearance, Quint turns and boldly starts making his way to the front gates of the manor.

[Jack Mann]

"Ah, that might not be the best tack, young man," Owl said to Claw, with a cough. "Excuse me, but I have some experience in this sort of thing, or close to it. It may be better if we find out how Ms. Kavon feels about the lord. The young lady indicated that he intended to use the child, so while it's certain he wouldn't want her assassinated, he might not have her best interests at heart. Now, notice that Ms. Kavon has chosen to live here, instead of the lord's domain. There could be some other reasons, but it seems we should step carefully around that subject, or we might find her and her bodyguards trying to protect the child from us. Perhaps friends of her relations would be best, if we're telling tales."

[Cogwheel]

"And how do you plan to explain my presence? A distant cousin, perhaps?"

[Inspectre]

Quint shrugs and winks at the metal construct. "You're our bodyguard, naturally."

Here Quint breaks into a wide grin. "Or manservant if you prefer."

[Cogwheel]

Mirror considers Quint's words for a moment before responding, "A manservant may be best. After all, a bodyguard may seem a little too... intimidating. One of master Owl's creations, perhaps?"

[Lord_Gareth]

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I need listen checks, everyone ^_^

[GimliFett]

Boomer

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Listen - (1d20+5)[25]
Heh. That makes me laugh. I crit'd!

[Inspectre]

"Well, come along then manservant. Let's go pay the Lady a visit." Quint says with a wink at Mirror, moving on towards the manor.

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(1d20-1)[6]

[TRM]

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Listen - (d20+3)[8]

Better posting will come tomorrow, when I don't have work.

[Cogwheel]

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O-kay... hope it's not for anything too dangerous >_>(1d20-1)[7](6)

[Jack Mann]

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(1d20+2)[9]

One untrained listen check, made to order.

[Lord_Gareth]

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Wow. Least perceptive party ever >.< Oh well. Boomer, roll me some Initiative!

Boomer hears it, but he's the only one who does - a faint crackling, like electricity. He turns to see a portal opened at the end of the street and a group of dirty, grungy toughs emerging from it. Several of them hold crossbows, and the rest are armed with maces and crowbars. One of them - the cleanest - sees the group and snarls.

"They're after our loot! Cut 'em!"

And the crossbow shots begin.

One of them sinks into Mirror's shoulder, shattering glass, and another grazes across Claw's cheek. The others advance cautiously, not charging like one might expect them to.

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Thugs have piss-poor aim. Mirror, take 2, and Claw, you get grazed for a total of 1. Boomer, roll Initiative and you get to act during the surprise round. Eight thugs total at the moment, with the portal still open. The leader and two crossbowman are 40 feet away at the portal, with the others 10 feet from you and looking defensive.

[GimliFett]

Boomer

The dwarf readies his blunderbuss, aiming at the closest thugs for best spread. "Just goons. Ugh. This'll be cake, y'awl," Boomer says as he pulls the trigger.
BOOM!
A spray of lead shot and fire spreads out from the weapon as the dwarf cackles in glee.

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That's funny. The guy that likes BOOMs is the one with the best hearing!
Initiative - (1d20+3)[18]
Breath o' the Black Powder Dragon: DC 14 or 13 (10 + 1/2 level + Dex mod); round up or down for level? Damage - (3d10)[15]
EDIT: Does Point Blank Shot factor for damage or save DC here? The latter is unlikely, but I thought maybe it'd have an effect. :shrug: No worries.

[Lord_Gareth]

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Umm, this is mildly embarassing, but I've lost my link to Black Powder Mage and I need it back

[GimliFett]

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No worries. Here.

[Lord_Gareth]

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No, Point Blank Shot doesn't benefit Breath of the Black Powder Dragon. However, I'm not going to even bother rolling saving throws, since even half damage obliterates their souls. This is what they get for single-classing Rogue...

The screams would almost be comical, if the sight of six men on fire wasn't so sickening. Lead thuds into their bodies and they hit the ground bloodied and dead. The crossbowman look afraid, but as they reload they start grinning, and it's easy to see why as portals open up all over the street.

"Arcanabula!"

A dart of light slams into Boomer, drawing blood, and two of the portals spit out robed figures. The second one mutters something and begins shimmering faintly. From the rest of them, thugs armed with maces step through and rush in. One of them with a gold tooth and a missing arm takes a swipe at Boomer and wildly overextends, tripping himself up and sprawling face-first to the ground. Two more rush in and take swipes at Claw and Owl, respectively - Claw ducks his, but Owl gets nicked by a blow to the shoulder.

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Alright folks - Three with maces, two wizards, and two crossbowman. Claw, Owl, and Mirror are all threatened. Boomer, there's one prone in front of you. Initiative and post (I'll put actions in the proper order afterwards). Owl, take 1 for me.

[TRM]

Claw

Claw ducks under his attacker's swing and steps away, already opening his connection with Talon. Killing, your favorite. I expect it to be quick and as painless as possible.

As he speaks to Talon, he has moved himself away from the blundering thug and fixed his attention on the chanting enemy. He flicks his hand at the man, trying to be subtle, and releases his frustration at this stupid job, directing Talon's power at the hapless mage.

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Initiative

Shadowmental touch doesn't seem to have a listed range, so Claw will just move as far away from the melee attackers as he can while still staying in range of the wizard that just cast a spell. (Move action.)
And Shadowmental Touch the poor caster: Attack and damage (if necessary).

Then my Will save.

[Lord_Gareth]

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It's 60 feet ^_^

[Inspectre]

"Hmmm . . . doesn't seem like they're going to listen to reason or be bought off. Perhaps threats?" Quint mutters, almost more for his own benefit than the party. For a moment, Quint freezes as an idea occurs to him. It had a low chance of success, but nonetheless was worth a try while he drew his weapons.

Pulling out his twin light maces (Move Action) and starting to move towards the nearest mage (Standard Action, 30'), Quint shouts out loudly over the impromptu battlefield. "Gentlemen! We're both after the same thing here! You've already lost six men, and if we keep fighting neither of us is going to have the strength to complete the mission! I propose we work together and split the reward instead of this profitless battle!"

(If the Bluff check would require a standard action, replace movement with the Bluff check. Or if it's a full-round action, that's fine too. Whatever. )

Bluff: 1d20+7 = 23!

[Cogwheel]

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Initiative(12) In other news, Mirror has DR 2/adamantine, so he hasn't taken any damage just yet.

Taking a step back from the melee, Mirror focuses on the thug with the golden tooth. Calling on the power of his god, he sends his conciousness slamming into his opponent's.

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Using Mind Thrust on gold-tooth.. 1d10 damage, will negates (DC 15). Also taking a 5-foot step back first. Anyway, here's the damage(5)

[Jack Mann]

That hurt! Owl thought to himself. Since when do dreams hurt? He took a step back and began to load his crossbow.

[Jack Mann]

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Made a typo in my last post, I need to make a new post to roll initiative.
Initiative - (1d20+1)[10]

[Lord_Gareth]

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Inspectre, you have just become the Poor Thing of the combat. It was going to work. It was going to be excellent and they would have believed you (they rolled a NAT ONE on Sense Motive). But Claw has failed his Will save, and that means Talon has plans besides peace...for a single round.

The thugs pause, not fighting back for a moment. The one with the gold tooth screams as his head explodes in a shower of gore, but they seem to accept that as collateral damage.

One of the mages opens his mouth, and a streak of energy slams into his face, launched by Claw.

"FREE!" he screams at the top of his lungs. "DIE!"

Claw goes after the other wizard, rushing towards him before he seems to come back to his senses.

The other thugs roar in fury and attack. Crossbowman converge on Mirror, firing three bolts that hit the animated golem. The thug attacking Claw misses his opportunity when the Harrowed moves, but steps in and manages to miss Mirror as well with a clumsy swing. Owl ducks a blow from his aggressor.

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Mirror, you have succeeded in taking nothing. Again.

[GimliFett]

Lord Gareth:

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I point you to the OOC, where I asked a question, here...

[Inspectre]

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S'alright. I was just planning on cheapshotting the identified leader when he stepped forward for a handshake of agreement.

Quint breaks into a smile that has a hidden meaning as the thugs hesitate and seem ready to "negotiate", when it all goes wrong, all thanks to the bloodthirsty idiot kid.

"Gods damnit." Quint sighs, drawing his maces and moving to help the wanna-be wizard with his attacker.

(Draw Weapons - Standard. Moving to assist Owl. - Move Action)

(And since I forgot to roll initiative last round. )

1d20+2=3