In Service to the Prophet (IC)

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar growls and swings at the spearman as he runs away.

Spoiler

Show

Attack (1d20+6)[12]
Damage (1d10+4)[10]

I hate the dice roller...

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Well... So far, you have all managed to successfully miss your targets. Let's hope the others have better luck

Seeker's turn, then Dumar's, then Erion's.

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Missing his attack on the fleeing spearman and seeing everyone else do the same, Seeker decides to put his hope in a new tactic.

Spoiler

Show

If I move as far as possible in one move (5 squares), would I be able to get within range 10 of him? If so, I'll do that, drop my scimitar, pull out my star-covered magic rod as a minor action, and try to hit him with some Dire Radiance.

Attack (Dire Radiance): (1d20+4)[20] vs. Fortitude
Damage: (1d6+3)[5] damage and he'll take damage against if he moves closer to me on his turn (like that's gonna happen).

If I can't get within range 10, I'll just move as close as possible, drop my scimitar, and use a minor action to pull out my sling, hurling a stone at him to try to bring him down.

Attack (Sling): (1d20+1)[9] vs. AC
Damage: (1d6-1)[5] damage

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Let's say Seeker decided to run, OK? That takes him to exactly 10 squares from the spearman if he runs through the pool of water there, and then Dire Radiance takes him down.

Current Status:

Spoiler

Show

Archer 1 is dead.
Archer 2 is dead.
Spearman 1 is dead.
Spearman 2 is dead.
Swordsman is bloodied.

Swordsman is 1 square off the map right, and 3 squares off the map down.

Dumar's turn, then Erion's, then Talis's.

[NecroRebel]

If Dumar and/or Erion don't take their turns by tomorrow morning, I'll NPC them. I'd like to get this battle over at this point, since now it's just a matter of the enemy either getting away or not.

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Seeing the spearman drop, Dumar whirls towards the 'victim' who started this all. Seeing him running, Dumar charges after him.

Spoiler

Show

Not sure if I can catch up to him or not. If I can, i'll swing.

Viper's Sting (1d20+4)[17]
Damage (1d10+4)[6]

If he moves, Eri can take a free shot at him...

[The_Werebear]

Erion

The Warlock fires another blast, this one at the fleeing swordsman. He moves as close as he needs to get in range, cursing him all the way and channeling his lastest curse victim's energy into a more powerful blast.

Spoiler

Show

I within 16 squares of the Swordsman. I'll move to get as close as possible and fire a blast from point blank. He will be cursed as well.
Eldritch Blast - (1d20+7)[11] v Reflex
Damage - (1d10+5)[9]
Curse - (1d6)[2]

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Alright, so now that the other spearman is down, it's now Talis's turn. The spearman is still up since both Dumar and Erion missed.

[Parmenides]

Parmenides

Parmenides moves closer to the swordsman and launches yet another silvery bolt at him.

Spoiler

Show

This is unbelievable.

I move closer to the swordsman and fire another Magic Missile.

Magic Missile - (d20+7)[11] vs. Reflex.
Hit - (2d4+6)[13] force damage.

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, you guys are having absolutely ****ty luck now. Really, Seeker shouldn't even technically have killed the spearman; if he hadn't run, he would've only been in range for his sling, which missed. Fortunately, even with the -5 to hit for running, since the spearman also ran Seeker had combat advantage and so a 17 hit.

And of course now you're all whiffing your attacks on the swordsman... This is sad, really. This fight should've ended a round or 2 ago

[The_Werebear]

Spoiler

Show

Yeah, you guys are having absolutely ****ty luck now. Really, Seeker shouldn't even technically have killed the spearman; if he hadn't run, he would've only been in range for his sling, which missed. Fortunately, even with the -5 to hit for running, since the spearman also ran Seeker had combat advantage and so a 17 hit.

And of course now you're all whiffing your attacks on the swordsman... This is sad, really. This fight should've ended a round or 2 ago

Spoiler

Show

Maybe it's fate

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Maybe it's fate

Spoiler

Show

While this may or may not come to pass...

(Perhaps big spoilers in the next spoiler, so don't read if you care)

Spoiler

Show

I'm strongly considering having the difference between fate and prophecy be a major plot point a few levels down the road.

Spoiler

Show

Fate is in the Raven Queen's portfolio, while Prophecy is in Ioun's. Think about what that means for a minute

[RTGoodman]

Seeker


Seeing the fleeing elf drop, engulfed in radiant light, Seeker casts a wary eye at the sky for a moment, picks up his scimitar, and runs back to the rest of the group, still trying to take down the swordsman.

Spoiler

Show

I guess it's my turn (or almost at least), so I'll go ahead and post my actions since they're not going to really effect anyone this turn anyway. I'm pretty sure there's no way for me to get back to the Swordsman from where I am, so I'm just gonna pick up my scimitar and run back towards everyone else.

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

It's currently Talis's turn, but seeing as TwoBitWriter hasn't posted in a few days, I think I'm gonna NPC him.

Talis attempts to prevent the last of the enemies from fleeing with a charging strike of his blade.

Spoiler

Show

Talis moves closer, then makes a Charge attempt.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+13)[18]
Damage if hit - (1d10+6)[9]

Assuming Talis didn't deal enough damage to drop him, since it's fairly unlikely, the swordsman attempts to run away, then runs away again. Talis and Dumar get attacks of opportunity.

Spoiler

Show

If Talis's OA hits, the first run attempt stops, so the elf is 9 squares from Talis and Dumar. Otherwise, he is 18 squares from them.

Talis Attack vs. AC - (1d20+13)[21]
Talis damage if hit - (1d10+6)[14]
Dumar Attack vs. AC - (1d20+8)[27]
Dumar damage if hit - (1d10+4)[5]

Both of Talis's attacks missed, but Dumar's OA landed. Swordsman is 18 squares away from those 2, some 23 from everyone else, and bloodied. Parmenides's magic missile also missed, and Seeker didn't attack.

Dumar's turn now, then Erion's and Talis's.



Will everyone who is still paying attention to this game please say so? It seems to have died a bit and I'd like to know whether I should continue it, and if so if I need to recruit some more.

[TwoBitWriter]

Spoiler

Show

I'm still here, and very very sorry not posting and slowing things up. I take full responsibility. I have been having a hell of a couple of days because of my wedding in 24 days. But I am not making excuses... I'm sorry.

On that note, this is my official notice that between October 9 and October 20 I will be unavailable to post, as I will be on my honeymoon.

[Ipphli]

Spoiler

Show

I'm still here. Can't believe you're going away for a honeymoon. *pfft* Real dedicated you are Congrats man.

Anyways, I'm going to run after the little bugger.

[RTGoodman]

Spoiler

Show

I'm still about. I've been out of town a few days of the last week and have been sick on top of that, but I'm still here ready to go.

Also, congrats on the upcoming wedding, TwoBit! (Even if it does mean you're leavin' us hanging...

[Parmenides]

Spoiler

Show

I'm still here.
Congratulations for TwoBit.

[The_Werebear]

Spoiler

Show

Still here, had one hell of a hell week at college. Papers and tests galore.

Congrats TwoBit. Rock it out and enjoy the Honeymoon!

[NecroRebel]

Spoiler

Show

Alright then, I guess everyone is still here. Good Means I can continue with the campaign as I had planned it.

Edit: Oh, and I just noticed that I had been going to say this before, but failed to: Congratulations on the wedding, TwoBitWriter! May your marriage be a happy one

Despite your best attempts at keeping up with the man, he is simply too quick for you to keep up with. You may get back to your horses and then try to run him down, but that will give him time to disappear into the swamps. You may be able to get another shot off at extreme range, but that will be difficult due to the trees and low undergrowth interdicting your line of fire. Or, you may search his fallen comrades, rest, and recover from this short skirmish before mounting up again and continuing off on your way. The choice is yours.

Spoiler

Show

In any case, I'm now counting this encounter as over. You each gain 175 experience; searching the bodies may or may not render some treasure which I will give out if or when you choose to search them

I'll be posting again with the continuation of the story when everyone has posted or tonight, whichever comes first.

[TwoBitWriter]

Talis

Furious, Talis screams at the swordsman in Elven. "This is not over! We will meet again!"

Stopping, Talis returns to the site of the battle. He begins rummaging through the bodies, searching for anything useful.

(I will leave the perception roll to you, NecroRebel.)

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Muttering to himself, Seeker takes a while to rest and then drags the far-off body back towards the rest of the group, rooting through the elf's pockets to see if there's anything of note. Seeing Talis's fury, he tries to console him, "Only the one got away, and he was injured, so perhaps we won't make it far enough to warn the rest. And if he does, it isn't like we don't expect to run into them anyway, and, at some later time, maybe we'll get a chance to repay him for his deception."

Spoiler

Show

I guess I'll go ahead and spend a healing surge to pop me back up to full HP. If anyone is still hurt after taking some healing, I'll hit 'em with some lay on hands action if they ask for it.

Necro, feel free to roll the check for me, too, if you'd like.

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar curses under his breath as the elf gets away. He shrugs and turns back to the bodies, searching them over after cleaning off his hammer. He turns and looks at the others. "How is everyone? Is everyone okay?"

[NecroRebel]

Searching the bodies, you find that these men were soldiers. At the very least, all four of them wear very similar armor with the same insignia on them, which those of you more versed in the world's politics recognize as that of the kingdom of Coldhunt, a nation of elves located in the wooded foothills to the north of where you now stand. You also find what is obviously their pay; a total of 39 gold pieces and 370 silver.

After divvying up the spoils and licking your wounds, you remount and continue into the bogs. It is slow going; the water slowly gets deeper as you travel, usually around chest height on your mounts and occasionally so deep the horses are forced to swim, and although you are capable of following the fleeing elf's trail for half a mile or so it too disappears into the fens. As Sir Selena had said back in Olnetton, it takes nearly 2 full hours for you to traverse the distance to Ayana's Fate.

At the end of your journey, the old castle juts mournfully out of the swamp. At one point, it was probably an almost impenetrable stronghold built on solid ground, but no more; now, blue-grey walls lie at an angle, the west face of the structure sunken halfway into the muck, with the southern wing of the dungeon broken partially off and riddled with holes. Even the east end, relatively intact, is clearly falling apart, with arrow-slits nearly even with the ground instead of at chest level as they should be.

The ruins appear fairly stable, but appearances can be decieving. Obvious entrances include some of the holes in the southern wing, an old side entrance, door long missing, in the west side, and an arrow slit in the east side that has cracked open enough for a man to squeeze through. You have approached from the west by southwesterly direction, so the west side entrance is closest.

Spoiler

Show

For searching for treasure like that, particularly when you're taking a short rest anyway, I'm just going to assume you find things. Essentially, I'm assuming you're all Aid Anothering the person with the best Perception check and rolling and rerolling until he gets a 20, so if it's there you find it.

[The_Werebear]

Erion

The warlock takes some time to cool down. The party is traveling before he speaks again. The element of surprise is probably lost now, and was before we let the scout escape. If they were setting traps, they knew and know we are here. Even if we had killed the swordsman, their failure to return would have been information enough. After that justifying interjection, he falls silent again.

When the castle is reached, Erion pauses while still out of sight. We have a choice. We can either approach stealthily, possibly sending a scout to gather information. Or, we can attempt to regain the element of surprise by denying our enemies the luxury of predicting our actions and motivation by walking boldly up to the castle and entering. I personally prefer option one, and volunteer as a scout if we should chose it.

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar scowls as they ride, listening to Erion. Finally he speaks up. "I wonder who told the elves we were coming? Someone is going to pay for that...And since they know we're coming, there's no point separating. They'd just pick us off. Besides, remember what the Prophetess said: we're going to end up surrendering to those blasted elves in the end anyways."

[TwoBitWriter]

Talis

Talis looks over the structure soberly. After being silent the entire trip, feeling guilty for falling as quickly as he had and not killing that final warrior that he had marked as a target, Talis finally speaks, "Perhaps we should not make things worse by charging in like a crazed Behemoth..."

"I'm not as well-trained in scouting as some, but I know a few tricks. I am willing to see if there are alternate ways into the castle... Otherwise, I'm a very talented climber. Perhaps we should have a couple of us scale the walls and lower the gate? Just another option..."

[The_Werebear]

Erion

Maybe the best way in is to surrender, as the Prophet suggested. We walk boldly up and give ourselves up once inside. That is the simplest route to get deep inside the castle, would confuse them greatly as to our purpose, giving us an element of surprise back. Also, inside a castle, there would be a great many choke points we could hold against an assault. This would not be my normal course of advice, but we do have the benefit of foreknowledge. He glances down at the thread of prophecy, to see if it indicates a direction, or moves to agree with his rather whimsical proposal.

[NecroRebel]

If the gate is still intact and sealed, you cannot see it from where you now stand. The outer walls, however, are in pretty bad shape; the west end of the castle has cracked badly from the east under their combined weight, leaving a sizable gap that could easily be ridden through single file, or walked through with 2 men abreast.

The ribbons at your wrists are jumping lightly, but their direction is difficult to determine beyond pointing towards the ruins. They have been dancing similarly for as long as you've been on the road, so it is impossible to tell if your latest suggestion is what the Prophet had intended.

[TwoBitWriter]

Talis

Talis turns to his companions, stretching his arms. "Can any of you climb? If not, I will climb to the top and lower a rope. I feel we shouldn't surrender so quickly, until the odds seem too badly stacked against us."