In Service to the Prophet (IC)

[Parmenides]

Parmenides

"I don't think we should just walk in and surrender. Even if that's how it'll end, remember the elves must offer surrender first. Besides, it might be a future that will only come to pass at a later time." Parmenides halt for a moment, somewhat troubled. "I feel loath to abandon the initiative here anyway. We should be actively looking for the Mechanism's part, and if the elves take us, let them sweat for it."

"I agree with Dumar, that we should stay together. Let us leave our horses for now, and try to enter through the holes in the broken southern wing. There we should be able to work together if attacked, and as there are several entrances, it would be hard for a potential foe to set-up an ambush in advance at our exact point of entry."

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Ipphli, can Dumar use "Inspiring Word" on me before we go in?

Also, please excuse my English if I'm wrong, but cannot Hymn's words be interpreted in such a way, as that the elves might offer to surrender to us, and we must agree?

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Glancing at the various entrances to the keep, Seeker contemplates for a moment before beginning. "Whichever way we enter, I do agree that we should stay together. By my count there are still over a hundred elves, unless some have fallen to swords other than ours, and even with the protection of our Goddess and her Chosen I do not thing any of us could handle THAT many at once.

"I'd prefer not to give in to them so quickly, even if that's to be the outcome, and perhaps we could even try to avoid them for a while if possible. I'd suggest either finding a suitable entrance in the southern wing or making our way to the eastern side to that broken arrow slit. Both seem like places that may or may not be particularly well-guarded."

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar looks over at Parmenides and nods. "Yes, we cannot forget the reason we are here. We should try and look for it on our own as much as possible." He turns and looks at the others. "I vote for the south end. Why make it harder on ourselves?"

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Are you that low on hp Parm? Inspiring Word only lets you use a healing surge, and get an extra 1d6 hp from it

[NecroRebel]

I'm counting 3 votes for the entrance in the southern wing. If that's where you want to go, one of you make a decision and tell me so and we can continue from there.

Also, for using Inspiring Word, I'm comfortable with you having used second winds and healing powers and resting to recover them during the trip over here before. (Parmenides is currently at 17 of 28 hit points; everyone else is down 3 at most)

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Not hearing any disagreement, Dumar got off his horse. After slinging his pack onto his shoulder, he sets off towards the south wing.

[Parmenides]

Parmenides

Parmenides dismounts and joins Dumar, walking to the south wing. He keeps his eyes open, trying to notice anything suspicious, in case they are being watched.

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Perception - (d20+4)[9]

Also I'll assume we used Inspiring Word on the way here - (d6+7)[8]

The die rolls in this game are truly horrendous.

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Dismounting, Seeker grabs his gear, pats his horse on it's snout, and heads off with everyone else.

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Man, we have had some bad rolls this game. If we keep rolling, surely things'll get better! [/Gambler's Fallacy]

I'll be at a cousin's wedding today so I don't know if I'll be back here before sometime tonight late-ish. Just a heads up.

[NecroRebel]

You approach the southern wing as quietly as you are able, seeking to avoid detection as long as possible. On the way, you see and hear nothing that you wouldn't expect; it would appear that the castle is very thoroughly abandoned, and there are no watchmen in evidence. The only sounds you hear are the squishing of your boots and the sounds of insects and birds of the wilderness.

As you near a place where the wall has collapsed in a tall, jagged crack, you begin to hear soft singing and the sound of stones getting slid around from somewhere within. As you listen, someone shouts in the Elven tongue, I've found something!, and the other noises promptly stop. Look at this! I wonder how anyone else missed this! This follows sounds of agreement and amusement from all of the other people present.

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A few rolls at this point so I know how to proceed.

Perception - (1d20+8)[12]
Stealth - (1d20)[1]

All sound in the room suddenly stops for a moment, but then the scraping of stones continues as it had before.

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar frowns as he glances at the others. He whispers. Doyou think they found it? Let's go." He enters the south wing first, glancing around quickly.

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Perception (1d20)[8]

[NecroRebel]

As Dumar enters the room, 2 elves lying in wait with short swords stab him as an arrow streaks out towards him.

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Surprise round!

So1 attack vs. AC - (1d20+8)[22]
So1 Damage if hit - [5]
So5 attack vs. AC - (1d20+8)[23]
So5 Damage if hit - [5]
Ar attack vs. AC - (1d20+9)[16]
Ar damage if hit - (1d10+4)[9]

Iniatives:

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Ar - (1d20+5)[8]
Sw - (1d20+5)[12]
X - (1d20+8)[22]
So1 - (1d20+5)[7]
So2 - (1d20+5)[9]
So3 - (1d20+5)[21]
So4 - (1d20+5)[17]
So5 - (1d20+5)[6]
So6 - (1d20+5)[13]

Also, Initiative for Seeker as he's AFK for today: (1d20+2)[7] (includes Dumar's bonus)

From his vantage point in the room, Dumar sees 8 elves. One, wielding an ornate and gilded sword, is climbing through another gap in the south wall. Another against the east wall standing on top of mostly-ruined wood weapon racks is armed with a bow. The other 6 are freshfaced and young-looking men in uniforms, armed with short blades. 2 of these have just attacked him.

The room itself appears to be an old simthy. In the southeast corner, there is a sizable forge, though the back is broken out and light streams through it. Slightly to the west of that, a low and wide gap breaks through the wall, while north of the furnace are the racks the archer is using as a vantage point. The northeast corner is flooded, though it is impossible to determine how deep it is in most places, and rubble from the walls and a few holes in the roof is scattered about.

Map:
Black squares are walls and trees.
Grey squares are rubble (difficult terrain).
Light blue squares are water (may be shallow or deep).
Green squares are old weapon racks (difficult terrain; will burn).
So's are the shortsword wielding soldiers, Ar is the archer, Sw is the other swordsman, and as always the first 3 letters of your name represent where you are.

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Initiative checks!

Oh, also, in the future, I'm considering just rolling initiative for all of you, so we don't have to wait a day for people on the other side of the world to wake up/get off work/stop doing whatever else it is they're doing that's preventing them from posting. This would probably save us that same day or so in a battle and let us get to the exploration more quickly. Thoughts?

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar staggers under the blows. He yells out to those behind him. "Ambush!" He grips his hammer and shield, hoping to deflect any more attacks.

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Sounds good to me. You're bound to roll better than I do.
(1d20+4)[8]
Thank goodness the archer missed!

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Seeing the arrow miss Dumar, Seeker clasps his holy symbol for a moment, saying, "We seem to run into these sorts of things pretty often..."

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I'm up for you rolling initiative from now own; I'll go ahead and do it today, though. Here goes nothin'...

Initiative: (1d20+0)[18]

"Are we going in or trying to draw them out?"

[TwoBitWriter]

Talis


"Ai! These Elves are devious cowards!" Talis cries, drawing his sword.

Initiative:
(1d20+4)[24]

[The_Werebear]

Erion

Oh hells. The warlock breaks right, dashing around the side of the building, shadow blurring his image as he does. When he gets to the corner, he slows and creeps closer to the hole in the wall, staying a few feet out from the building.

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Initiative - (1d20+1)[14]
Standard Action: Moving to the square four from the left and one from the bottom. Shadow walk triggers, giving me concealment until the end of my next turn.
Move Action: Moving Stealthy to the square two down and one to the left of the swordsman. Stealth - (1d20+6)[22]
Drawing Rod as minor action.

[NecroRebel]

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As Parmenides probably won't be online until later tonight, I'm going to go ahead and roll initiative for him. In the future, I will probably just roll initiative for everyone, as it will help construct initiative orders quicker, won't have any effect on your actions, and may help prevent some of you from deciding what to do before it's your turn to act (I'm looking at you, The_Wearbear )

Parmenides's Initiative - (1d20+3)[20]

Initiative order:

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Talis
X
Soldier 3
Seeker
Parmenides
Soldier 4
Erion
Soldier 6
Swordsman
Soldier 2
Archer
Dumar
Soldier 1
Soldier 5

Speaking of not being online, I'll be moving on the 23rd (Tuesday), and have various school-related things going on on the next two days afterwards, so I'll not be on much if at all during that period. Since school is finally starting the week after, I'll not be on as much as I have been then either, though I should still have time for the game to continue mostly uninterrupted.



Talis's turn now.

[The_Werebear]

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Well, if my action will be the same anyway... I'll stop doing that.

[Parmenides]

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By all means, always roll initiative for me.

Edit: NecroRebel, what do you mean by "Parmenides probably won't be online until later tonight"? I'm posting regularly during the day. It's you guys that keep posting at 3 a.m.

[NecroRebel]

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Alright, since there are no objections, in the future I'll just be rolling initiative for everyone.

Also:

Edit: NecroRebel, what do you mean by "Parmenides probably won't be online until later tonight"? I'm posting regularly during the day. It's you guys that keep posting at 3 a.m.

Clearly your timezone is flawed; I've never once posted later than 1 am or earlier than 5 am. Since you fairly consistently post between midnight and 8:30 when I go to bed and wake up, that obviously means that you post at night

Still Talis's turn.

[RTGoodman]

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Alright, since there are no objections, in the future I'll just be rolling initiative for everyone.

Cool. That's probably best, because I keep forgetting to add in the +2 bonus to initiative from Dumar. I'm alright if you don't want to change up initiatives this time since it was my fault for forgetting anyway (and an 18 to a 20 might not be that big a deal). With you rolling, though, I won't have to worry about it.

[NecroRebel]

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Cool. That's probably best, because I keep forgetting to add in the +2 bonus to initiative from Dumar. I'm alright if you don't want to change up initiatives this time since it was my fault for forgetting anyway (and an 18 to a 20 might not be that big a deal). With you rolling, though, I won't have to worry about it.

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I've actually been noticing and compensating for bonuses and such that you guys missed or weren't aware of. For your initiative, for example, I actually noted you as a 20 because you did get Dumar's bonus, and in the previous battle when the enemies were running away, you guys all consistently neglected to give yourself the combat advantage bonus, which I then included when I compared your attacks to your defenses

I really don't see any reason why people should be penalized further for not knowing the rules in their entirety, or if they didn't notice a bonus they should have (particularly if it's my fault that they don't notice it).

[TwoBitWriter]

Talis

"Dumar, I will stand with you!" Talis cries, drawing his sword and shifting forward.

(Shift one east, using Passing Attack Power. will attack So1 then shift 1 square South to attack So5. If I miss So1, I guess I will stay where I'm at.)

Passing Attack on So1: (1d20+10)[13]
So1 Damage: (1d10+6)[15]

Passing Attack on So5: (1d20+10)[12]
So5 Damage: (1d10+6)[11]

[NecroRebel]

Talis steps forward and swings at one of the elves attacking Dumar, but the soldier slips backward and the blow rings against the wall. Another soldier then steps forward and attacks the warlord with his sword.

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Talis misses. Soldier 3 shifts down 1 and attacks Dumar with his shortsword.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+6)[17]
Damage if hit - [5]

Something Else - (1d20+6)[20]

Current Status:
Nothing to report.

Seeker's turn, then Parmenides's.

Map:

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Also, rtg0922? I take back what I said in that thread on the gaming forums. You guy's luck sucks.

[RTGoodman]

Seeker

Seeing the door blocked by allies and enemies, he peers for a moment into the building, spotting several enemies despite the cover of the doorway. Grabbing the rod from his belt, he leans to the side, takes aim, and calls down the power of the stars and the Lady Ioun, blasting the elf archer with stellar energy.

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I concur, Necro. I've got line of sight to several enemies, but most of them have cover. I've gotta wait for the doorway to clear so I can actually get in (stupid difficult terrain and penalties for running...), but I can at least do ONE thing this round.

I can't use Divine Challenge unless it's against one that I attack anyway, since it ends if I don't attack or threaten them at the end of my turn, so I guess I'll just try to draw the Archer's fire. At least he doesn't doesn't have cover (since lines running ALONG an obstacle's edge and allies don't provide cover).

Minor Action: Draw Rod
Minor Action: Divine Challenge against the Archer
Standard Action: Dire Radiance against Archer


Dire Radiance: (1d20+6)[11] vs. Fortitude
Breakdown: +2 (Con) + 1 (1/2 level) +1 (enhancement) + 2 (surprise) = +6 total
Hit: (1d6+3)[9] radiant damage; if he moves closer to me on his turn, he takes another (1d6+3)[6] radiant damage.

Divine Challenge: Archer is marked, takes -2 penalty on attacks that don't include me, and takes 6 radiant damage the first time it does so.

[Parmenides]

Parmenides

Parmenides considers for a moment running into the room and trying something flashy, but after another thought he decides to settle for a more conservative tactic. With all the people on the way, rubble and everything, it probably would have gotten poor results, he thinks to himself as he instead creates a treacherous patch of ice on the ground west of the archer. Then he moves south-east, to the corner of the room.

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Icy Terrain: Ar (1d20+7)[17] and So4 (1d20+7)[15] vs. Reflex
Hit - (1d6+6)[12] cold damage and the target is prone, and the area is difficult terrain.
The center is just left of the archer.
Then I move down and right, to stand just behind the corner, two squares left of the swordsman.

[NecroRebel]

Frost forms at Parmenides's command and the archer slips from his perch on the old racks, but the other elf manages to leap out of the way and rushes to engage Dumar.

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Archer is hit by Icy Terrain, damaged, and prone. Soldier 4 moves to attack Dumar.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+8)[15]
Damage if hit - [6]

Current Status:

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Archer is prone.

Erion's turn.

Map:
Blue circles indicate temporary difficult terrain. In the future, zone effects will have a similar icon in the upper-right corner of a given square.

I'm fairly certain that that was how Parmenides had intended to move, but if not, tell me please.

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[The_Werebear]

Erion

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I engage in the planned action

[NecroRebel]

Erion quickly moves to circle around the south edge of the castle; however, the moment he rounds the corner, the previously-unseen elf who had been waiting there swings a heavy forge-hammer. Meanwhile, inside the ruin, one of the soldiers moves to block Dumar in while another rushes southward to attack the humans circling around, and the swordsman at the south entrance moves out and swings his blade in an arc towards the warlock. Unexpectedly, though, a thunderous peal sounds and solid sound spits from the sword, blasting both of the mages. Finally, the archer stands and launches a quick shot at Dumar.

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Previously-hidden elf trooper uses readied action to attack Erion.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+15)[33]
Fire damage if hit - (1d10+7)[16]+(1d6)[3], ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends), knocked prone, and marked.

Soldier 6 moves through south exit and attacks Erion.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+6)[18]
Damage if hit - [5]

Swordsman moves to next to Erion and uses Thunderwave.

Attack vs. Erion's Reflex - (1d20+9)[17]
Attack vs. Dumar's Reflex - (1d20+9)[29]
Thunder damage if hit - (1d6+5)[7] and push 1 square.
My apologies - this attack on Dumar should be on Parmenides instead, and deals him 11 thunder damage instead of rolled value due to the critical hit.

Soldier 2 moves to and attacks Dumar.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+6)[26]
Damage if hit - [6]

Archer stands and attacks Dumar.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+7)[11]
Damage if hit - (1d10+4)[8]

Current Status:
Nothing to report.

Dumar's turn.

Map:
Tr is the previously-unseen elf trooper.

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On a side note, that was much, much nastier than I had expected it to be. I knew that whoever went down that way would get hit hard, but if my calculations are correct Erion just got dropped to 7 hp... And he's taking 5 ongoing I suspect that you guys will want a healer down there.

[Ipphli]

Dumar

Dumar takes his hammer and swings it at the soldier to his right.

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Can't heal him until he gets within a burst 5

Hammer and Anvil against SO4 Str vs AC (1d20+4)[6]
Damage 2W+Str (2d10+5)[25]
And Talin gets a free attack on him, with a +4 to the damage

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But at least Talin still gets his attack...

[NecroRebel]

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I just realized that I hadn't included the penalty or mark from Seeker on the archer last round... So the archer is bloodied. Shouldn't have made any difference, though.

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For the sake of getting through this fight faster, I'm going to roll the Hammer and Anvil bonus attack Talis got for him. If anyone has serious objections to me doing anything like this, please say so and I'll avoid it when possible.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+10)[15]
Damage if hit - (1d10+10)[11]

Then Soldiers 1 and 5 are both going to attack Dumar.

1's Attack vs. AC - (1d20+6)[20] Nevermind this one, it died.
5's Attack vs. AC - (1d20+6)[8]
Damage if Hit - [6] Each does the same damage.

Oh, and since Soldier 1 is marked by Talis after his previous attack, Talis gets to make an attack as an immediate interrupt to the attack.

Attack vs. AC - (1d20+10)[29]
Damage if hit - (1d10+6)[15] and if soldier 1 dies his attack earlier is stopped.

Current status:

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Archer is marked by Seeker and bloodied.
Soldier 1 is dead.
Soldier 4 is marked by Talis.

Talis's turn.

Map:

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Now that's just irritating. The PCs rolls suck even when I'm the one doing them, but the enemies are rolling well much more consistently

[Ipphli]

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If we live through this, all I want for a reward is a magic item that gives a plus to my attack. I don't care about damage, i always roll that high. Just something to boost an attack. Please?