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As the flames singe past Jonas, he dips his hat to shield his vision. When he looks up, his whip is already in motion, wrapping around the hilt of the rider's blade. He pulls with a quick snap, hoping to send it flying out of the smoking glove that wields it.
Saul tries to focus on the techniques which instinct tells him will be of use, but the heat of battle floods his mind.
Spoiler
Leading the Attack, and at random (numbering the remaining maneuvers and rolling 1d4) I choose Sapphire Nightmare Blade and Insightful Strike. I've chosen them randomly as a self-penalization for not having chosen them earlier.
The scimitar slips out of the rider's glove and lands on the ground nearby. The rider glowers at Jonas and mutters to himself in Elven, "This one I won't need a sword to kill; I'd prefer to use my hands."
The Beast within Kren howls as the flames wash over him. He snarles along with it. Well then, we'll do this the hard way.
With a cry, Kren directs his mount to attack. As it rears and lashes at the ambusher with its hooves, Kren draws his scimitar and swings.
Spoiler
Ride Check - Guide with Knees (DC 5) - 4+3 = 7
Ride Check - Attack with Mount (DC 10) - 17+3 = 20
Horse's attack roll (Stats on pg. 273 of MM)
My understanding is that the ambusher has not moved since I got close, so the horse is taking a full attack.
2 Hooves +6 (1d6+4) and 1 bite +1 (1d4+2). Hoof 1 - 14+6 = 20 (9 dmg) Hoof 2 - 16+6 = 22 (5 dmg) Bite - 8+1 = 9 (4 dmg)
The rider attempts to adopt a defensive unarmed fighting stance but is unable to get out of the way of one of the hooves. The hoof hits him squarely in the chest. A lesser man would have fallen from such a blow, the rider is merely knocked off balance. He gasps and coughs up blood. He adopts his defensive stance again and brings up a forearm guard to block the scimitar. The sword guard catches the sword but it slides along the side, cutting his right arm to the elbow.
After the onslaught the rider is finally able to adopt his martial stance. He's clearly trained in unarmed combat techniques. His form seems to blur red with speed as he starts an attack, suddenly he vanishes from view. Kren and Jonas's horses collapse from under them as they are struck forcefully in the neck. The rider reappers a few feet from where he was, crouching with his fists clenched in a defensive posture. "You chose the wrong side, fools. You may have slowed us down, but now you're horseless in our country. We'll see if you can meddle with our plans any more before the wolves get you," the rider says in Common.
Spoiler
The rider has moved to the square between Kren and Jonas. He became invisible momentarily and struck Paco and Kren's horse while invisible, dealing enough damage to drop both of them. Paco takes (attack roll 19) 20 damage, putting him at -6, Kren's horse takes (attack roll 26) 22 damage, putting him at -2 (by my count). I rolled 9+3 = 12 for Jonas's ride check (2 falling damage), and 6+3= 9 for Kren's (3 falling damage).
The last time he was dismounted, at the Battle of Grey Slough, he remembered the scream of his mount Livia as she fell into the mire. As he was falling now, the fact that Paco was silent as he collapsed did not encourage Jonas. Goodbye old friend As he steadies on his feet, Jonas feels a sharp pain in his ribs, and a warm trickle on his cheek. That doesn't bode well. Anger wells up within him, and he lashes out hastily.
That horse was a gift from a dear lady! On him, lads!
The fall from his horse is disorienting and painful, and it takes a few moments before Kren realizes that his horse is badly hurt. Horatio! I have a few seconds before I need to heal him... maybe enough to finish this bastard.
Kren begins to howl a challenge, but a sharp pain in his side turns the sound into a whimper. Stepping away from the red-armored ambusher, he calls upon nature to speed its healing power.
Spoiler
5 ft. step back from the ambush dude (if Kren's that close, I'm not totally sure), and cast Cure Light Wounds for 6 hp, bringing Kren to 14, by my count.
Saul maneuvers into a flanking position and draws blood as his slash connects across the rider's abdomen (9 damage, leading the attack in effect for the round).
The rider is bleeding heavily now. He tries to mouth a spell but seems unable to find the words through his coughing and gasping. It looks as if the horse's hoof may have broken a rib or two in addition to all the cuts the rider has received. He regains enough composure roll over to his sword and retrieve it dodging another slash from Saul. He winces as he picks up the sword, the maneuver obviously pained him. Suddenly he vanishes in a puff of black smoke and reappers a many feet to the west.
Spoiler
Rider takes 5 foot step to his sword, making the tumble roll to avoid AOO with a 27. He picks up the sword, drawing an AOO from Saul which misses with a 16 total. He then activates a shadow hand maneuver that Paul recognizes as Shadow Jaunt to teleport 50 feet to the west (left).
Last edited by OologahQ : 02-02-2008 at 12:42 AM.
Reason: forgot to post Paul's damage
He's a fast one, I'll give him that. Or I'm slow. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Jonas had a moment to collect his thoughts. Wrong side!? Do I even have a side!? He collected his whip, and looked at Paco's corpse. Wait a second, he's breathing! He stumbles next to his fallen comrade, and tries to comfort him.
You there! I'll get your name over drinks later, but if you can do anything for these horses make it quick. We need to pursue. Saul, can you give chase on his mount? I'll follow as soon as I can.
Spoiler
Art of War active
Pick up whip.
Heal Check: 12 - 1 = 11
I assume you're taking care of the percentile dice for Paco?
Kren's first impulse is to give chase, on foot if need be; but as the human's words sunk in, he was able to control his instincts and quell the Beast.
Horatio was unconscious, but breathing well and not bleeding too heavily. The stranger's horse was another matter. Sorry, Horatio. Your wounds will have to wait for the morning. Shouldering past the mustachioed human, Kren placed a hand on the horse's neck and felt a surge of power repair the damaged flesh.
Spoiler
Cure Light Wounds - 1d8+3 = 4+3 = 7 hp. And of course, magic healing stabilizes him.
On another note, Kren's previous healing should have healed 2 more hp. I only healed for 1d8+1 when it should have been 1d8+3. So he's at 16.
He'll live, but any more healing will have to wait. Right now we must focus on the prey.
Last edited by RhoOphuichi : 02-02-2008 at 04:25 PM.
Reason: Typo
Saul closes the distance quickly on the rider. However, the foe looks surprisingly unconcerned. At the last possible moment the the rider turnsand speaks a word in Draconic, the horse vanishes into thin air, sending Saul sprawling to the ground at the rider's feet. The rider smiles wickedly, speaking another momentary word in draconic and bringing his blade down across Saul's back to deliver a wicked cut. The rider turns and limps away again.
Spoiler
The rider dismisses what Kren now realizes must have been a Mount spell. Saul fails his ride check and balance check to keep from falling and takes 3 damage. The rider casts a quick spell which seems to channel energy into his blade (Kren thinks the spell is Critical Strike) and scores a critical hit on the prone Saul (15 natural roll, 27 modified, 19 natural to confirm, 35 modified), damage is 18. The rider moves 30 feet to the west.
Jonas' sentence is cut short by a scream to his west, he looks up to see the rider slashing down on menacingly on Saul. With the horses now stable, Jonas levers himself to his feet, and closes the distance to his newly wounded companion, coiling his whip in case the rider turns back.
Saul! How bad is it? We're coming, lad!
Spoiler
Move action 30 feet West towards Saul. Ready a disarm with "if he comes within 15 feet of me" as the activate.
The ambusher seems like a close fighter... I guess I'll just have to keep my distance then, won't I?
Kren channels the power of a spell in a new direction, using the energy to call for help. A squat grey creature answers his call and attacks the ambusher.
Spoiler
Move 30ft toward the ambusher (putting Kren 30ft from him if I understand right).
Kren sacrifices Bull's Strength to cast Summon Nature's Ally II, calling a Dire Badger (MM pg 62). It appears positioned so that Saul and it flank the ambusher. Kren directs the badger to attack immediately.
Jonas saw his assailant blink out of existence, much as he had appeared only a few moments before. He continued his trot forward past Saul with a shout,
Keep up, Saul, he can't have gotten far! Now then, where is he?
With his free hand, he began grinding the bars of brittle chalk he carried with him in his pouch.
Let's hope this works.
Spoiler
Move forward 30 feet ( I think this puts me 10 feet or so past Saul)
Art of War Active.
Cast Detect Magic, looking in the general direction he was in before.
If possible, I want to crush the pieces of chalk inside their paper wrapper in my pocket - I assume this is a free action (i.e. spell item prep), but whatever you decide is fine.
Kren smiles. Disappearing won't defeat the badger's nose. And he had still other ways of dealing with such tactics if needed.
Directing the giant badger to attack, Kren dashed into position to assist.
Over here! Surround him!
Spoiler
Per DMG pg 295, a creature with the scent ability can detect an invisible creature as it would a visible one. The dire badger can pinpoint the space where the ambusher is, so it will move to the space and attack. I'm posting rolls for a full attack in case the ambusher hasn't moved more than 5 ft.
Kren will hopefully be able to get close enough to attack as well; he'll either move to flanking position and attack, or double move and flank.
As the fog of colors swirl in the corners of Jonas' vision, he is taken aback by the distinct glow of crossed arrows on their arms. Small world. He mutters quietly from the corner of his mouth,
Keep sharp, Saul. These two are both Pathfinders. Something is amiss.
Then louder, for everyone to hear,
I'll leave the tying to you, Saul.
The downed rider appears smaller, kneeling in a pool of his own blood. This has to be some kind of misunderstanding. Jonas thoughts came not through some belief that his contingent was incapable of deceit, murder, and betrayal - he had plenty of experience with those. However, it seems unlikely that Jonas would forget having done something recently to warrant this special attention. His only contact with Pathfinder's in months was Tobias, and if he wanted Jonas dead, Jonas felt certain that Saul here could have done the job admirably.
I need information, then. As he walks forward, he decides to focus his attention on the hunter-turned-prey, for now.
Well met, traveller. Obviously, we'll ask that you set that blade of yours down, ever so gently. It appears that you have some issue with me and my friend here that I fail to recall, and I imagine its best for all of us if we chat about it. I'm not usually one to dispense with pleasantries, but since I assume you know who we are, let's start with you. Have you a name, and why, pray tell, have we met under such beleaguered circumstances? By the marks on your arms, we've all bled under the same banner before.
Spoiler
Art of War active
Close to 15 feet, with the threat range of the badger and Kren between me and him if possible.
Assuming we are still considered to be in combat, I'll make the following check.
Intimidate: 3 + 9 = 12
However, if you feel the combat is complete, and I have the requisite time to talk it out, I'll do the following
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