DM Alexander Kilcoynes Serpents Skull PbP- Chapter 2, Racing to Ruin (Inactive)
Game Master Alexander Kilcoyne

The who? questions Chi her brows knitted as she shrugs her shoulders, but the woman has already turned and is on her way.

She looks to her friends expectantly.

Essentially, you have one round before said dogs chasing the mob will be on you instead. So everyone has one rounds worth of actions, although i'll be a little more generous on free action speech than normal. Your obvious choice is to either run with the mob, make a quick turn down a side street or stand your ground and face the wild dogs...

Ambroze follows Marcus' and Tun'ada's lead.

Tun'ada points to a near-by alley-way... "Quick, down that way. Marcus and I will cover you. Go now!"

Down here! We get out of their way or have an easier defense! Marcus points to the side street, although he waits til last to move.

So he doesn't move unless everyone does.

Edit:Ninjaed by Tun'ada but same applies.

Hey, at least we're on the same page :)

Ambroze moves into the alley as directed by Tun'ada and Marcus, thunderstone in hand. "I'll toss this at the dogs if they follow us," the gnome announces his intent.

Chi follows the warrior's orders and runs down the side street. He hair loose and bellowing out behind her.

"But...the people?" she says but as the group seems to have decided on the street she sighs "Gozreh's balls." and joins the group, heading down the alley way, though maintaining her flame in her hands.

Heading toward the alley, Tun'ada remarks, "There is nothing stopping you, or any of us from striking at the dogs when they arrive, I would simply rather not be trampled by panicked people."

If possible, Ambroze will cast Grease just within the entrance of the alley once everyone is inside (if there's enough room to do so without catching any of us within the area of the spell, of course).

You duck into a side alley as the frightened mob passes you- and Amboze has just enough time to Grease the entrance to the alley before just under a dozen wild dogs race past, snarling and slavering as they chase the fleeing inhabitants of Eleder.

Noticing the thin tendrils of smoke off in the distance, "Perhaps the dogs are distraction for something bigger. Do any of the rest of you see the smoke coming from that large building over there? What is it to be, snarling dogs or buring buildings?"

"We should beware, the burning building could be a trap. Let's get out of this town as soon as we can. for now, let's go see if we should be concerned by this burning building." says Chi a little warily. Nervously looking around, in case a dog should find them.

"Fire, both live giver and destroyer." willow says absentmindedly as she looks at the smoke once it's pointed out. "Let us see this burning building and punish those who use nature's destructive force to harm the innocent"

Sorry for some strange reason I thought I was waiting for you. Will update soon.

Leaving the mob to fend for themselves against the wild dogs, you continue on to investigate the tendrils of smoke you saw. Racing through the few remaining streets, you round the corner and see that the smoke itself is coming from your faction's warehouse- although it appears the fire has only just begun to catch the building, it will obviously spread with time...

The half dozen guards that were posted outside your warehouse are scattered face-down around the street, dead or dying- and four Mwangi men with painted faces and clad in hide armour are each holding what seems to be vials of Alchemists Fire and are about to hurl them through the windows of your already alight warehouse. In their other hands, they wield simple clubs and each has a shortbow hung over his upper body.

Warehouse Fire...-

Round 1

Ordered Initiative-
1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22 Arsonists

Ambroze- 22
Chi- 22
Arsonists- 22
Willow- 21
Tun'ada- 17
Marcus- 8

Active Effects-

Map-

Link

Notes-

Action-

Ambroze and Chi are up.

Round One:

"Hey! That's our warehouse!" Ambroze shouts indignantly as he sees the men about to toss more flammable liquid at the building.

Before he can fully consider the wisdom of his action, the angry scholar throws the thunderstone in his hand at the four men in an attempt to prevent them from causing further damage to the structure. Ambroze then draws his new crossbow from his equally new magical haversack.

Standard action to throw thunderstone to square AT,89; the 10-ft radius spread of the stone's burst should catch all four men. Aiming at a target 5-ft square is AC 5; the thunderstone has a range increment of 20 ft, and square AT,89 looks to be 60 ft from Ambroze's current position, so -4 to the attack. Move action to retrieve masterwork crossbow from handy haversack.

Ranged Attack to hit square AT,89 (AC 5): 1d20 + 6 - 4 ⇒ (3) + 6 - 4 = 5 - whew! Just barely!
Each creature in 10-ft radius spread must make DC 15 Fort save or be deafened for 1 hour, taking -4 penalty to initiative and 20% chance to miscast and lose spells with verbal components.

Chi carefully aims at the Mwangi and fires.
aims at the Mwangi in the middle of the three in a row.
Longbow attack 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Longbow damage 1d8 + 1d6 ⇒ (4) + (6) = 10 precision damage caught flat footed.

Breaks my heart to say it Chi but as your not within 30 feet, no sneak attack, not even with a move action to put you closer. Still- very evidently a hit!

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Two of the Mwangi arsonists tough it out, shaking off the effects of the thunderstone. The other two appear to have been deafened by the blast and reel in confusion for a few moments.

As they have yet to act I will apply the -4 to initiative to the two that failed.

Chi takes advantage of her swift Elven reflexes to swiftly draw her bow and send an arrow into the leg of one of the arsonists- the deafened man howls in pain from the tipped projectile. The closest arsonist calls out to the others in Polyglot (and only one hears him)-

The two move swiftly even in their hide armour 30 feet closer to the group, hefting their alchemists fire as they advance. With mighty throws, they aim at Ambroze's feet- planning to catch the whole group by splashing them with liquid flame. The speaker manages this feat, while his ally's throw is woefully off as he loses his footing for a moment, landing almost twenty feet from Ambroze on the other side of the road.

1d20 + 0 ⇒ (13) + 0 = 13 VS AC5 (success)

Every PC takes 1 point of fire damage.

1d20 - 2 ⇒ (2) - 2 = 0 VS AC5 (miss)
1d8 ⇒ 7

Willow is up, followed by the deaf Arsonists.

*dot*

Willow grits her teeth as she shouts back at them in their language so that they understand her.

Willow aims at the mwangi arsonist in AP90 and then move to AI90.

attack (touch): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

Breaks my heart to say it Chi

Breaks my heart too, forgot the 30ft thing .. damn!! yep, its why she didn't get a hex in either, couldn't get there...oh well..sighs.

P.S. Would we see what Willow's attack was?

Shes been holding a ball of flame in her hand since the dogs, but a little more description would indeed be helpful Aron.

The arsonist is taken by surprise when he is the one being assaulted by flame, the hurled ball of magically conjured fire slamming into him and scorching his flesh and hide armour.

The other two arsonists, not hearing the orders given to them, hurl their alchemists fire through the windows of the warehouse and move to support their comrades, drawing fresh vials as they move.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9 Hit

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 Hit

Revised Initiative-

Ambroze- 22
Chi- 22
Arsonists- 22
Willow- 21
Deaf Arsonists- 18
Tun'ada- 17
Marcus- 8

Map-

Link

Tun'ada and Marcus are up, and Ambroze and Chi can post round 2 actions (denote them clearly) if they wish.

Tun'ada grabs his longspear as he enters a rage and moves with purpose toward one of the arsonists...

Move to (AL,90), attack arsonist in (AN,89)

Longspear:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (9) + 10 = 19
Damage:1d8 + 9 ⇒ (2) + 9 = 11

Marcus charges the next in line (AP,90)

1d20 + 11 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (11) + 11 + 2 - 2 = 22
1d8 + 11 ⇒ (5) + 11 = 16

Tun'ada cautiously advances and with a couple of quick thrusts to put the Mwangi off guard, his longspear lunges past the arsonist's guard, his foe's club moving to parry the long weapon a little too late to prevent the spearhead from thrusting deep into his shoulder.

Marcus is more reckless in his approach- rushing the already burnt arsonist, and accepting an incoming blow onto his shield before cutting the man's throat open with his heirloom falcata.

Warehouse Fire...

Round 2

Ordered Initiative-

Ambroze- 22
Chi- 22
Arsonist- 22
Willow- 21
Deaf Arsonists- 18
Tun'ada- 17
Marcus- 8

Active Effects-

Tun'ada Rage (1 round used at init 17)
Willow Produce Flame (2 minutes remaining)

Map-

Link

Notes-

Action-

Ambroze and Chi are up.

I assume that the hearing Mwangi were killed first, otherwise she would slumber one of them. So instead...

Chi, her hair streaming behind her runs towards the building, "I'll help those poor souls inside, to help or rescue anything that might need it. "

Max move to warehouse

Check the map, the deaf Mwangi are denoted with a yellow status symbol. Marcus killed his foe (after Willow burnt him), Tun'ada's is only wounded.

aaah ... I missed the one at AN,89 so ... must zoom more.

Chi runs forward, singing a sweet and subtle song in an old antive language

Chi moves to AK,90 and uses her hex Slumber, sleeps for 2 rounds, Will save DC=15 to resist.

The other two arsonists, not hearing the orders given to them, hurl their alchemists fire through the windows of the warehouse...

Oops!

I'm sssuming that Ambroze knows enough about humans without needing a Knowledge check to activate Naturalist.

Round Two:

Ambroze reaches into his magical haversack to retrieve a crossbow bolt as he steps forward and begins shouting advice for battling the arsonists.

Move action to retrieve crossbow bolt from handy haversack. 5-ft step to square AI,92. Standard action to activate Bardic Performance (Naturalist), granting all allies within 30 ft a +1 insight bonus to AC, attack rolls, and saving throws against the arsonists.

Rounds of Bardic Performance used today: 1/19

Ambroze's AC: 19
Ambroze's HP: 32/33

Humans are a rather diverse bunch. Give me a knowledge (local) check at DC12 for them

DC 12 Knowledge (local) check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28

Hmmm... With that much knowledge I probably know how to dissect a human and put him back together again.

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19 Save successful

With one of his number down and himself wounded by a spear thrust and assaulted by a witches hex, the arsonist wastes no time in beating a hasty retreat, much to the dismay of the two deaf arsonists who see him fleeing.

Willow is up.

Map Update

Seeing one of them fleeing, Willow takes a 5ft step into AL 89 and with her flame in hand passed it all into her right hand before hurling it at the Mwangi who is running away The one in AZ 89, trying to run away.

attack (touch): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12

damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

The Mwangi almost falls as another fire bolt is flung unerringly at him and leaves vicious burn marks on his back- but he continues to flee, very badly hurt.

The two deaf Mwangi hurl their vials of alchemists fire at Tun'ada in a gesture of defiance before they also begin to rush away from the fight. It seems throwing at the agile tribesman is not as easy as through stationary windows- one throw falls short, shattering harmlessly on the cobblestones while the second throw is overshot- landing at Ambroze's feet and singing him once more.

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
1d8 ⇒ 6

1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
1d8 ⇒ 2

As they flee, its clear the fire is rapidly spreading across the roof of the warehouse. It doesn't look too late to battle the flames, but can you afford to waste time chasing the arsonists at the expense of the Race for Tazion...?

Ambroze takes 1 point of fire damage.

Mid-Round Map Update

Tun'ada and Marcus are up, and Ambroze and Chi can post Round 3 actions (denote them clearly) if they wish.

Tun'ada looks back at the others, "See what you can do about that fire before it spreads too much more. Marcus, come with me. I want one of them to question." the tribesman says bolting after one of the fleeing arsonists.

Charge to (AU,88), Stabbing at the fleeing arsonist in (AW,88)

Attack:1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 10 + 2 = 14 (charge, outside of naturalist range)
Damage:1d8 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Tun'ada's charge is not particularly graceful as he rushes the arsonist Chi shot- and although his spear's aim is good, the spearpoint glances off his foe's hide armour.

Round 3 ... you might have read this before.

Chi, her hair streaming behind her runs towards the building, "I'll help those poor souls inside, to help or rescue anything that might need it. We need water, perhaps there is some inside?"

Seeing the opponent's flee and without Tun'ada in apparent danger (or at risk of being out-distanced by the wounded one), Marcus seems reluctant to leave the others and chase them down especially with the wharehouse on fire. Nevertheless he charges after, just making it to Tun'ada's foe. Can just get to AV,89 which looks like a viable charge to me. My 20' movement rate isn't going to cut it after this attack unfortunately.

Falcata 1d20 + 11 + 2 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 11 + 2 - 2 = 23 (charge, power attack)
1d8 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13

Sinking his sword into the arsonist's ribs, he looks sidewise at the tribesman.

If he fails to drop his target.

It could be a trick to seperate us and I'm not too keen on leaving Ambroze and the others. Let's not go too far.

If does.

Lets stop this one bleeding to death and put that fire out. The pathfinder's priest can always question their corpses.

Round Three:

"Hey! Watch it with that stuff! You'll burn someone!" Ambroze yells as he is splashed again with alchemists fire. Seeing the arsonists flee, the gnome scholar ceases offering pointers for battling the ruffians. However, in retaliation for being burned Ambroze loads his crossbow as he takes a step forward, and then fires the bolt at the arsonist who was first to flee the scene.

Cease Bardic Performance (Naturalist). Move action to load crossbow. 5-ft step to square AJ,91. Standard action to fire crossbow at the non-deafened arsonist in square AZ,89.

Ranged Attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 2

Ambroze's AC: 18
Ambroze's HP: 31/33

Marcus badly wounds the fleeing, deaf Mwangi Tun'ada failed to run through- catching him in the back with a brutal slash of his falcata, right through the hide armour. Blood streams from the wound but the arsonist does not falter in his retreat.

Warehouse Fire...

Round 3-

Ordered Initiative-

Ambroze- 22
Chi- 22
Arsonist- 22
Willow- 21
Deaf Arsonists- 18
Tun'ada- 17
Marcus- 8

Active Effects-

Tun'ada Rage (2 round used at init 17)
Willow Produce Flame (9 rounds remaining)

Map-

Link (Init 21)

Notes-

The fire is getting noticeably more out of control...

Action-

Ambroze sends a crossbow bolt into the ankle of the non-deafened arsonist, apparently hindering his movement.

Chi enters the warehouse, assessing the scene. Jask is doing his best to organise fire-fighting teams inside to save the warehouse.

The arsonist Ambroze shot moves at a much slower rate, the pain from his wounds clearly slowing him down.

Willow is up.

Willow moves to AO91 and then taking the last of her flame in her hand she hurls it at the Mwangi arsonist who appears to be running away at BF89 in hopes of dropping him.

attack (touch): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

The fire bolt takes the desperate arsonist in the back, singing him into unconciousness as his body goes into shock. The deaf Mwangi who is not in melee runs as quickly as he can away from your group AW91 runs 120 feet south while his beleagured comrade desperately tries to follow him, realising he won't escape Tun'ada without the ranger allowing him to...

Provokes an AOO from both Marcus and Tun'ada...

AoO with Longspear:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Damage:1d8 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10

Marcus leaves the arsonist to Tun'ada turning toward the fire.

Gwe... Willow can you create water to help put it out?

"I'm afraid I did not prepare for fire attacks, but I'd like to help how I can." she says looking at the warehouse, not knowing how she can help and approching the doors to see if they'll open.

Are the doors locked?

Round Four:

With the fleeing arsonists moving out of range, Ambroze stows his crossbow in his magical haversack and moves to help Chi battle the fire.

Chi's just gone inside, so no, doors aren't locked :P.

Chi seeing the chaos inside, sees Jask, "How can I help Jask? Where's the water and containers?" She stands for a moment, taking it all in and deciding what to do next. Wondering if there might be some magical aids that would help.

Perception 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (19) + 14 = 33