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It is difficult to tell what enraged Francis more - the fact that he did not hurt his opponent or that his opponent hurt his brother. It is easy to tell what upsets Chest Thumper more - getting hit.
"Hey!" he yelps as he barely gets on the roof before being hit.
In both cases the brothers have an axe to grind (one literally) against the lizardman.
Pioux grits his teeth and pushes forward against the wind again, determined to not be found wanting.
He makes it to where Iradyiel is fighting
Aza moves swiftly through the wind, noting the efforts from her companions being somewhat more intense than her own. She clutches her quarterstaff tightly, mumbling beneath her breath - "Winds, protect me," before gritting her teeth and running towards the corner, hearing a shock of lightning that sounded far too close.
The oracle rushes forward to round the corner, and suddenly gasps as she spies the motionless body lying at the feet of the lizardfolk. She couldn't tell if the person was dead or not, but at Iradyiel's cry that it was the sheriff, she dashes behind the boat, looking for an opening to attack what appeared to be some sort of spellcaster.
At the quayside, a mighty swing from Iradyiel connects with a wet thump against the side of one of the lizardfolk, felling him instantly. The broken body falls to the ground, and the wind drags away as far as the rowboat. Iradyiel then steps back, as, struggling against the wind, Pious comes up alongside him. On the far side of the rowboat, Aza glides up serenely and without effort, her clothes floating about her. She seems almost ethereal as the storm's fury flows around her, rather than buffeting her as the others.
On the rooftop behind them, Francis' strength is once again exposed. A mighty swipe with one claw severs the arm the lizardfolk was holding onto the weathervane with. Chest Thumper's greataxe swing merely acts to bat the shocked-looking lizard's away, as the wind catches the sentry and sends his body cartwheeling away over the rooftops to the south, spurting green blood as it goes.
As Francis turns to watch the body spin away, he spots a second lizardfolk sentry across the square, on the roof of the chandlery, above Aza, crouching over the apex of the roof, a heavy morning star clutched in one hand...
Round 3
- LF sentry: claws and teeth CT
- Reszavass: lightning arc, miss
- LF warrior 1 & 2: unsuccessful attempt to double-team Iradyiel
- Iradyiel: drops one LF, steps back
- Jit: pending
- Francis: scatters LF sentry to the wind
- Pious: hustles up, heal +1 to 14 HP
- CT: greataxe wafting
- Aza: hustles up
Round 3
Jit, seeing the back door to the chandlery, starts to advance toward it, keeping behind the toppled rowboat to avoid the buffeting winds. Spotting the other lizardfolk skulking on the roof, she decides to slow down any more ambushes to help out the sheriff. She opens her mouth and takes a deep breath, and and otherwise silent scream hits the lizardfolk, who hears it ring in their ears.
---
Jit's spell has the desired effect: the sentry on the chandler's roof rears back in pain, clutching his ears at a piercing scream which only he can hear. Assailed by this his balance slips momentarily. He drops his morning star and barely retains his footing on the roof. Beneath the eaves of the roof, Aza is startled as the weapon plus half a dozen roof tiles clatter past her, and a green scaly foot scrambles above her head for a moment.
On the other side of the rowboat, the remaining lizardfolk warrior leaps towards Pious, dealing him a terrible thrust with his spear plus a vicious bite to the arm.
By the levee, the hooded reptilian raises its arms with a toothy smile from within its hood. Sparks of magical power emanate from outstretched fingertips towards the melee. At first nothing seems to happen, but then, the party note with horror that the water at their feet appears to be animating! Puddles, pools of water, the rain draining of the roof eaves around them, all appear to be solidifying into fingers, wrapping themselves around legs and trying to pull you down to the cobblestones below!
Behind the hooded figure, a further lizard folk comes into view: a shorter but more burly red-skinned variety. It is carrying a sandbag under each arm, but drops these to crouch at the foot of the levee, snarling.
Round 4
- LF sentry#2: dazed, just about clinging onto the roof
- Reszavass: aqua-entangle!
- LF warrior 2: Shreds Pious, entangled
- LF grunt: drops sandbags, draws weapon
- Iradyiel, Aza, Pious (entangled): ???
- Jit, Francis, CT: ???
Over to you...
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 3, dazed
LF1: 0
LF2: dead
LFG: 0
Reszavass: +6, LA x1, spells x2
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As Francis once more proves that he is the greatest alpha male everywhere, he begins to brag in his own unique way, pounding his own chest and the roof below him with his mighty fists.
Chest Thumper lets that last for about a second before clapping him on the shoulder.
[b]"Yes, yes, you're the greatest and most powerful and everyone knows it, but the fight's not over yet, bonehead!"[b] He jabs a finger down at the courtyard below where the battle still rages.
Francis looks then gives Chest Thumper an accusing scowl as though it's his fault there are other lizardfolk around then scampers across the roof and down the wall.
The wind comes quite close to blowing him over but he is able to steel himself against it and closes the distance to the lizardman, reaching out to take a swipe with one sharply clawed hand.
Chest Thumper is not nearly as sure of his footing (mainly because said feet are not opposable.) He starts to climb down from the roof edge where he is.
...And falls, losing his grip and tumbling down.
As he lays on the ground, he can only think how glad he is that Francis didn't see that.
Round 4
Jit grins wicked as the lizardfolk loses his balance. She sends what she hopes is a finishing strike with another “Zap!” before she ducks around the side of the building and tries to open the backdoor she sees. If I can get around, I bet I can get the drop on those other scaly folk. I suppose it depends on how candles are in there. Is it an odd number that’s bad luck, or even…? wonders.
---
Pulling himself free from the ensnaring hands Pious lunges at the heathen reptile.
But the hands quickly take hold once more...
'What witchery is this?' Iradyiel struggles repeatedly to free himself from the bonds of the watery fingers, unable to resist the grip of the liquid tendrils, he yells over the storm, "Save yourself Master Shepard, I will strike at the scaly lizard if he follows."
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 3
LF1: 0
LF2: dead
LFG: 0
Reszavass: +6, LA x2, spells x2
Aza just manages to avoid the sudden rain of debris accompanying the water above her head, but doesn't manage to avoid the sudden casting of the grappling spell. The oracle yelps in shock as the water assaults her legs, and she swiftly tries to escape their grasp, whacking at the watery limbs as she works her way out of the affected area - fortunately, relief was nearby. Biting at her lip as she finds herself face to face with the mage lizard and the burly, red-skinned one. She should retreat, she knows it, but her eyes flicker to the downed body of the sheriff nearby, and her expression grows angrier. "Cr-cruel creature, why are you d-doing this?" Without waiting for an answer, her free hand swipes outward, sending a billowing wave of flame towards the pair.
The wind comes quite close to blowing Francis over but he is able to steel himself against it and closes the distance to the lizardman, reaching out to take a swipe with one sharply clawed hand
Seeing the lizardfolk sentry struggling on the roof, Jit fires off another charge of electrical energy at him. It hits square in the shoulder, eliciting a roar of pain inaudible over the storm. The anger in his glare is unmistakably murderous. At that, Jit dashes round the corner to open the door to the chandlery; fortunately it is both unbarred and unlocked, and Jit is able to quickly see into the shop within. Inside, the store is a veritable mine of ship equipment; ropes, food supplies, barrels of tar, and belaying pins are just some of the many items stacked in disorganised heaps across the room. On the far side (square H18) a door opens onto the quayside. With all the windows shuttered and the darkness of the storm outside, the interior of the store is nearly pitch-black, though with Jit’s low-light vision this is not an impediment for her.
Behind her, the lizardfolk sentry dismounts from the roof in a shower of roof tiles, and in anger pursues Jit, completely missing Aza running the other way before he climbs down. With some difficulty he struggles through the entangling fingers of water but becomes entangled just a step or two behind Jit as she dashes round the corner.
Aza meanwhile emerges from the watery enchantment to face the hooded lizardfolk and his burly red-scaled henchman. She blasts them both with a burning flame, to great effect: the nearer lizardfolk in particular suffers terribly from the flames. As the flames fade she sees that the hooded lizardfolk is revealed as a more slender female, grinning maniacally. Aza cannot help but notice that she wears a belt festooned with a number of severed heads, pruned and weathered from the rain, but unmistakenly human in origin. As she sees this, the thug-like lizardfolk guarding the female magic-user charges her, bursts through her barrier of encircling wind, and tears into her with tooth and claw
Across the yard, Francis lopes across the roof to just above Iradyiel, hooting in aggression at the Lizardfolk warrior below. Pious, still reeling from a terrible wound in his side, flails ineffectually at his opponent just as the lizardman flails ineffectually at him. Behind Pious Iradyiel strains to evade the grasping tendrils of water, but fails to escape them as they drag him down, closer to the floor and a real risk of drowning. To add to his worries, the hooded lizardfolk sends a bolt of sizzling electricity dashing past his shoulder; he feels the static charge through the water enveloping him, but fortunately not sufficiently to cause injury.
Behind this, Chest Thumper attempts a straightforward dismount from the roof only to place a careless foot on what turns out to be a section of roof already weakened by the preceding melee. With a resounding ‘crash’ Chest Thumper disappears in a shower of roof tiles into the butcher’s store beneath, slamming into a chopping block beneath and coming to rest on the tiled shop floor. As with the Chandlery, the interior of the store is dark, but this is not an issue for the half-orc’s enhanced darkvision. In the northern wall, a doorway (square 9) leads out onto the quayside.
Round 4
- LF sentry#2: dazed, just about clinging onto the roof
- Reszavass: aqua-entangle!
- LF warrior 2: Shreds Pious, entangled
- LF grunt: drops sandbags, draws weapon
- Iradyiel (entangled): wrestling the watery fingers
- Aza: Flaming lizards
- Pious (entangled): flails ineffectively, +1 healing to 3HP
- Jit: zzap! and she’s gone!
- Francis: roof running
- CT: rapidly enters the butchers’ shop
Round 5
- LF sentry#2: chases Jit, entangled
- Reszavass: lighning arc at Iradyiel!
- LF warrior 2: misses Pious, entangled
- LF grunt: tears into Aza
- Iradyiel (entangled): ???
- Aza: ???
- Pious (entangled): ???
- Jit: ???
- Francis: ???
- CT: ???
With the party divided and injured, it feels like the enemy are getting the upper hand – can you rescue the situation...?
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 5
LF1: 0
LF2: dead
LFG: 7
Reszavass: +2, LA x2, spells x2
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As the powerful smell of meat and blood fills his nostrils, Chest Thumper's mouth waters and he realizes where he is. He looks over and up and counts himself lucky he didn't come down on the cleaver embedded in the chopping block or one of the meat hooks hanging from the ceiling.
With a groan, he pushes to his feet and crosses to the door. He takes a moment to enjoy the relative peace within the shop, the howling wind muted by the walls, the roof blocking the rain. Then, he pushes open the door and stepped back into the maelstrom.
Francis clambers down off the roof island finds himself immediately faced by the strangely acting water. Nonetheless, he wades toward the lizardman being attacked by the half elf and human.
He barely manages to overcome the wind.
'If I don't get loose, I will drowned.' Mustering his strength, Iradyiel roars and rips loose of the watery tendrils dragging him into the water.
Stepping forward, he swings his knobkerrie club at the lizard, "You will not hurt my friends!"
Shifting his body through the water he avoids the slimy tentacle-like water tendrils preparing to strike at the creature again.
Round 5
With her spell doing less to finish off the lizardfolk than to enrage him, Jit grimaces and dashes inside. Not quite what was planned… she thinks as she dashes past the dry goods shelves. Hoping her foe is too caught up in the storm and the chaos outside to pursue her, she leaves the backdoor hanging in the wind and moves up to the front one.
Hearing the unmistakable sound of roaring fire, she grins. That Aza girl pushed all the way up here the front way! Sounds like something I would do. Then come the sounds of a physical attack and Jit’s expression quickly becomes worried. She reaches for the door, ready to burst out and surprise the backline.
---
Aza takes the strike, raising her burnt arms in front of her to try and fend off the muscular lizard - unfortunately her last spell of the day has left her drained, and the incredible pain of sharp claws rips through the oracle's magical defense. "Augh! She lets out a rough screech. The sobering pain gives her a brief moment to consider her tactical error, noting her companions still fighting behind her. As the girl's blood mixes with the pooling water that she is standing in, Aza decides to take a step back into the clawing, animated water - it was the best she could do without provoking the lizard's further ire.
She retrieves a potion from her bag one-handed and swiftly downs it, feeling some relief from the stinging wounds as she does so. She keeps her eye on the spellcaster, however, trying to figure a way to combat her powerful weather spells without putting the sheriff in more danger (though that may not be her most pressing issue). There were so many things to focus on in a real battle, she could barely keep track of everything going on.
Oh dear gods that's terrible. Three attacks, three crit fails. You needed that.
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As figures fight on the quayside of Islandtown, another almighty lightning strike crashes to earth, detonating somewhere behind the party up the hill. At that very moment Francis leaps, Kong-style, into the wind and splashes down into the water-covered cobbles. He nearly loses his feet but, together with the lightning flash behind him, causes the lizardman to flinch and shield his eyes – a fatal error. Struggling to his feet and ripping free of the entangling watery fingers, Iradyiel’s greatclub first takes his legs out from underneath him, then returns in a practiced but brutal move to shatter his ribcage into a bloody pulp.
Behind them, Chest Thumper sprints through the butcher’s shop and wrenches open the quayside door. As he does so, the wind explodes through the doorway like a charging bull: with the roof already weakened from the fighting and punctured by CT’s fall, the store literally bursts asunder. A hail of roof timbers, slates, the weathervane, and much of the inside of the house shrieks upward and flies away, scattered across Islandtown. Barely keeping his feet, ChestThumper pulls himself through the doorway, only to turn and realise that there is little left standing behind him but the doorframe.
Now looking up into the driving rain, he sees Francis, Pious and Iradyiel standing dripping ahead of him. Having overcome melee foes, magic obsticals, and the perils of a fragile roof, their collective eyes meet those of the hooded figure atop the barricade. She snarls and unleashes another lightning bolt at the four of them, but it arcs away, uselessly.
Across the other side of the yard Aza back-pedals for her life. She places herself the other side of a wooden roofpost at the corner of the chandlery, downing a potion of healing as she goes. The red-skinned lizardfolk in front of her senses her weakness, and lunges forward, slashing again with claws and teeth. Despite looming significantly taller than her, the heavily muscled lizard is obstructed by a whirling spray of water kicked up by the wall of wind protecting Aza, and takes chunks out of the wooden post instead.
Beyond the rowboat, there is a brief and uneven chase. The lizardfolk sentry tears itself away from the animated fronds of entangling water, and charges snarling after Jit as she rushes through the door into the darkened and cluttered chandlery. With her low light vision, the gnome is able to manoeuvre around piles of stock littering her way and make it to the quayside door; rushing in behind her, almost on her coattails, the lizard loses her in the darkness. Jit hears a terrific ‘crash’ just behind her as the sentry runs into a ship’s wheel hanging from the ceiling and bounces off a heap of sailcloth; whilst for the moment he cannot see her, his claws are now literally inches from her back !
Round 5
- LF sentry#2: chases Jit, entangled
- Reszavass: lighning arc at Iradyiel!
- LF warrior 2: misses Pious, entangled
- LF grunt: tears into Aza
- Iradyiel: Badass lizard battery
- Aza (entangled): downs a potion, hiding in the spray
- Pious (entangled): pending
- Jit: concealed in the chandlery
- Francis: leaps down into the melee with a splash
- CT: opens door, bye bye butcher’s shop
Round 6
- LF sentry#2: searching for Jit...
- Reszavass: lighning arc, misses !
- LF grunt: tears into the roofpost
- Iradyiel: ???
- Aza (entangled): ???
- Pious (entangled): ???
- Jit: ???
- Francis: ???
- CT: ???
In a flash the tactical situation flips – three failed attack rolls and a failed perception check. Now we have no enemy between four burly warriors and the hooded figure atop the levee, but two bloodthirsty lizardfolk chasing down the party’s two full casters…
Over to you – remember the strength check to move to windward, and that the levee and all movement into the wind is difficult terrain. Only Pious (who has an action pending) and Aza are entangled. The remains of the butcher’s store are now impassable. Iradyiel, how many rounds of rage do you have left today?
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 5
LF1: dead
LF2: dead
LFG: 7
Reszavass: +2, LA x3, spells x2
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Chest Thumper tenses, staring straight ahead with his shoulders up as he hears the chaos behind him. Only when it quiets does he slowly turn to see what happened.
He pales at the idea that he could have been in there during the disaster. It is much easier to focus on the danger at hand than to contemplate the danger he narrowly avoided, though so he moves on slightly shaky legs to help his companions. He finds that moving in the wind is none too easy and doesn't get very far, though to give what paltry aid to Aza he can, he also has to move into the oddly moving water.
He pulls and twists at the air and water and energy in the air with his connection with nature. There is an abrupt flash of St. Elmo's Fire right in the face of the red skinned lizardfolk.
Francis also rushes to her aid, though in a more mundane form, literally rushing parallel to her and taking a swipe at the lizardfolk with one razor sharp claw.
Round 6
Jit flinches as the lizardfolk follows her in, throwing her hand over her mouth to suppress an “Eep!” The hairs on the back of her neck bristle as her pursuer crashes through the supplies, ending up unable to find her. She carefully steps back, then reaches out to fling open the front door. As it slams open, unleashing a torrent of wind to rip through the shop, she takes the opportunity to cast a spell. When the lizardfolk looks over, his attention garnered no doubt by the sudden wind tunnel, she grins maniacally and asks, “Need some light?” As she does so, an overwhelming sensory overload of flashing light and color erupts from her hands.
---
'Need to help Aza' Moving quickly forward, Iradyiel yells and swings his fathers club at the lizard missing by a mile he almost strikes Aza instead. "Sorry Miss Aza."
Pious struggles against the grasping hands for a moment but, realising it is in vein, he begins to move towards the hooded figure. Step by ponderous step he moves against the wind and the rain.
As each stoic foot finds its place he raises his voice to the wind as he holds his sword out, tip unwavering from his foe.
"The first law, look to your neighbor. The second law, hold true to yourself. The third law, trust to thine own arm. The fourth law, suffer not the transgressor to live. The fifth
..."
His intonation s continues as he marches on.
Aza pants as the exhaustion is attempting to catch up to her - running from place to place preparing for the storm and all of the fights have left her drained. The wounds that she's received aren't helping either, but fortunately she is offered a brief reprieve, as the muscular lizard seems to be having some trouble in the water himself.
"Not to fr-fret," Aza smiles weakly at Iradyiel as his swing goes wide, and uses the opportunity to buckle down and try to make herself as small and hard to hit of a target as possible, holding her soaked quarterstaff in front of her as a shield.
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All hell breaks loose on the quayside and by the chandlery.
Aza’s predicament, ducking and dodging from the claws and jaws of the enraged red-skinned lizard assailing her, draws a magical spell from Chest Thumper and physical assault by both Iradyiel and Francis, splashing through the grasping fingers of the enchanted water to reach her. Chest Thumper’s magical flare blooms in front of the lizard’s face, but in the chaos of melee, fails to distract him. Both Iradyiel and Francis’ blows lash out at the enemy without causing damage. In response, it lashes out at Iradyiel, and, momentarily tripped by the watery limbs, he is unable to prevent it clamping its teeth into his weapon arm, leaving a long laceration. At the same time the water attempts to grasp at Francis, but is instead dashed to droplets by the ape’s furious stamping.
Pious meanwhile rushes the hooded figure. Struggling against the buffeting wind, the grasping water, and his own exhaustion, he makes it to the foot of the levee wall. To the right, a long section of the sandbagged seawall has been pulled apart, the sandbags scattered to allow the tumultuous waves to cascade through and burst onto the quayside. On top of the wall, maybe 5 foot above him, stands a more slenderly-built, olive skinned female lizardfolk, leering down at him along an elongated muzzle lined with razor-sharp teeth. Looking into her eyes, she appears to Pious not entirely sane; this impression is reinforced by the belt of human heads she wears at her waist, and her high-pitched cackling, too. ”Fools ! You think...(this bit is lost to a gust of wind)..of the Eye of Gozreh ! Death! Death to all!” At this, she conjures another unholy bolt of electrical power right into the face of Pious, who staggers, barely able to stand with an accumulation of grievous injuries, grasping the quayside wall for support.
Directly behind this, the door to the chandlery is thrown open by Jit. As she fumbles with the lock, the lizardfolk hears her movements, and sniffing the air with his tongue leaps triumphantly to seize her. Standing at one side of the door frame, Jit came within a hairs’ breadth of his talons, but in mid leap the door bursts open and the power of the tumultuous wind and horizontal rain lifts him off his feet with a shriek of fury, tumbles him head over heels across the store, over a pile of sailcloth and into a wooden display cabinet ten feet away, with a shattering impact. Jit tries to blast him with a spell for good measure, but in the chaos, it misses its mark. Unsurprisingly; the store has transformed into a wild maelstrom of wind and airborne chattels; a shuttered window bursts open and the building’s wooden frame begins to groan and buckle…
Round 6
- LF sentry#2: searching for Jit...
- Reszavass: lighning arc, misses !
- LF grunt: tears into the roofpost
- Iradyiel: to the rescue, miss 1 of 2
- Aza (entangled): total defence
- Pious: bears down on hoodie, +1 HP
- Jit: open door, colour spray !
- Francis: to the rescue, miss 2 of 2
- CT: into the entangling water, flare!
Round 7
- LF sentry#2: goes flying !
- Reszavass: adds electrical burns to Pious already ‘cosmetically-challenged’ face
- LF grunt: chomps Iradyiel
- Iradyiel (entangled): ???
- Aza (entangled): ???
- Pious: ???
- Jit: ???
- Francis: ???
- CT: ???
I’m assuming that Francis moved to F15 instead of ‘GF6’ as stated. If he’d moved to G16 he would have invited an AOO, plus I don’t think he had the movement to get there. Iradyiel started the turn free of entanglement, but ended his turn failing his REF roll, so is once again entangled, as is Aza. Pious, you took 4 damage from the lightning arc, and now are at a perilous 2 HP remaining. Jit, the lizardfolk has total concealment from you; your line of sight is totally obstructed by whirling merchandise and other debris. Both lizardfolk made their spell saves, but I'm not sure it'll save them in the short term...
Over to you once again. Wow - how many combats go 7 rounds?
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 5
LF1: dead
LF2: dead
LFG: 7
Reszavass: +2, LA x4, spells x2
'lbast lizard' Not only missing his attack Iradyiel Feels himself once again entangled by the watery fingers, He reels as he is bitten by the Lizard thing.
Bleeding profusely from his arm, Jerking away from the reptile, In his panic he is unable to extract himself from churning tendrils.
'I can't let this thing hurt Aza anymore!' Switching the grip on his club, he swings from the opposite direction hoping to strike down the lizard before it can do anymore harm.
'blasted thing.' He cringes as the scaled monster easily dodges his off-handed attack.
"...The final law, those who put themselves unjustly above others must fall."
Pious's arms are tired, his body is spent, only his faith and hatred keep him upright. The blow is not strong but it is true.
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Between Francis, Iradyiel and Aza, Chest Thumper figures that the red skinned lizardman doesn't have much of a chance. Pious, on the other hand, is facing the magic user who has already proven herself dangerous by himself. He can't get to his friend's side to aid him, but he can turn nature against the enemy.
"Stand fast, Master Pious, we're coming!" he calls out, moving up behind Iradyiel. He is not ready to move against the wind, just yet but can get a little closer. He claps Francis on the shoulder and gives him Guidance from nature's wisdom.
Francis' fury has not abated, though he is clearly growing as tired as any of the rest. Now, he seems to want to finish off the scaly men so that he can get in out of the wind and rain than out of any desire to stop them from doing damage to the town. He lashes out with fang and claw.
The animated water continues to try to entrap the two brothers.
Round 7
Jit giggles with delight as the lizardfolk tumbles backward in the wind, her blood pumping hard and loud in her ears even over the crashing storm and the creaking of the chandlery. Her eyes are wild and her smile inhumanly wide. And some people say I’m not lucky! Turning to the open door frame, she clutches the side of it and with an impressive display of sheer stubbornness, she pulls herself through and out of the chaotic house into the chaotic street.
She can only see so far in the driving rain, but the flashes of lightning from the storm and from the lizardfolk lady provide enough visibility for her to see Pious engaged in deadly battle with her. Jit, still grinning absurdly, opens her overly large mouth and takes a huge breath of air (and rain). When she breathes out, the lightning-throwing lizardfolk woman alone hears a high pitched scream, even above the howling winds and thunderclaps.
---
Dai Srolla laughs at the lizards again, as they record their 5th crit fail so far, from far fewer than the average 100 attacks required...
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Behind the levee wall a powerful wave impacts the quayside, sending a wall of salty spray up into the air to then be violently dashed across the quayside by the wind. Everyone struggles to keep their feet; further over where the sandbagged barricade has been sabotaged, more of the wave overtops the wall and flows further into the town. To the west, the loose fishingboat disappears with the terrible noise of shattering wood as it is crushed against the quayside.
Chest Thumper keeps his feet as he crosses the treacherous cobbles, now awash with both seawater and the more perilous animated kind. Reaching out, he casts Guidance on Francis just as Iradyiel winds up for a mighty swing at the lizardfolk. The foe sees the blow coming and easily dodges it, but Francis, aided by divine insight, sees where that dodge will end. One fist reaches out and seizes the muscled lizard’s head in a crushing grip; the other hand sinks claws deep into its torso pulling most of its internal organs out into the square. The lizard, in slack-jawed shock at its dreadful injuries, falls to its knees before toppling face-first to the floor.
At the levee, Pious summons the vestiges of his strength to thrust his longsword upward into the side of the hooded figure above him. In fury, she pulls back to cast another lightning arc at point blank range, just as Jit completes her magical scream attack. It has an effect, causing the hooded figure to reel back in pain, but fails to daze her as Jit had hoped. At least it does distract her attack; caught between targeting Pious or shifting her aim to Jit, her strike lances off into the air, lost in the storm.
Behind Jit, the tearing sounds of the chandlery being pulled apart by the wind accelerate, With both doors open, there is a wind tunnel straight into, and out of the shop, and this is more than the structure can take. With a sharp crack the rear half of the roof takes off, making Jit start, and look over her shoulder. Worse, she spots the lizardfolk sentry has struggled out from the display cabinet and clawed his way forward, murder in his eyes, to cling to the doorframe just behind where she stands !
Round 7
- LF sentry#2: goes flying !
- Reszavass: adds electrical burns to Pious already ‘cosmetically-challenged’ face
- LF grunt: chomps Iradyiel
- Iradyiel (entangled): further ineffective swipes with his club
- Aza (entangled): pending
- Pious: scripture quoting, sword stabbing
- Jit: ear-splitting scream!
- Francis: evisceration !
- CT: move up, Guidance
Round 8
- LF sentry#2: still chasing Jit…
- Reszavass: shrugs off the scream, fluffs the attack
- Iradyiel (entangled): ???
- Aza (entangled): ???
- Pious: ???
- Jit: ???
- Francis: ???
- CT: ???
CT, you said you’d move to G15, which is occupied by Iradyiel. I put you at G14 instead – still close enough to cast Guidance on Francis, which just made the difference and finished the lizardman grunt! Iradyiel started the turn entangled, and ended his turn failing his REF roll again, so is still entangled. Aza’s turn 7 is pending – Aza, remember to roll REF13 to determine whether you end turn 7 entangled. Pious, you lucky bastard – that lightning stroke failed a touch attack to finish you off...
Feels like the party are gaining the upper hand…or is that tempting fate?
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: 5
LF1: dead
LF2: dead
LFG: dead
Reszavass: 6, LA x5, spells x2
Aza moves to escape the watery hands grabbing at her, while still keeping an eye on the lizard in front of her - she needs to escape the melee before she can make any kind of difference elsewhere.
As she pulls away from the water, she takes a step back, grimacing at all of the brutality taking place in front of her. Still, now that the vicious claws were not directly in front of her, she can still contribute to the fight. She conjures an acid orb and hurls it into the fray, hoping for some retribution on the lizard that assaulted her.
Aza has to hold back a scream of shock at the brutality that Francis shows to the lizard, feeling somewhat lucky that she had pounced away before being splattered by gore - even if the rain likely would have taken it off anyway. But there was no time for that. There was still the stormcaster that must be taken care of, and Pious looked awfully lonely as lightning flashed past his body. The building next to her has its roof torn off, everything was happening so fast. And where was Jit? Aza couldn't find her amidst the blood and the storm, and hoped that she had not been swept off with the winds. Instead, she splashes through the animated water to Iradyiel's side, a spell on her lips - "H-here," she mumbles, her hand pressing a light breeze into his shoulder. "W-we must help P-p-pious!"
Round 8
With her stronger magic depleted, Jit turns to face the lizardfolk sentry coming up behind her. “Uhh…” she hesitates for a moment, then takes a defensive stance as she calls up another spell. Just as she’s about to complete it, though, the roof of the chandlery rips off in the storm and flies off to the south like an enormous tiled bird. “Whoa…” she whispers with awe, distracted first by the destruction, then by the hateful face of her pursuer.
“Um, uh,” she stutters. “Draconicis est scabra lingua mea. Quid tu dicis ad indutias relaxantur?”
Jit nervously looks over and sees Francis disemboweling one of the other reptilian saboteurs, and after her last ditch effort at diplomacy dive-rolls toward her favorite violent ape for safety, albeit clumsily in the wind.
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Pious barely notices the lightning bolt that passes perilously close to his face, the force of the divine flows through him now. Sounds that should have felled him seem sister insignificant. Time itself slows as he strikes one more, his beautiful blade connecting with something solid at least.
'good this one is down, I need to help Jit.' His arm throbbing, Iradyiel, smiles a weak smile at Aza, "Master Shepard seems to be handling himself alright. I will try and help Jit first, then assist him if necessary ." He then begins to move sluggishly toward the building door. Lifting his feet, pulling them out of the tendrils like one slowly making their way through thick mud.
Lifting first his left foot placing it carefully on the blood and water soaked cobblestones beside the dead lizard. He places his right foot, carefully stepping past the shredded remains of an arm. Confidently he begins to move toward Jit.
'I'm free, now to turn my club on the nasty ....."Aaaaaarrrggghhhhh" Stepping forward, the blustery storm catching him, spinning him slightly off balance, He slips on the blood and ofal, losing his feet altogether and lands on the lizards carcass.
Looking rather embarrassed, not only wet but now covered in lizard gore, he stand and attempts to move forward against the wind again.
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Francis hoots and grunts in victory as the lizardfolk in front of him collapses under his savage onslaught. He then sees his friend Jit burst out of a building just before the building itself partially bursts. He is about to show off what he did when he sees another of the scaly folk pop up behind her from within the building.
It looks like the scaly man is trying to hurt his little friend. Francis does not like that.
He closes the short distance between them and shows him what happened to the last 2 of his kind the ape attacked.
"No, we have to help Pious! Iradyiel is going to help Jit...ah never mind, do whatever you want you big dumb monkey!" Chest Thumper calls to his brother.
He is going to help Pious, but first he needs to get out of the patch of entangling water. He pushes to the edge then turns into the wind and tests his strength against it.
He is found lacking and goes tumbling.
spoiler=GM rolls
[/spoiler]
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There’s sudden congestion at the corner of the chandlery. Aza steps back towards safety, but in doing so succumbs once more to the entangling water. Jit leaps away from the claws of the lizard behind her, barely fast enough as pursuing talons rake a tear in the back of her rain-soaked shirt. Iradyiel moves up towards her but slips in the rain, putting a knee into the empty stomach cavity of the fallen lizard warrior. The half elf surges forward again, a look of sour disgust on his face, only to have to put out an arm to save Chest Thumper from skidding backwards into the wall, as he in turn reels from the buffeting wind.
Behind Jit the triumphant face of the lizardman emerges from the doorway, teeth agape and ready to bite. He is however entirely unprepared for the arrival of Francis’ fist; the ape had stepped smartly around Jit, set his feet and patiently timed a devastating haymaker to crack the lizard’s jaw. The effect was dramatic; lifted off his feet the lizard flew back into the store just as the last of the roof blew away and the rear section of the building collapsed inward. Only a pair of green-skinned legs remain, sticking out of the rubble
Alone at the levee, Pious drove a powerful thrust upward into the hooded lizard, tearing into her other side. Screeching in pain, she abandoned her magic crafts and descended on him in a cascade of teeth and talons; "Mireborn!" she shouts; Pious finds himself in a whirlwind of attacks but somehow remained unharmed, even as his divine sponsor’s healing boon slowly knitted his wounds back together.
Round 8
- LF sentry#2: still chasing Jit…
- Reszavass: shrugs off the scream, fluffs the attack
- Iradyiel: struggling awfully with wind and water
- Aza (entangled): casts ‘Guidance’
- Pious: hacking away
- Jit: fails to daze or tumble…
- Francis: wallop
- CT: moves up, falls over
Round 9
- Reszavass: couldn't hit a barn door
- Iradyiel: ???
- Aza (entangled): ???
- Pious: ???
- Jit: ???
- Francis: ???
- CT: ???
Pious your crit narrowly failed to confirm, but in other news, I forgot to heal you +1 (to 3 HP) last time and you get another +1 this round too. Jit, you moved before Francis so got to G17 first; this means Francis had to go round and was denied a full attack – for all it mattered.
And then there was one left – finish it!
LF sentry#1: dead
LF sentry#2: dead
LF1: dead
LF2: dead
LFG: dead
Reszavass: 18, LA x5, spells x2
'Jit is safe, now to assist the Shepard as Aza asked.' Seeing the lizard fall, Iradyiel turns toward the final, reptile. 'That one must be a caster of some sort, throwing that lightning around like that I wonder if it has something to do with the storm.'
Moving beside Pious, standing over the sheriff, making sure he doesn't step on her, He swings his fathers club at the last of the reptiles. "Fear not Master Shepard, help is on the way!"
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Once more Chest Thumper is glad that Francis is too busy to see him fall. He's even more glad to see his brother finish off the last of warrior lizardfolk, something he would not have seen had he not fallen.
What he's not glad of is the fact that Francis is about to celebrate and also pluck up Jit to examine her like she was an adolescent from their troop who might have been injured. It's not that Chest Thumper is not also worried about Jit's safety and well being, just that there is still one person, and the most powerful, around to threaten that safety and well being.
"No! Go help Iradyiel and Pious! We'll check on everyone later!" Chest Thumper yells at his brother, throwing in some hoots and grunts and gestures that the ape understands better than Taldan as the half-orc climbs to his feet.
Francis looks over at him then back at the battle still raging. Almost sullenly, he lopes off in that direction, fighting against the wind howling at him, clearly irritated that the lizardfolk spellcaster has the audacity to still be alive.
Chest Thumper, after getting to his feet follows in his brother's wake.
Pious is bolstered by the strength of his brothers in arms at his shoulders.
"by the Last you have been tested, storm hag. And by my steal you shall be sentenced. Thus falls the unbeliever, the heathen and the foul!"
With this last pious strikes once more
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With a rush, the party’s frontline warriors advance upon the levee wall. Chest Thumper and Francis make it to the foot of the barricade, adjacent to the prone and hog-tied figure of Sheriff Adaela. Iradyiel, just ahead, steps up onto the first line of sandbags, just beneath the hooded lizard above. Silhouetted against the boiling storm clouds out to sea, she prances atop the sea wall seemingly unperturbed that the battle has been brought directly to her.
Standing astride the Sheriff, Iradyiel unleashes his greatclub with furious power laterally across the top of the wall, leaving his foe no room to dodge. The blow crashes into her right side, shattering her arm and dropping her to her knees. Struggling to her feet, she is powerless to evade Pious as he steps up and with both hands thrusts his longsword deep down into her chest, transfixing her through. "By the Last you have been tested, storm hag. And by my steel you shall be sentenced. Thus falls the unbeliever, the heathen and the foul!"
She is not finished though. With a jerk, she lurches to her feet, yanking the longsword from Pious’ grasp. Standing tall on the wall above them she makes a dramatic sight as a wave crashes up behind her. Rain and sea spray running down her body, hood thrown back and impaled front and back by Pious’ longsword, she throws her head high and cries into the screaming wind, ”Aid me Gozreh! Strike those unworthy to witness your power!”
An intense flash of light. A wave of heat. Utter silence.
Some minutes pass.
Pulling themselves up from where they were blown in the explosion, vision and hearing slowly begins to return. Etched into their mind is the moment a colossal lightning strike lanced through the air to strike Pious’ sword and thence the lizard, shortly before the vaporisation of her vital fluids blew her in charred chunks across the whole street.
A singed set of robes remain atop a wall of sandbags turned glassily solid; impaled into them is Pious’ longsword, still smoking and with arcs of charge still running up and down the blade.
And strangely, the scene about them has changed too. Gone are the entangling watery fingers but beyond this the ferocity of the weather has sharply abated. Whilst the storm remains, the furious hurricane-strength wind here has eased and the frequent lightning strikes have ceased. This is good, because the sea's waves have not diminished and the damaged levee is still allowing seawater to flood into the town behind.
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You are out of combat. Well done – that was epic, and a lot of fun !
Sorry Aza, Jit, for not waiting for your actions: when Pious' attack dealt the killing blow after going toe to toe with the lizardfolk druid for so long, it seemed only fair to write him up as the final blow.
Next steps: Let’s have some reaction and RP before we go any further. Then: actions, questions ?
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As he climbs to his feet and blinks the stars from his eyes, Chest Thumper looks around uncomprehendingly. Though the combat did not last a full minute, it seemed to have gone on for desperate days and he honestly thought the corrupted druid had called down some unnatural end on herself that would take out her opponents as well when that massive bolt of lightning struck.
He almost couldn't believe that the battle was over and he was still alive.
Reality quickly sets in, though. The immediate threat to his own life is over, but the threat to the community goes on. Starting with the Sheriff.
He rushes to her side, looking over her grievous wounds and checking for any signs of life, calling upon the forces of nature, even the power of the storm to coax any embers of vitality still in her into life.
Francis is similarly thunderstruck (literally) by the aftermath of the battle. He does not get to his feet but simply sits up, looking around him and letting out a soft, questioning grunt. He feels very weird and starts to rake a palm over the fur on his head. It lays flat for no more than a moment before popping back up, causing him to press it down again. That continues for quite some time before that bit of fur finally lays flat and he moves on to the next.
It's shocking contrast, the beast that has violently ended the lives of several lizardfolk in the last minute and this quiet, awkward, confused puffball that looks more like some child's bedtime buddy than a savage killer.
As Pious looks up at his longsword, still sparking atop the levee, he sees the chain running from the pommel down the side of the levee. Frantically searching for his book, he is relieved to see it lying unharmed some three feet away leaning up against the sandbags, saved from the rain. The chain connecting the two hangs limp; one link appears have shattered three inches from the book of scripture. How this happened is a mystery - it appears to have sheared straight through of its own accord...
Aza blinks. Then she blinks again, and again, each time she closes her eyes the bright light that is seared into her retinas growing slightly less intense and overwhelming. For a moment, she stumbles, trying to hold herself up as her ears ring out and she falls to her knees, breathing heavily as the rain thumps against her cloak.
After a few moments, however, she can stand again, shakier than usual, and looks over to the place where the lizard wizard once stood. Empty. Vaporized. Chest Thumper, obviously with a stronger constitution than Aza, already at the sheriff's side. She tries her best to take stock of the situation, her teammates, the civilians they left behind, the sheriff. She plodded forward through the pool of water, splashing loudly, but noises other than the pure ringing in her ears were muffled, like she was underwater herself. "W-we..." her soft voice rumbled around in her own head, and she could feel herself recovering. "We did it...?" She leaned against her quarterstaff and stood in stunned silence.