Terquem |
Voranzil nods, but his expression says, “It’s not up to me”, and he shrugs his shoulders and says, “If we don’t bring everyone back, that king could go over the edge. I don’t know how we can pull that off.”
“He’s right,” the other Dwarf says. “We haven’t met. My name is Stropos Norolodi. Your friend has seen to the point of the matter. But where are the others? The two who brought the slaves out here, where are they?”
“Ah, I suppose I don’t need an explanation, do I. It’s like this. Exanames has always been a bit of a nut, but he used to smile, laugh, and take pleasure in simple things. Now, as I’ve told your friends, he is a changed Dwarf. His mind is either completely gone, or he is being controlled by something. I don’t know if there really is a curse, or if he has just slipped away for good. All I know is that he now wears a necklace. It looks like a carved stone, but I can’t tell you what kind of stone it is. He won’t let anyone near him. Since he put on that necklace, he found it buried in a box in an abandoned mine, he has changed. He only sleeps for a few hours, he hardly eats, at all, and he seems to have unnatural strength, and has, as far as I’ve seen and heard, been stabbed more than twice, and has not suffered from the attacks. Your friend, inside, has a plan, and I am certain that everyone is willing to go along with him. Exanames has to be stopped, and killing him might be the only way to stop him. I can try to leave one of you here, with the little one. I’ll try to make it difficult for Exanames to notice the missing ones, but we’re taking a risk. Now, we have to hurry. Follow me.”
“Moralane,” Azram says, as he steps once to follow Stopos, “be careful. If it looks as though things are going downhill for us, try to make it back to the capitol and tell Lady Inarossa what we’ve found here.” He catches up to Rownig, and says, “I don’t have experience with this kind of curse, and I’ve never heard of one like it. It seems more reasonable that the necklace has open up Exanames to being possessed by a being from another plane. If we can incapacitate him, remove the necklace, we can find out if this is true. I don’t think it is a good idea to kill him, unless we are forced to defend ourselves from him, and even then, murder is a serious charge. I don’t want to end up in chains, like these other slaves.”
“We’re not slaves!” the young Dwarf who was chained to the old Goblin cries. “These bandits kidnapped me and my family from our home. We lived on a small farm in the valley. You can’t trust them.”
Stropos stops, still some distance from the gate and turns, pleading with his hands held out in front of him, “Yes we did kidnapped a lot of these folks, and not all of us were alright with it, but Exanames was killing anyone who opposed him. He’s killed nine since we came here, and I’m not sure, but I’d swear those that he’s killed, those that we buried up in the foot hills, are walking dead now, and have been among the things attacking the camp at night. YOU,” he points to Luca, “You’ve seen him in a rage, he’s killed slaves as well. I know where your things are. Geronol, he’s a Dwarf whose been with Exanames for the longest. He’s got your hammer, and your gear is under his bunk. I’ll get it back for you. I can’t make you come back with me, you’re armed, the lot of you, and you can take me sure as the gold floats in a prospectors pan. So decide now, make a run for it, and leave your friends behind, and damn sure I’ll follow you before I’ll go back empty handed, or get in line, and follow me. I’ll take you to your friends and you can have him explain his plan to you. If Exanames goes wild, we all might be fighting for our lives before the sun sets, and again, when the dead attack the walls after dark.”
He waits for Rownig, Azram, Atharessa, and Luca to answer.
Meanwhile, Mazrim expresses his fear of going along with the old bandits plan.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Galana says. “I suppose we can try to make a stand here. It’s a small building, this is the only door, and we could try to get the jump on him, but he might not be coming this way. The last I saw of him, he was dragging slaves around the bloomery and giving orders about reinforcing the chimney and taking down the scaffolding. He was shouting about firing the thing up tonight and working a few hundred pounds of ore. He was ranting and raving. The old one told me we should go to a building, outside, to the left and past three small sheds, that was once a dormitory. It’s got two floors, but it isn’t a large building. The bandits sleep on the first floor and the slaves sleep on the second. What do you want to do? Make a stand, or wait until nightfall and hope these bandits are good to their word?”
Luca Shatterstone |
"Aye, an' that's why I ain't leavin' his friends tae die and rot by 'is 'and. Get me 'ammer in me 'ands an' I'll work 'is face like iron. 'Ell, lemme 'ang on tae this one an' I'll still do it!"
Her eyes seem to flicker with fire as she speaks. The air gets a little warm around her, like there is a forge burning within her.
Sorry if the flavor is too over the top. I figured older gods = less refined magic and power. If it's okay, I was planning on carrying this on to her spells, not changing anything mechanically, just the flavor.
Rownig Fleetfoot |
Rownig pull the group together and whispers, "Gave me word ti protect the lil one. Moralene you stay and run with da lil one if need be." He looks over to Luca and the others, "If betrayed that one dies first."Using his head to motion towards the bandit. "Luca what's yer 'pion on this?
Luca Shatterstone |
"If the do betray us, I ain't goin' down without leavin' a dent in onna their heads." Her gaze falls on the bandit.
"I donnae think that'll happen. These are desperate men, an' we're their one shot at survivin'. If we're gonna kill that bastard, we need tae do it afore he thinks somethin's oop."
Terquem |
Okay I'm a bit confused, where are they trying to lock us up?
Right now, Galana is telling Hallister and Mazrim to come with her to a two-storey building, nearby the long hall building, where they will be taken to the second floor, and put with the slaves, for the night.
Outside of the wall, Stropos and Voranzil, are with Rownig, Luca, Azram, Atharessa, and Moralane. Stropos and Voranzil left the long hall before Galana returned with the news that Turrand is dead. They are expecting to bring those outside of the wall to the long hall. Hallister and Mazrim should know this, and tell Galana that they are waiting for the rest of the group to be re united with them.
Sorry for the confusion.
Terquem |
The camp, as Rowning enters, is quiet.
Azram, walking a step behind Rownig, says quietly, “It looks like this place is on its last leg.”
“That building there,” Stopos says pointing to his right toward a building that looks like it is the most stable and strongest building in the camp, “used to be an inn. I think it was called ‘Spoon and Tankard’, or something like that. We sleep on the ground floor, those of us not on the walls that is, and the slav…uh, I mean the others sleep upstairs in two large common rooms.”
Stropos leads you past the ‘Inn’, and then past three small sheds, on the right, and a pair of three sided structures on the left that look as if they might have been a pair of stables. He turns to the right, walking between two small shacks, with open windows and no doors, where the roofs have caved in, and then toward a long low building that looks like it is newer, but hastily built.
Stropos stops, for a moment, and points ahead of him to the left. “Behind that barn you can see the top of the bloomery. And that long building, that is where Exanames stays, he calls it his ‘Hall’ and sits on a chair that he thinks is a throne. When we get there you talk with your friends, while I go try to find out where Exanames and your friend Turrand have gotten off to. If I can I’ll get back to the hall before them, and then you can tell me what the plan is.”
Stropos leads you to the long hall, and just through the door you see Hallister, Mazrim, Galana and Orson. There is no sign of Helgen, or Turrand’s small son, Tanner.
Just before you are right in front of the long hall, the western half of the bloomery is visable beyond the barn that is between the two structures (the long hall and the bloomery. Turning his head from side to side, taking in all that he can see, Rownig notices a gibbet, hanging from scaffolding that surrounds the bloomery, and in the gibbet is the corpse of a dead Dwarf. The gibbet is only a couple of feet off of the ground, and accessible from the planks of the scaffolding.
Galana sees Voranzil, and waves excitedly for the lot of you to come into the hall quickly.
“Turrand is dead,” Galan says as soon as everyone is through the door, “and we don’t have a lot of time to figure out what our next move is going to be. Mazrim, why don’t you and Hallister tell them what you are planning, but be quick, we’ve got to get to that building before Exanames returns.”
Hallister Silverspike |
"Dead? What the hell happened?" Hal swore under his breath. "Why do I get the feeling this is all about to get out of hand..."
Turning to the rest of the group, he rushed throguh the plan. "His Royal Nuttiness has an amulet that's making his brain weak and his body tough, and a sword that you do not want to be hit by. We need to kill him. The plan is to knock him over, keep him on the ground, try to disarm him and light him on fire. Don't bother attacking him directly, it won't do much good. Just keep him from being able to swing while the fire does the work. Got it?"
Terquem |
“Then our plan is to make a stand against this Exanames character when he returns,” Azram says. “Where is Helgen?”
“I sent him with Tanner to the old one, Hesbrunzo, they should be at the two storey building by now,” Galana says.
“That would be the inn, the place where we sleep,” Stropos says. “They should be safe there.” He looks around at the other bandits still in the room, and says to Mazrim, "No, no balconies, nothing with more space than this building".
the Dwarven bandits in the long hall with the party, are Stropos, an old dwarf, who seems lame (you do not know his name), two young male Dwarves, Olnagas and Petrazta, a young female Dwarf (you do not know her name), and two other males, one has spoken, the other has said nothing, but you do not know their names. In all that makes seven Dwarven bandits, armed with clubs, or long knives, and wearing studded leather armor.
“There are seven of us, and nine of you, together, if we can do as your friend here has suggested, we should be able to take Exanames down, but I want to warn you that he has shown strange resilience, and some of us may die in the fight. Others have been running off regularly, and there are less than twenty of us here now, we should have stood against him before now, but I won’t cry over the past. I will take the goblin, and the young dwarf, to the rest of our men, and then find Exanames and bring him here. I’ll whistle, just before we approach the door. You have some time to get ready. Now before I go, I want to ask the rest of you, the rest of you who have been under Exanames, will you stay with these and fight against Exanames, or will you leave. I choose to fight, but I will not hold it against any of you if you take this opportunity to flee.”
“I’ll fight,” the young dwarven female says, as she draws her knife. “Just tell me what you want me to do,” she says to Hallister.
“If he can’t be killed,” Olnagas says with a frown, “then he could kill us all. I won’t stay here and be turned into one of those things,” he points toward the gibbeted Dwarf across the camp through the doorway. “I’m running. Gods help you all. Petrazta, are you coming with me?”
“No,” Petrazta says, and moves close to the young Female Dwarf. “But I don’t blame you, Olnagas. I hope you make it back to your family. The luck of the gods be with you.”
“We’ll fight,” the two other dwarves say together.
“Aye, we’ll stand together,” the lame Dwarf says.
“No, Korisca,” the young female Dwarf says to the lame Dwarf, “go with Stropos, and stay in the barracks. If we fail, you can tell Exanames you were not in with our plans, and the others will need you. Besides, you are too weak, no offence, grandfather, but you won’t be of any help to us, go and know we fight for you as much as we fight for ourselves.”
Korisca frowns, but in his eyes you all can see he knows she speaks the truth.
“Alright then, let’s go, Stropos. Good and gods luck be with you all,” Korisca says as he turns to leave, followed by Stropos who gestures for the goblin and the young Dwarf to follow him.
The inside of the long hall is thirty feet wide and sixty feet long. There is a door in the thirty foot wall that faces the east, it is a five foot wide opening, and is off center to the south. There is a long table surrounded by stools in the center of the room. The table is five feet wide (it occupies ten feet of squares, width wise, including the stools) the table is ten feet from the east wall and is fifteen feet long. There is a full ten feet of space to either side of the table and this space is open for the length of the building running east and west.Twenty feet past the end of the table there is a large wooden throne. It occupies a ten by ten foot square. Behind the throne is a five foot (east to west) by ten foot (north to south) area that is a heap of rugs and furs where Exanames sleeps.
you have only what rope you were carrying with you, no nets, and you have a short time to take positions and finalize a plan.Feel free to use the discussion thread to work out the details, or ask question for clarifications.
Luca Shatterstone |
By bad fit, do you mean has penalties? Or just that Luca's gonna chaff.
Actually, nevermind. I think I'll be using Luca's spells for this one and avoid melee if possible.
"Well, guess that settles that." Luca says as the dwarves and the goblin leave. "Which one o' ye is tha undead expert?"
Hallister Silverspike |
Hal cuts a length of rope into fifteen foot lengths and ties a series of Lassos to pass out to those with the quickest hands.
Non-proficiancy isn't so bad with a Touch Attack. I can make 3 with my rope. That should be plenty. If we can get two on him and have them anchor the ropes opposite each other it should hamper him a lot.
"Alright." Hal says to the group. "A lot o' ye don' look so good. I'm not sayin' don't fight, I'm sayin' keep off the front line. I'm gonna pair ye with one o' us. Yer job is t' help 'em however ye can."
I'd like to divide the non-party NPCs up among the group to do nothing but Aid Another. We need all the bonuses we can get.
Terquem |
“Give me one of the ropes,” Galana says, “I’ll try to get him from the other side of the table.”
“I’ll stay close to Galana and Atharessa,” Azram says.
“Yes, I know a little magic,” Atharessa says, “I’ll do what I can.”
The twelve Dwarves in the long hall spread out. Two of the bandits hurry toward the table, kicking stools out of the way. They topple the table onto its edge, and then slide it back, then toward the wall where the door to the long hall is. One of the bandits says, “How’s this?” before he draws a long knife and takes a position just in front of the table.
Time seems to pass by slowly, and there is silence in the room as everyone waits for the signal.
A whistle is heard, and the sound causes everyone to tense momentarily. This is it.
a random number of rounds passes before Exanames enters. I’ll roll for that in the discussion thread. Exanames will be surprised, and he will be flat footed. To make things move quickly I am just going to tell you that his Flat Footed AC is 15, for regular attacks, and 12 for touch attacks, and his CMD is 22 (unless CMD is affected by being Flat Footed, and I think it should be, but I’m not sure it is written that way) then, his CMD is 19 during the surprise round. After that his regular AC is 18, and his CMD will be 22 again. His touch AC will be 15.
Rownig Fleetfoot |
Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Rownig's reaction is a bit slow as he looks at the lasso.
Surprise RD: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 - 4 = 20
Surprise RD, Confirm Crit: 1d20 + 4 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 - 4 = 14
Rownig and Hall each get the a hold of the neck.
Terquem |
Moments before Exanames enters the building, Galana takes a rope from Hallister and dashes to the other side of the door. When he enters, she throws the loop, aiming for his left arm.
1d20 + 2 - 4 ⇒ (4) + 2 - 4 = 2
And then readies herself for the comming fight
Initiative 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Terquem |
Galana’s rope fails to lasso Exanames, and her expression is crestfallen.
When the surprise round is over, Exanames will draw his scimitar. His Initiative is 19, so he would go first, unless Mazrim is holding his action (from the surprise round) to make a disarm attempt as soon as Exanames acts, then, Mazrim will act first.
If Exanames is not disarmed he will attack one of the two ropes holding him. Normally the rope would have an AC of 5 (10 +2 size, -5 dex, -2 inanamate) but in this case the rope has some movement, and can be ‘snapped’ by the Characters to help avoid the blow. So I am going to rule that the AC of the rope is 13 (10, +2 size, +1/2 PC dex modifier (+1 for both of you, I’m rounding down). I am also assigning a Hardness of 5 to the rope as it is not easily cut by a blow while it is not braced against something solid. Exanames will need to roll 5+ on his attack to hit the rope, and 4+ on a d6 for damage to cut through the rope in one blow.
Terquem |
kind of puts me in a bind when you put up two posts like that, but this is what I think will happen - We go with the disarm attempt, and assume you did not take an action in the surprise tound, holding until Exanames draws his weapon, he is no longer flat footed, but you would have flanking, and he is entangled. Your disarm attempt succeeds. If we go with the other roll it will fail.
Luca Shatterstone |
Gah! Lost my dot. Init: 1d20 ⇒ 19
Also, I'm taking a guess as to what the Holy Symbol of Lorenze is, so correct me if I'm wrong.
As soon as Hallister and Rownig have Exanames by the neck, Luca begins muttering a prayer to Lorenze and steps forward. Her eyes glow and her hair whips about as if caught in a violent wind. The coarse fabric of her tunic burns away from her left shoulder and arm to reveal a glowing mark that appears as a hammer and anvil shrouded in flames and fiery runes twisting down to her hand.
"From stone we came an' tae stone we go. Master o' tha Forge I ask thee tae lend me yer fires sae I may send this one tae be judged!"
Flames roar from her hand and envelop the deluded king.
Casting burning hands for 1d4 ⇒ 1 fire damage. Reflex DC 14 for half. Luca would target the spell so it didn't singe any allies.
GM: Can I get word on whether Luca managed to get bless cast before Exanames entered the building?
Terquem |
Bless was a go, and I assumed you held off on the Weapon enchantment. Now here is another silly little thing that I shouldn't make into a big deal, but there was no actual mention of anyone speading oil. Now I know there are a lot of NPCs and anyone of them could have done it, so I'm just going to ask, for clarification. Do you want the floor under Exanames coated in oil, or not?
As Exanames goes for his scimitar, Mazrim and Luca spring into action. The scimitar is knocked out of Exanames' fumbling hand, as he is pulled back and forth by Rownig and Hallister. Luca steps up and summons forth a spray of flames.
Exanames save roll 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Luca Shatterstone |
I do! And woot 1 point of damage! We'll kill this sucker yet. Don't forget your bonuses from Bless +1 Attack and +1 to saves vs. Fear 9 rounds left.
Terquem |
Exanames save roll 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
His eyes bulging with rage, and behind the fire of his rage something else, something not of this world, Exanames struggles clawing at his throat as his neck is constricted. When his sword is knocked from his hand, he turns his attention toward the two Dwarves holding him between them, and choosing one of them, he lunges with all of his strength, wrapping his arms around the rope and pulls, trying desperately to drag one of these Dwarves closer to him.
Drawing his weapon was a free action, interrupted by Mazrim’s Disarm maneuver. Unable to take a move action, Exanames will use a standard action to try to force Rownig closer to him. Opposed strength check 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13, if he rolls higher than Rownig, Rowning will be dragged to within 5 feet, but out of striking distance, and not at risk from catching fire.
A flame sears his exposed flesh, but Exanames, unable to make a sound, only seems driven into a greater rage. The thin film of oil on the ground is ignited by the flash of the magic fire, engulfing Exanames in the conflagration.
Though exposed to the sudden flame up of the oil, Exanames still has a chance of avoiding catching on fire, his Reflex save is adjusted because of the ropes binding him 1d20 + 4 - 2 ⇒ (12) + 4 - 2 = 14
Initiative is something like this, Exanames, Mazrim, and Luca all go on the same count, then Hallister, then Rownig, and then Galana followed by the rest of the NPCs in no particular order. If an NPC is asked to provide an Aid Another roll, that NPC will go just before the character they are trying to aid (we can assume the NPC is holding an action, from the beginning, waiting to Aid Another when asked). In Round one, Exanames, Luca, and Mazrim have acted, Hallister can act now, (Rowning needs to roll an opposed STR check against Exanames, or be dragged close to the fire, and Exanames' reach). After Hallister's action, Rownig can act, and then Galana, NPCs, and that would be the end of round one.
Exanames is on fire.
Hallister Silverspike |
Rownig, Terq wants a Str check from you.
Hal just yells at the crowd. "Everyone that can, grab rope and heave!"
Handing off part of his rope to the nearest dwarf, Hal steps forward, pulls his axe from his belt and tries to hook Exanames' leg.
Free action, give rope. Move action, 5' adjust and draw axe. Standard, Trip attempt.
1d20 + 4 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 2 + 1 = 25
Bonuses from Bless, Flank
Terquem |
Rownig is dragged closer to Exanames.
Opps, missed a post by Rownig - He looks around and immediately can tell that the structure is not sound in this building, and trying to 'anchor' Exanames to it could be disasterous.
There is a single five foot square between Rownig and Exanames. There is no danger of Rownig catching fire.
Hallister shouts, and hands the rope he is holding back, and two of the bandits take a firm hold of the end of the rope. Hallister then maneuvers close to Exanames, carefully, but with haste, and with what looks like practiced skill, he sweeps Exanames off of his feet. The mad king falls on his back and twist and turns in burning oil, and digs his fingers at the ropes around his neck trying to loosen them and catch a breath, but it is obvious he isn’t successful.
Galana takes another shot at getting a rope around one of Exanames’ legs, now that he is prone
1d20 + 1 - 4 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 1 - 4 + 2 + 2 = 20 Exanames is prone, and loses his Dexterity bonus to his AC and CMD
Azram will cast detect Undead (really he should have done this in the surprise round, and I’m going to say that he did, so take that!) and as he concentrates something peculiar becomes apparent to him, “I can sense the presence of more than one undead entity within Exanames. He is possessed! Luca, can you summon the goodness of your patron deity? I am going to concentrate and try to learn more about this possession.”
Azram's original player had listed "Muderous Command" as one of his spell memorized, and I took the liberty of changing that spell to Detect Undead, which I feel would be more in line with Azram's character as i would play him.
Galana's rope catches Exanames by the leg, and she braces herself against his struggles
Rownig can act
Luca Shatterstone |
Luca doesn't answer with words. She shifts her stance, and the divine fire already forming in her hand envelops the hammer as she grabs it with both hands.
"Le' me be tha 'ammer that works this evil our o' yer work. Le' me be the one to purge this blight from tha world!"
The faint roar of a forge fire can be heard as holy energy surrounds everything within thirty feet of the smith.
Channel Positive to Harm Undead: 1d6 ⇒ 1 Will DC 10 for Half.
...Why is it that every time I get psyched up to write something epic, the die rolls make it moot?
Rownig Fleetfoot |
Rownig wraps the rope around his lower back and tugs with all his life to maintain control. Str: 1d20 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 1 + 2 = 12
"Get ye'self on me rope!" he bellows to the nearby dwarves.
Bless and flanking