Magnhlidr Whitescale |
Probably not much. Maybe another mug of mead, and a sampling of some of the more exotic dishes. She still remembers this morning and doesn't want to repeat the experience.
Krojun
"I'm not sure what you mean by distractions, but from where I'm from, family means a good deal. Of course I miss them, but I would regret not traveling for a bit while I can. It's just my first time away from home."
She cheers up a little, although she still looks to the north, at least until Wyran arrives.
"Well met Wyran, my name is Magnhildr. I'm flattered that you sought me out to hear some tales, let's see if I can remember one that is worth your time."
After a moment of thought she launches into a story about how Fafnheir came to this world from the first world. Then moves into a tale of a great battle between an evil clan and their wretched leader and a lone warrior, aided by a mighty silver dragon and gifted a powerful shield, who stood and protected a small group of the fey folk (gnomes) from slaughter.
As evening approaches, Magnhildr tells more stories, some about herself, others about her homeland. Pulling the others into another world. Then it was time to eat. The thirsty ulfen woman grabs a third tankard of mead (third for the day.) and takes a long pull before saying, "I don't know about you, but I could use some food. I'm hungry."
With that, she picks out a few of the more exotic looking dishes to sample and a few familiar ones to enjoy. She finds a place for all of them to sit and waits for the others before eating.
Assume that you all know the gist of Magnhildr's background. I"ll post the others in the discussion thread, too tired right now.
Wyran the Patient |
If there is anything that an old soul could appreciate, it was a good tale. Truthfully, Wyran had already heard some of the stories but was still in awe of the woman in front of him that he didn't mind hearing them one more time. A small smile crept across his stony expression, giving away his enjoyment of the story.
Throughout the evening, Wyran would only pick up small pieces of food for sampling as he knew he could get a simple, comfortable meal back at his lodgings that was more to his palate.
Krojun-Speaks-With-Thunder |
"I simply mean that there should be enough going on here to keep you interested in your own adventures. Among the Shoanti, family is second to none, but I doubt my Quah would be happy to know I was spending my time worrying about them", Krojun explains.
"Besides, it is not like an Ulfen to be dour during a celebration especially one with such heavenly eyes", the big Shoanti says with deep laugh and a knowing look.
Copperscale |
Copper listens intently wide eyed and ears open. He seems entranced by Magnhildr's stories. "Sorry about calling you Maggie. It's just Magnhildr is so hard to say. And I give nicknames to people I like. I won't do it again."
Copper's consumption of food and drink may rival Krojun's during the festival. One wonders where it all goes. Must be magic.
Rohan Drake |
"You are very good at telling stories. Thank you."
Rohan on the other hand will temper his amount of drinking. Enough to have fun, but enough restraint so he will remember it. But he will indulge himself when it comes to food. Eating ship food for months makes real food taste so much better.
Morstralla Fullvault |
"Indeed, that was a novel telling of Ghadlhr and Mhelnadka. My uncle Vol read me some of those tales transcribed from Skald bards. Have you tried the moussaka? It's a recipe that comes from the lands east of Taldan."
Stralla grabs a platter and offers it to the people collected at the table around Magnhildr.
"My name's Morstralla, you can call me Stralla or M or even Acolyte Fullvault if that's your preference."
She then takes a seat at the table.
"What brings you to Sandpoint? The festival?"
Magnhlidr Whitescale |
@Krojun: Magnhildr still smiles while looking to the north.
"I know, but you have to wonder what's going and if everyone's okay. The Grungir is not a place to let your guard down and the Whitescales live within a bow shot of it's edge."
She then turns to the big, muscular Shoanti and gives him a mock glower.
"And who's being dour? I'll have you that I'm the life of the party, even stone cold sober."
@Copperscale and Rohan: The Ulfen woman pats the little dragon on the head, grinning at the abashed tone.
"It's alright. I prefer not to shorten my name, but if you like, you can call me Mags, that's what just about everyone else called me back home. Maggie just sounds like a spoiled Chelian noble's name." She finishes with a grimace.
She watches in awe as Copperscale eats and drinks his weight and more in food.
"Where does he put it? I've heard that some nobles in the southern lands would kill to be able to stay that small and eat like he does."
@Morstralla (Hey! You made it!) and those complimenting her on her story telling: Magnhildr takes the praise with a humble thanks, but as soon as Morstralla mentions moussaka, she's intrigued. Though many of her family traveled, very few actually went further east than Taldor or Absolom, so she had never heard of this dish and takes an experimental bite.
"Wow, this is good. Oh I'm Magnhildr, or Mags if it's a little a hard to pronounce. It's nice to meet you Morstralla."
She gestures for the dwarven woman to have a seat, but sees that it wasn't necessary.
"I came to Sandpoint as part of my travels. I just happened to hear of the festival by chance and decided that I'd get here as fast as I could from Riddleport, just got in yesterday. What about you?"
Magnhlidr Whitescale |
She chuckles and replies, "I would think so too, if I had to cook to satisfy that little voracious lizard." Magnhildr bursts out in laughter at the thought of having to cook for the little dragon.
Okay back to the present!
"Well, stories are the best way to learn something, even if things tend to get exaggerated. Are you a priestess, by chance?"
Just so everyone knows, Magnhildr is openly wearing a holy symbol of Desna, so Morstralla would have likely seen it.
Morstralla Fullvault |
"I'm still an acolyte under Highpriest Zantus, who follows Desna, while my patron is Abadar, but one day I might be a priestess. I see that you follow Desna. Her worship is also done at this cathedral. I suggest you check out the ancient stones in the courtyard surrounding the altar, they represent the seven towers of Desna's heavenly palace. Interesting history there. Abadar, Sarenrae, Gozreh, Erastil and Shelyn are also worshiped here, each in their own shrine.
I never realized that dragons ate so much." while watching Copperscale ravage the feast table.
Talon Eldercourt |
Earlier
Talon looks up at the wall that is Krojun in front of him and the meaty hand that is extended in his direction. He does his best to offer a firm shake in return though it feels more like trying to hold on to several links of large sausages. "Good to meet you," he glances over at the rest of the group and chides, "He's who we look for if we get lost in the crowd!" And looks back at the man and smiles.
...
Talon revels in the stories and graciously bows when introduced to Morstralla.
He's been waiting for this night for some time and has few intentions of holding back. He's had a full hearty meal and is literally stuffed. As far as drinks go, while he's on a full stomach, hes had several by this point, enough to have a good buzz and a warm glow going. His senses are probably a little dulled, but hi reflexes are better than most.
Krojun-Speaks-With-Thunder |
"So many different gods worshiped in one place", Krojun marvels. "It is a wonder Sandpoint stays as peaceful as it does. Among the Shoanti, the Quahs only come together for the most sacred holidays and in times of war. To live in close proximity to one another for so long would be inviting disaster."
The Voice of Wisdom |
I'm going to have to rebuild my Maptools image library from scratch, so I'll go ahead and try to run this one mapless to start, since the environment is pretty easy. I'll keep dinking around with Maptools and will post a map once I get it straightened out.
The scene is simple. The square is about 60 feet square. The cathedral is to the east. A large stage has been setup on the southeast corner. A road leaves the northwest corner towards the north gate. Tables, carts, and booths line the edges. The tables are mostly empty at this point, but still have a decent amount of food and drink on them. Chairs, benches are scattered about as people have moved them around over the last few hours. Torches light up the entire square, allowing everyone decent vision within the square itself, while the surrounding streets have enough torches to provide shadowy light. You are somewhere in the square eating, talking, and watching those around you.
Eventually the party starts to wind down, and at about midnight, Sheriff Hemlock gets up on stage and drops a thunderstone to signal time to find proper beds to the gathered crowd, and to start to cleanup for the servants. All goes well for a few seconds until someone screams "GOBLINS" and all hell breaks loose as people start to panic. You all see a good half dozen goblins leap out some of the wagons and booths scattered around the edge of the square.
Copperscale 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9
Krojun 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Magnhlidr 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Morstralla 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
Rohan 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23
Talon 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Wyren 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20
Combat Order (bold still to go)
Magnhlidr, Morstralla, Rohan, Talon, Wyren in posting order
Goblins
Copperscale, Krojun in posting order
Copperscale 10/10
Krojun 19/19
Magnhlidr 14/14
Morstralla 10/10
Rohan 14/14
Talon 9/9
Wyran 9/9
Morstralla Fullvault |
does it look something like this
Also some of us have Darkvison, do we see these goblins?
"Oh no!"
My battle gear is in the cathedral! but these people need help NOW!
Stralla looks around for a makeshift club or cudgel.
"Abadar protect us and give us courage." cast Bless (allies within 50' get +1 morale bonus to attacks and fear saves for 10 rounds)
Magnhlidr Whitescale |
Suddenly very thankful she had not repeated last night's mistake, Magnhildr instead curses herself for binding her weapons as well as she did. She sees Morstralla looking for something, and the Ulfen hazards a guess as to what the dwarf is looking for.
"Stralla! Grab my spear and get the cover off of it. Pointy end into the gobbers." She has a strained smile on her face as she says the last. She then gets to work getting her sword loose.
Full round action to unbind Mag's sword. Stralla has a move action, so I think she can just take the longspear and get it combat ready next round.
Rohan Drake |
Rohan puts down his food and grabs his longspear off the ground. "I let my guard down to have fun, and this is what happens."He mutters while moving towards a group of the goblins to try to distract them.
Krojun-Speaks-With-Thunder |
Sure, you go ahead and think that. That will make the actual combat that much more fun.
Krojun watched as the events unfolded around him.
A goblin attack? A bit dark perhaps but if that's what passes for entertainment in Sandpoint...
The big Shoanti lets out a deep laugh and applauds while finishing his tankard of cider.
Talon Eldercourt |
Talon's vision takes a second to focus on the green devils emerging from the darkness. "Great, and I was just starting to feel good." He quickly pushes up from his seat at the table, the chair flung back behind him, its back slamming to the stone street with a loud bang. He pulls out his rapier and advances in the direction of a group of goblins, being mindful to avoid any aoo or to minimize potential flanking opportunities he might create.
The Voice of Wisdom |
The actions of the goblins are as irrational as their presence. It would seem that being cooped up in a wagon all day did little to aid the already strained sanity of these creatures. One of the goblins tries to flee from a dog only to run straight into another one, and freezes in absolute terror. Two of the goblins start to argue over a scrap of meat. Even in their comical antics, however, they demonstrate that they are a real danger. One tries to slash at Krojun while grabbing for the meat in the Shoanti's hand, and manages to do 3 points of damage in it's hunger induced ire forces the bard to drop his food as the arm holding it starts to bleed. Talon takes 4 points of damage from a solid blow to the kneecap, and Rohan takes 1 point of damage as a goblin bears down on him.
As all of this is going on, 3 more appear from various carts and hiding places, still a bit confused, but there nonetheless.
Combat Order (bold still to go)
Magnhlidr, Morstralla, Rohan, Talon in posting order
Goblins
Copperscale, Krojun in posting order, Wyran (delayed)
Krojun-Speaks-With-Thunder |
See, I was willing to play along but you had to go and attack me. =P
Krojun grunts in pain as blood, real blood, pours down his thick forearm from the goblin's sharp little blade.
Perhaps this wasn't part of the celebration after all.
Tossing back what's left of his cider, the big Shoanti pulls the shield off his back and prepares to defend himself.
I assume the bit about only getting one action still applies even though one attacked me.
The Voice of Wisdom |
Round 2 start
Wyran drops one of the goblins neatly as the others prepare to strike. The townsfolk are starting to figure out what going on and get out of the way; a few are trying to fight back. A drunk has challenged one of the newer goblins to a fistfight, who has been forced to accept, whether he really wanted to or not, by a small crowd gathered around it. The dogs are still merrily playing corner the goblin, and seem to be enjoying themselves immensely. A disturbance at the edge of the square reveals a goblin running at full speed into the square away from a drunken, insane looking human wielding a carving knife in one hand and a drinking mug in the other, who is literally keeping on top of the goblin's heels as he chants dwarvenish sounding battle cries at the top of his lungs, in dwarven no less. The goblin stops as the glare of the full on light hits him, granting himself a quick death as the man beans him over the head with the mug, sending the creature sprawling to the ground dead, and keeps on going right over the dead body towards one of the late comers, who screams in terror as the dwarf bears down on him. Locals recognize Daviren Hosk, owner of the Goblin Squash stables, collector of goblin ears, and all around despiser of anything goblin. His collection of goblin ears and his hatred of goblins will certainly not suffer from this night's attack.
Combat Order (bold still to go)
Magnhlidr, Morstralla, Rohan, Talon in posting order
Goblins (8)
Copperscale, Krojun, Wyran in posting order
Copperscale 10/10
Krojun 16/19
Magnhlidr 14/14
Morstralla 10/10
Rohan 13/14
Talon 5/9
Wyran 9/9
If everyone could start their posts with the round # in ooc, it would greatly facilitate putting all the posts together.
Magnhlidr Whitescale |
Round 2
Magnhildr's smile turns into a feral grin as she wades into the crowd beelining for the closest goblin. Steel glitters in the torch light as she finally pulls the four foot long blade free of it's scabbard. Both of her hands grip the hilt as she goes from Magnhildr, the Storyteller, to Magnhildr, the Warrioress.
"Ikke isen troll, men små grønne troll er mye lettere å drepe."
Double move to nearest goblin, unless one is within 15 feet, then Magnhildr attempts to behead it.
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15 That's a miss :/
Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 but just in case...wow, I hope this is not a sign of things to come.
Rohan Drake |
Round 2
Rohan counters the goblin that stabbed him and strikes back with his longspear.
Arcane Strike: 1d20 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 = 14
1d8 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Talon Eldercourt |
Talon raised his arm and brings his rapier down across in front of him in a sweeping slice. The wound in his knee pulses in deep pain as he wishes at this point that he actually drank more than he did. "Lil' gren bastard!
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Morstralla Fullvault |
Round 2
Stralla picks up the spear and removes the peacebond.
She brandishes it in the direction of the nearest goblin.
"Find shelter, citizens of Sandpoint! Lock your doors! Go into the Cathedral! Get off the streets!"
She surveys the square looking for wounded citizens, goblins and checks the nearby ground for any rocks that she could throw.
The Voice of Wisdom |
Round 2, Goblins
A few more of the citizens manage to get out of the way as the situation clarifies itself. A few seem to have some scratches, but the goblins haven't been terribly effective in doing any actual damage to people yet, even if a fair bit of property has been thoroughly ruined, and no one appears seriously hurt. Krojun, after that first attack, finds himself with three goblins in front of him arguing over the meat he dropped. 3 goblins go down as the party's weapons strike out for the first time. The one being chased by Hosk tries to get away from the crazed drunk, having managed to get away from the dogs, and the remaining one stumbles into Copperscale as he tries to move toward Morstralla, hitting the small dragon by sheer accident for 2 points of damage.
Combat Order (bold still to go)
Magnhlidr, Morstralla, Rohan, Talon in posting order
Goblins (5)
Copperscale, Krojun, Wyran in posting order
Copperscale 3/5
Krojun 16/19
Magnhlidr 14/14
Morstralla 10/10
Rohan 13/14
Talon 5/9
Wyran 9/9
The Voice of Wisdom |
This is going to be fun. This is why I much prefer to let the players do it themselves, even if it does take a bit longer at times. Since there was only 1 goblin close by Wyran, I'm going with the 2nd roll being a successful crit confirmation.
Round 3
The goblin being chased by Hosk, the goblin punted into the air by Krojun with just enough health left that he got to experience the fall, and the dead goblin body that went flying as Wyran's fist immediately deflated the life out of it all manage to arrive at the same point in the square at exactly the same instant, and the two still living goblins barely even have a chance to react to the mighty crash before it occurs, with the end result being a jumbled pile of goblin parts, many not connected to anything anymore. In most any other circumstances, it would just be gruesome; for now, though, the sting of the horror is taken off by the ghoulish comedy the entire attack has proven to be, being simply to unbelievable for the mind to fully absorb. Hosk stops, takes in the scene, and after admiring the view for a second takes off bellowing once more toward the two remaining goblins by Krojun still arguing over the dropped piece of meat.
Combat Order (bold still to go)
Magnhlidr, Morstralla, Rohan, Talon in posting order
Goblins (2)
Copperscale, Krojun, Wyran in posting order
Copperscale 3/5
Krojun 16/19
Magnhlidr 14/14
Morstralla 10/10
Rohan 13/14
Talon 5/9
Wyran 9/9
Rohan Drake |
Round 3
Rohan moves towards the remaining goblins and strikes at one of them with a flank.
Arcane Strike: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 16
1d8 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 6 + 1 = 9
Copperscale |
Round 3 in advance since I'm heading to work soon. Assuming there's a goblin left of course.
Copperscale will go up and distract the last goblin, hoping to aid the next attack against it.
Aid: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 2 + 1 = 15
Magnhlidr Whitescale |
Round 3
Seeing only a single Goblin left, Magnhildr decides to help send it on it's way to the afterlife.
Move to get within Striking distance to the goblin 2-Handed Attack
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Damage: 1d10 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
^_^ Much better.
Talon Eldercourt |
For good measure and to ensure that the last goblin is put down, Talon jumps over a table and skewers the remaining foe.
Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3