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Round 1.
Initiative:
Keliwyn 22
Stilgar 16
Guards 16
Jeorik 15
Barvasi 7
Istas 5
Heather 2
Stilgar charges toward the two spearmen on the gangway. He brushes aside one spear tip with his axe and sideslips the other, but when he tries to rend the righthand guard with his axe it fouls on the spears and goes wide.
One of the deck guards engages Keliwyn. They slash and parry. The guard's sword finds a weakness and cuts Keliwyn deeply. (7 hp) The elf cries out in pain and retreats a few steps.
Istas collides with a paniced bystander, spins off him, and finds herself confronted with the other deck guard. He thrusts with his sword, too low. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Barvasi charging down the gangplank from Eel's End to the dock.
Heather sees Keliwyn engaged. As the guard follows up his attack on the elf she strikes his arm and sends arcane electricity flooding through the man. He cries out in pain and drops like a stone to the deck. Keliwyn grins at Heather in relief. "That was well-timed. Thank you. "
Istas collides with a paniced bystander, spins off him, and finds herself confronted with the other deck guard. He thrusts with his sword, too low. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Barvasi charging down the gangplank from Eel's End to the dock.
"Fate must have brought us together for a reason," Istas tells the man, "I'm sorry. But the Lady of Graves must be calling you for judgement."
Jeorik's arrow takes the guard through the eye. His head snaps back and he falls straight backward, bounces once and tumbles under the chain handrail along the gangway. A second later there's a splash from the river below.
Istas's blow draws a great swell of blood, but she has perhaps misjudged this one's fate. He swings his shield down to try to smash her arm. She dodges easily and the fight continues.
End Round 1.
Round 2.
in work
Round 2:
Initiative:
Keliwyn 22
Stilgar 16
Guards 16
Jeorik 15
Barvasi 7
Istas 5
Heather 2
Stilgar reverses his axe and levers the handle into a viscious uppercut on the guard's jaw. The guard staggers backward and thrusts with his spear to keep the half-orc at bay. (guard is pretty well injured. One good hit will finish him)
Four or five crossbow bolts zip past the various members of the party. Some spin into the river. One smashes into the decking at Jeorik's feet. One catches a bystander in the arm. The woman cries out in pain, but somehow maintains her hold on her drink.
Keliwyn looks back through the rapidly thinning crowd. Istas is still engaged with a guard and Barvasi is entering the mist cloud coming off Eel's End. A couple other guards are pushing down the gangways from the auxilliary ships. He nods to Heather. "Istas might need some help." He starts back toward the priestess. Just as he reaches her a drunk stumbles and falls sprawling on the deck in front of him. Leaping the prone man spoils Keliwyn's sword thrust.
The guard's sword slices into Istas' leg. (7 hp)
Istas's foe drops to the deck, dead.
Barvasi breaks clear of the mist just a few feet to the right, (as you look back to Eel's End) one of his guards at his side. To the left another guard is charging through the crowd.
Round 3:
Initiative:
Keliwyn 22
Stilgar 16
Guards 16
Jeorik 15
Barvasi 7
Istas 5
Heather 2
Stilgar steps forward as the guard drops back to stay inside the spearpoint. He reverses the axe again and chops downward through the man's helm, head and neck to bury the axehead in the man's chest.
"Way clear now, " he grunts.
Keliwyn parries a cut from the guard on the left and flicks his sword over the man's guard to nick his wrist. It's a pretty bit of fencing, but doesn't stop the woman's attack.
The guard by Barvasi steps up threaten Istas. His cut slides wide.
The crowd has figured out where the greatest danger lies and a wide space opens around Istas, Keliwyn, and Heather and their immediate foes. The various bystanders vacate the area.
The end of the gangway has also cleared, giving the two remaining crossbowmen shots at Stilgar and Jeorik. The bolts fly high.
Keliwyn's head whips up and he grins at Jeorik, "On our way." But his grins fades when he looks back to Istas who is now engaged with Baravasi and a guard.
The Shoanti priestess whirls and dodges, but the two combatants are two much. When she blocks a blow from the guard Barvasi sees his opening and steps in. The oddly bladed gauntlet slices into Istas' flank.
The Shoanti priestess whirls and dodges, but the two combatants are too much. When she blocks a blow from the guard Barvasi sees his opening and steps in. The oddly bladed gauntlet slices into Istas' flank.
A gleam of excitement sparkles in Istas' eyes, as her days fighting among the Shoanti warriors in her youth come flooding back to her. She almost seems to enjoy the battle with Barvasi and his guards. Adrenalin and excitement fuel her every move, making her feel like her fate hangs in the balance and Pharasma herself has placed this test before her.
The priestess feels the slash from Barvasi's blow, but ignores it along with the earlier wound from the guard she slew with her grandfather's spear. A loud ringing laugh rises from her throat, sounding foreign even to her own ears.
"Is that the best you can do?" she taunts the leader of Eel's End, "A King of Spiders, you call yourself? More like a king of nothing! You're still playing at 'knivesies' aren't you? Throwing your life away like it's a game. The Lady of Graves is not impressed, Devargo Barvasi. You will soon rue the days you wasted here. Mark my words!"
With that, Istas withdraws, charging down the pier at full speed to rejoin Stilgar and Jeorik.
Istas begins her dash across the dock toward the shore. She runs past Stilgar as he kicks one corpse off the gangplank into the river.
Round 4:
Initiative:
Keliwyn 22(delaying, drops to 8 in round 5)
Stilgar 16 (delaying)
Guards 16
Jeorik 15
Barvasi 7
Istas 5
Heather 2
Having tidied up the line of retreat Stilgar looks back toward the main group on the dock.
Keliwyn also waits until Istas is past, then he looks at Heather and jerks his head toward shore. "Shall we?"
One last crossbowman lines up a shot at Jeorik and Stilgar. The bolt whistles between the two men, but touches neither.
Barvasi and the guard near him start pursuit of the fleeing Pharasman and quickly run into Heather and Keliwyn.
"Elf, I'll kill you and your b~~$+es! Then I'll gut a dozen worms." Barvasi comes in swinging both bladed hands. Keliwyn steps in quickly and slashes Barvasi in the shoulder, but the double attack overpowers Keliwyn's defense and Barvasi's blades cut deeply, scoring Keliwyn's ribs and thigh.
The noble elf groans with pain and falters.
DM omly
The guard at Barvasi's side approaches Heather warily. He saw what happened to her last victim. He feints low, then rips his sword upward. The sorceress dodges neatly.
Seeing Stilgar run back into the melee and Keliwyn taking a severe blow from Barvasi, she looks to Jeorik and shrugs apologetically. "It seems we're fated to finish this conflict," she tells him.
Then, with a Shoanti war-cry, she charges back down the length of the pier, her spear leading the way.
Her swift running takes her past Heather and Keliwyn until she barrels into the King of Spiders.
Electrical energy crackles through Barvasi, raising his hair and momentarily transfixing him, leaving an easy target for Istas. Her spearpoint takes him just to the left of his breastbone and runs out his back. The king of spiders falls backwards as Istas' momentum carries her crashing into him. Barvasi lies on the deck. A pool of blood oozing out from under him and dripping through the slots in the deck into the river.
Round 5:
Initiative: if required
Jeorik 15
Keliwyn 8
Stilgar 6 (delaying)
Istas 5
Heather 2
Guards 1
"Heather! Get Keliwyn out of here! Back to Jeorik!" Istas calls over her shoulder as she wrenches her spear free of Barvasi's body. She transfers it to the other hand behind her shield and then pulls forth what appears to be a bone club belted at her waist.
She tosses the bone into the air and calls out to the heavens. "Aid us, my Lady...so we may continue to carry out your will!"
An unseen force snatches the bone downward until it circles around the priestess like a guardian spirit. She looks over at Stilgar as Heather pulls Keliwyn back from the fray.
"Just you and me, half-breed," she remarks, "Let's see if we can't shove a few of them into the water and be done with this..."
Istas shakes her head at the signs that Barvasi yet lives.
"A lucky man," she notes, "The King of Spiders lives to wear his crown for yet one more day. But he should think twice before making his next choice, yet fate strike him down at last."
Then she nods to Stilgar, turning her back on the retreating guards and the assembled crowd of Eel's End. "See that they don't follow us."
Heather suppots Kel of the dock..honours it would seem are even yet her gut tells her Barvasi will not let this lie...she knows that sometime soon she and her companions will have to finish this or live with the possibilty of attacks on them and their nearest and dearest. She gives Istas a slight glare for having saved the life of a man who will not let this challenge to his assumed authority go past without a reaction.
Stilgar nods in response to the Shoanti's command. He hefts his axe and looks large.
There is no sign of Majenko. It seems the ungrateful little bugger may have disappeared.
The guards make no move to reignite the combat. As the party edges away, the one who had grabbed Barvasi kneels down to check his boss.
"Well...that went better than expected," Istas remarks as she falls into step with the others, "Your tiny dragon now flies freely into Korvosa's sky. It'll be interesting to see what comes of this choice."
"Interesting is not the word I would use," Keliwyn says with a sigh. "Barvasi had a plethora of potential uses as . . . an acquaintance, but as an enemy, I would much prefer to see him dead. I do imagine he'll will lash out as he can, and we should all be looking over our shoulders for the near future."