Upon seeing the empty room, the young girl spins and strides across the floor to the top of the stairs besides the rogue, her bare feet making little sound against the cold, stone floor..
As she moves, she speaks. "More weapons here, on the wall. We could do with him being kept alive, as a hostage, if you can. Remind him of any family he may have." Once again, the girl's voice rings clear over the sound of the combat.
No time to delay. she thinks, as she heads down the stairs.
Calvin's healing washes over the Ogre. Grumblejack's eyes flutter open and he groans in pain. He is very clearly badly injured, but he's back from the brink of death.
Poki ignores Libby's exhortation to leave the guard alive - her chill touch freezes the man's heart and he falls to floor in a heap. She then leaps to remove a torch before extinguishing it.
Libby is unable to see the man fall though, as she takes a few steps down the stairs. She emerges into a stairway leading to a closed door. The stairway is empty, but the sound of metal-clad footsteps can clearly be heard to be heading your way.
Grumblejack stands and takes some steps towards the guard room. He looks incredibly woozy, but very clearly wants to bash in some more heads.
Arash grabs his side as he heads over to the rack on the wall with the bows and shield. "Finally, a decent weapon." He looks back to the rest for a moment. "We need to get better weapons, quickly." He grimaces as he reaches up and pulls the bow off the wall. He drops the dagger, letting it clatter and bounce on the stone floor.
_______________________________________
Those close to the stairs are now able to hear the sound of footsteps moving towards you, as well as a number of unintelligible voices.
Stavros will delay until he can move to the wall and grab a bow and quiver of his own.
Calvin moves to just outside the room with the others .
"Guards incoming. I'm unsure of numbers.". Libby retreats back up the stairs. "If we fight them here, we have the advantage of height. There's a big table in the adjoining room that we could possibly use as a shield, maybe for the archers. Or we could possibly drop it behind them, to cut off their retreat.". The slight girl speaks with confidence - a complete contrast to the girl locked up in the cell - as she moves around the rooms, collecting weapons and handing them to those that want them.
"I'm no tactician, however, so correct me if I'm wrong.". There's a warmth in the smile that follows her last statement.
If we go down to leave, does that mean we're in a tower?
Poki listens to the no-longer-quiet girl as she suggests tactics. Her advice seemed sound, so Poki decided to make sure everyone knew what Poki needed to perform best.
"Poki has ranged magic," she said, "But needs sand, rose petals, sweat, or a cricket for them to work. Otherwise she is a night hunter and fights best in darkness or dim light.
Grumblejack stays put and cracks his knuckles in anticipation of the coming fight.
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guards, Stavros (I will bot), Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
Arash moves to one side of the staircase, nocking an arrow and aiming for the opening. Wait for the enemy to appear. Patience, do not release too early. He slows his breathing, forcing himself to calm, despite the pain of the injury inflicted upon him by the guard. Damn. Careless, but time forced it.
_________________________
The guards can now be heard immediately outside the door at the bottom of the stairs. In addition, you hear the bark of at least two dogs.
Stavros turns to grab a bow and quiver before moving to the corner of the room, away from immediate danger.
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guards, Stavros (I will bot), Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
Gideon is halfway done to removing the armor.
Arash readies his bow for the first enemy to walk through the door.
He doesn't have to wait long. You can hear one of the guards counting to three, and on the count, the door flies open, revealing four more guards and two dogs.
Arash lets loose an arrow and it finds a soft spot in the lead dog's chest, it whimpers in pain, but remains standing. The tightness of the stairway proves to be a challenge for the guards, as only one of them can fit in the room behind the dog.
Stavros steps forward and takes aim at the dog's head - which is just visible on the stairway.
But his unfamiliarity with the weapon has nearly comical results - the bow snaps his fingers and the arrow falls at his feet.
Calvin sees Arash let loose with an arrow and is impressed by the demon-man's skill. He projects images to Arash of arrows flying from a bow, hitting their mark and splitting open the skulls his foes.
"We could do with everyone up front now."
The girl had just finished speaking when the door is thrown open and the dog bursts into the room.
"Keep them on the stairs and we'll be able to pick them off one-by-one.", she intones. Knowing the magic accompanying her words will serve to steady the hands of her comrades, she turns her attention once again to the veil, discreetly pulling off the patches that represent a sack and a potion vial.
As more enemies begin to enter, Poki turns from dousing torches to picking up a weapon for the fight ahead.
Grumblejack raises his meaty fist and attempts to bring it down on the dog's head. The creature senses the blow is coming and attempts to strike first.
The dog is unable to get in a blow before the ogre's meaty hand clubs its head. The dog whimpers in pain but stands its ground.
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guards, Stavros (or Caden), Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
Arash aims another arrow at the dog and looses, cursing as he does so, "Fall, you damned mutt. I've got more important people to kill!"
____________________________________________________________
"Just hold them off!" Gideon shouts down the cell block as he continues to wrestle with the guard's chain shirt. Rigor mortis had not set in yet, but the man's dead weight was hardly helping his efforts. He hated leaving the dirty work to the others, but if he was going to have any chance in a big fight, he was going to need the armor.
And the weapon, he thinks to himself, glancing at the guard's longsword.
Grumblejack sees the dog approaching and tries to smash its head before it can finish its climb on the stairs.
The dog whimpers in pain and crumbles to the ground.
Arash, seeing that the dog has fallen, takes aim at the guard behind him. The arrow finds its mark, piercing the guards armor. The guard looks at the arrow and yells in pain.
He turns to flee , yelling in pain and for more help as he does so. Almost immediately, another guard steps forward to take his place. He sees the giant ogre at the top of the stairs and attempts to avoid the brute's attack as he closes in on the ogre.
Unfortunately for the guard, he is unsuccessful and Grumblejack takes a swing at the man's head. The blow lands, rattling the man's skull. He recovers quickly and swipes his sword at Grumblejack.
The blow lands, and once more Grumblejack ends up on the floor, unconscious.
A third guard comes up the stairs and runs right towards Arash. He lashes out with a sword attack at the Tiefling.
Seeing the attack coming, Arash easily avoids the blow.
A fourth guard, accompanied by a guard dog comes up the stairs, but is unable to pass by his comrades.
EDIT: I have updated the map thanks to the wonders of Time Machine and Dropbox. It might take a bit for it to update, but if you check back, it should be accurate.
Remaining Initiative: Ferrin, Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
As the party struggles to fight their way past the guards, Calvin is startled to hear a cell door open behind him. A large figure rushes past him, scooping up a guard’s fallen club on the way. As the figure dodges around the ogre, he says ”I don’t know who you people are, but you’re heading the direction I want to go. Let’s get out of here!”
Lifting the club high in both hands, he brings it down on the guard dog at the top of the stairs. It is not a well-struck blow, but Ferrin’s raw strength manages to make up for his poorly-aimed strike.
Calvin laughs madly as the new figure rushes past him. He steps into the room and watches with glee as the newly arrived guards are being beat into submission.
Libby shakes her head as the ogre is dropped yet again.
"Don't worry, I'm sure these fine gents will be more than happy to provide solace to your widows and daughters once we're out of here."
The girl's cruel barb - aimed at the first guard up the stairs - seemingly fails to move him.
"Warrior, you're needed at the front.". Her second comment is directed towards the door to the cells.
Despite the chaos, the girl's voice projects throughout the two rooms, audible to all, her communication keeping everyone abreast of the situation.
Not wanting to get in anyone's way, the teen remains where she is, watching the fight as it progresses. Watching for advantages.
"Too many people in too tight a space," Poki grumbles. "Poki doesn't like this at all."
Poki brandishes the frozen guard's club in both hands and moves to the center of the room. She crouches down as though ready to spring, and then slowly blends into the shadows, disappearing from view.
Ferrin moves swiftly across the room and brings a leather club down on the guard's head. The blow lands cleanly, and the guard appears to feel the blow.
The guard doesn't even hear Libby's taunt, as he is too preoccupied by the Tiefling in front of him.
Grumblejack lets out a slow groan as the life begins to slip from his body. He appears to still be alive, but only barely.
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guards, Ferrin, Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
Arash rolls away from the guard and over the ogre's fallen form, attempting to put distance between him and the guard. I've got to maintain range! One hand guides his roll, while the other goes to his quiver, pulling an arrow.
Arash rolls over Grumblejack's body straight onto his feet, nocking the arrow and drawing back the bowstring in a smooth motion. He quickly aims and releases the arrow, but he overcompensates for the movement and the arrow strikes the stone wall with a crack as the shaft splinters and twists.
__________________________________________________
Seeing the situation over by the others devolving, Gideon stops what he is doing, opting to instead claim the guard's blade. "This will have to do for now," he mutters as he rushes into combat, stepping over the unconscious ogre.
Arash successfully tumbles nimbly out of the way as Gideon steps forward.
The guard is distracted by Arash tumbling away, and he doesn't take the opportunity to strike as Gideon approaches. Seeing the man standing before him, however, he lashes out with his blade.
The blow lands, but does very little damage to Gideon.
The guard at the top of the stairs turns to Ferrin and strikes out at him with his sword.
The awkward angle on the stairs creates some challenges, though, as he is unable to strike at the nimble rogue.
The other two guards look on helplessly, unwilling to climb the stairs and be vulnerable to attacks.
Ferrin realizes that he's got a real fight ahead of him, and that tougher tactics are called for. Strangely enough, his first act is to drop the club he's holding. As he does so, his long black hair recedes into his skull and his skin begins to turn a pale gray color, appearing to stiffen and taking on a scaly appearance. His hands turn into gnarled claws and a ridged crest appears on the top of his head and down his back, and a long, reptilian tail extends from his spine. When this transformation is complete, he resembles a strange, bipedal lizard, though one that lives in the darkness of the deepest caves - and one that gives off a dank, unpleasant stench.
The troglodyte standing where Ferrin once stood blinks his eyes once, and a second, identical creature appears standing by his side.
Calvin continues laughing madly as Ferrin transforms. He frowns when Arash misses twice, but continues to laugh, hoping to encourage him.
"Spell component pouch here, for...the...where did she go?"
A combination of the darkness, the chaos of the fight and her own activities has meant that the young girl has only partly kept abreast of the changes in the guard room. She peers around the room looking for Poki and finds herself momentarily distracted by the two reptilian creatures.
"I also have what appears to be a healing potion, should anyone need it." she announces, after a pause.
Unable to influence the fight in any way, Libby waits for a gap to appear and - a whispered warning before she does so - slips past her accidental allies and into the cell-block, to continue removing the downed guard's armour.
Poki had intended to try and keep the really big one from bleeding to death, but then the laughing man healed him, so she didn't need to. But at the not-so-quiet girl's words, Poki leaped with joy, and bounded over to her.
"Spell components? Yes, Poki would like a spell component pouch. Please?" Poki's smile practically beamed at her."Or at least something she can use to put them to sleep."
The guard looks disgusted by Ferrin's non-nimble appearance. He doesn't flee, but he looks terrified by the change. That look only increases as Ferrin doubles himself.
Grumblejack's eyes fly open as once again Calvin heals him from certain death. He moves to stand slowly, drawing the attention of the nearby guard, who lashes out at him with his sword. Fortunately, the guard is too distracted by Ferrin's transformation to notice the giant standing, and misses his window for an attack.
Grumblejack wastes no time. He brings his meaty fists down on the guard's head.
for
The guard attempts to stab at him, but moves too slowly. The ogre's fists smash into the man's head. He remains standing, but is very clearly woozy.
Round 10
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guards, Ferrin, Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
"This is the part where you fall down and bleed to death!" Gideon shouts, having shrugged off the bite of the guard's blade. He proceeds to raise his longsword and bring it crashing down over his opponent's head.
"Fall, damn it!" Arash grumbles as he nocks another arrow and takes aim. He curses and flinches as he uses the damaged muscles in his side, throwing off his aim.
______________________________________
Arash's attack sails wide, but serves as a nice distraction as Gideon's attack ends the life of the man standing in front of him - the guard doesn't even whimper as he crashes to the ground.
The remaining guards all step forward - almost as if they don't know what else to do. The guard now in front of Gideon straddles the body of his fallen comrade as he swings at the former paladin's head.
He is unable to get his footing and swings wildly. His sword clangs against the stone wall with such force that he drops the blade to the ground.
The guard dog, seemingly unafraid of the beast standing before it, attempts to sink its teeth into the strange beast's flesh.
The angle proves too challenging, though and he is unable to bite.
The final guard, seeing that there are two beasts where one once stood, goes into total defense as he yells for more guards to come.
Ferrin sees the wounded guard fall under Gideon’s blow, and thinks Good, another one down! We’ve got to get these guards taken care of fast if we’re going to get out of here.
He attacks the guard with a scaly claw, but strikes awkwardly, as if not used to his new form. However, the next blow lands squarely, the claw raking the guard’s shoulder deeply and spinning him to face Ferrin. As one of the mirror images of Ferrin’s pale, lizard-like shape vanishes soundlessly, the remaining one steps forward and sinks its teeth into the guard’s neck. He bites quickly and snaps his head sideways, pulling out a gobbet of flesh and flinging it aside.
Calvin continues laughing madly to keep up the spirits of the archer. "Keep shooting your needles, demon," he says. "You'll hit one soon enough, I'd wager. Maybe aim for the fluffy one. It looks like it'd make a good pin cushion."
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"Let them come. Prove that good doesn't always prevail; that their laws won't protect them."
Once again, the voice of the youth rings out, the magic within making every swing of her allies' weapons strike more true; every hit seem to bite deeper.
Satisfied that her words have woven their web around the hearts of those on her side, Libby passes the much-desired bag to the druid.
"Go and have some fun." she adds, her eyes shining.
The girl then returns to the mundane task of removing the guard's armour.
Poki takes the spell component pouch with trembling hands. "Thank you thank you thank you," she tells the generous girl. Then she bounds back into the room with the fighting.
Poki puts both index fingers to her lips. "Shhhhhhhhh!" she admonishes, and tosses rose petals at the guards. The force of her magic drifts towards her foes along with the petals.
Ferrin's new claws and teeth rip through the guard's armor. The guard falls to the ground in a pool of his own blood - a large chunk of flesh is missing from his neck.
Poki steps forward and utters her spell.
Both of her targets hit the floor, both asleep. Unfortunately, Ferrin is caught in the spell's area of effect and he too falls to the ground for a snooze.
Grumblejack sees his opportunity. He raises his meaty fists and brings them slamming down on the dog's head.
Coup De Grace attack for +
The dog doesn't awake. The blow smashes its head. Grumblejack smiles proudly.
Round 11
Initiative
Arash, Gideon, Guard, Ferrin, Calvin, Libby, Poki, Grumblejack
Wasting no time, Gideon steps over the two corpses before him, making his way to the slumbering guard. Once over his form, he thrusts his sword downward for a killing blow.
Gideon's sowrd plunges through the guard's body. His eyes open, staring up at the paladin in shock. They remain open even as the life leaves his body.
All is still. The sound of the fleeing guard can only barely be heard; his pleas for help get no audible response.
The battle over, Grumblejack turns to Calvin, wrapping him in his meaty arms. "You saved me. Twice. I owe you my life, little 'un. What is your name?"
5 keys to unknown locks
2 keys to the cells
5 longswords
5 chain shirts
5 heavy steel shields
5 leather clubs
5 longbows
100 arrows (minus however many Arash shot)
1 signal horn
All of these are medium-sized.
Additionally, you've each earned 400XP.