Taking cover behind one of the walls in the small room with the ladder Garim whispers to his companions. "We could head back outside and try and enter from one of the other towers. If that half-orc isn't still out there we might be able to come at them from a direction they aren't expecting. Or we could move a couple of barrels down here and use them to create a moving barricade to give us some additional cover."
Garim peeks around from behind the wall to see if the bandits are still behind their makeshift barricade. "We could also try and frighten them out with the use of magic. They were afraid of it before."
"Yes, they were afraid of it," Laya says, nodding. "Unfortunately, I'm down to only the simplest of magic left. I could throw a few more flares at them in the hopes of momentarily--and I do mean momentarily--blinding one of them, but they resisted all my previous attempts to do that. Beyond that, I could determine if they're carrying anything magical or are under magical effects, but given their fear of magic, they're probably not. Not that it would help us much to know anyway. Or I could whisper to them, or even get an idea how valuable--"
She stops suddenly, her mouth stretching to a wide smile. "Garim, that sound you made earlier. Could you do it again? With a combination of that and a message spell to whisper terrifying things at them, we might just be able to scare them out of their wits."
Gerisen nods, "Yes bandits are usually easy enough to scare off, at least initially. If we can get behind their barriers they will soon fall." Gerisen then gets an idea, "Say can we send another smoke bomb then make it sound like we are already behind them?"
Garim shifts uncomfortably for a moment, "Yes... yes I can cause that sound again. Or the sound of something else if need be. I was hoping it would chase them off the first time I did it though."
Ofelio regards the planners seriously, having nothing, really, to add or detract. They know he has strong arms, at least.
Garim takes a deep breath, nodding to Laya and Genisen. "Just give the signal when."
So the plan is to send another smokestick into their ranks and use ghost sound to make them think you've come at them from behind? How are you delivering the smokestick?
"I can try and sneak close enough to throw in the smoke then we can all advance on them without getting filled with arrows. "
"Do we have another smokestick?" Laya asks. "I'm afraid I only had the one. Still, I was just thinking the sounds would be enough."
Still speaking in a whipser, "Not I. We may need to do this without that benefit."
"Are we going to charge in at them at the same time? Do you want my shield till you get up close Ofelio?" Garim offers his shield to the tiefling.
"Only if it means you will be behind me." Ofelio remarks, brows furrowed. "Protection does not bring security when it is taken from someone else."
Still, he takes the shield if it is still proffered, and drinks one of his own potions, leaving only one left, which he will grant to the ranger.
"Its going to take some concentration to make the sounds, but I plan to follow as quickly as I can. I can grab the shield again if you drop it somewhere convenient. Hopefully we simply chase them off though."
"My message spell doesn't require concentration to maintain," Laya says. "Well, apart from the actual speaking, at any rate. So I can use that to help back up the sounds you create by saying scary things to them. Hmmm... Now what exactly should I say?" She mumbles the last sentence to herself.
Ofelio steps out, Garim's shield in hand. The smoke in the bandits' fortified area has cleared, and two of the men call out a warning at your approach.
Arrow 1:
Arrow 2:
Damage:
Both archers fire at Ofelio. One arrow deflects harmlessly off the shield, while the other grazes his neck, drawing a thin line of blood, but the paladin stands firm. Garim casts his spell and the sound of footfalls and a clank of armour come from the eastern passage. Laya uses her spell to send whispers to the bandits' ears, readying the "attack".
"Ambush!" one of the bandits behind the table shouts. He stands up from his crouch and moves to press himself against the eastern wall next to the passageway. The two archers turn their attention to the east as well, moving out from the protection of the walls as they try in vain to find a location that allows them to cover east and west simultaneously.
Genisen to act in this "round".
New initiative: Genisen, Ofelio, Garim, Laya, Bandits
Genisen picks a target and fires an arrow but he rushes the shot and it flies harmlessly into the ground.
Bumping to keep alive...
In that case, Ofelio is up!
Ofelio continues to push forward, at pains to not bellow or snarl wickedly. Still... he really wants to capitulate to the temptation and makes as strange a face as ever during his continued movements until he stopps and utilizes the borrowed shield as best he can.
Garim and Laya.
Garim follows right behind Ofelio, trying to keep the tiefling with his shield between himself and the archers view.
He follows up with another spell to continue sound of booted feet and clanking armor in the opposing passage.
Can I get a group Bluff check from everybody? It's the heat if battle, so I'll average the results rather than take the worst.
Assuming Laya continues to support the ruse through use of ghost sound...
Bandit Sense Motive:
Bandit Sense Motive:
Bandit Sense Motive:
Bandit Sense Motive:
Bandit Sense Motive:
Average 7.6
A couple of the bandits seem a little suspicious, but with their friends buying it hook line and sinker, their doubts disappear.
"Fall back to the north passage!" one calls out. The bandits break from behind the table and head to the north passage in the room.
Laya does indeed continue to support the ruse with ghost sound.
Initiative: Genisen, Ofelio, Garim, Laya, Bandits
While continuing to stay right behind Ofelio, Garim calls out, trying to keep his voice low, "I'm loathe to continue this chase into the next fortified area, though I'm not sure what else we can do. Any ideas?"
"Only bad ones." Ofelio rumbles, continuing on with the shield held high.
"Well, at least we got them to move," Laya says. "It buys us a little time." She starts examining the table and anything else in the area that the bandits left behind. "Now then, they'll eventually gather the courage to come back. Perhaps we can rig some sort of trap for them."
""Or we follow them before they can become entrenched"
Taking a deep breath Garim continues to follow Ofelio, giving chase to the bandits.
Realizing the others are moving on, Laya scurries to catch up. "Wait for me!"
Keeping an arrow at the ready Genisen keeps the chase up ready to shoot the first bandit they see.
Following the bandits through the dark, winding corridor, you see a room similar to the one into which you descended, containing a similar ladder going up through a similar opening in the ceiling. You think it quite likely that you are underneath the north tower.
Standing at the entrance to the room are the three spearmen. Immediately behind them are the two archers. Finally, standing halfway up the ladder and carrying the wounded dog from earlier, is a very angry half-orc with a heavily scarred face.
New initiative:
Bandits:
Half-orc:
Laya:
Garim:
Ofelio:
Genisen:
Order: Genisen, Bandits, Ofelio, Laya, Garim, Half-Orc
The corridor is only five feet wide, and the room is roughly 20 by 20. The three spearmen are standing across the opening, the two archers five feet behind them.
Genisen first wants to shoot the orc, but instead decides to try and take out their ranged attacks. Genisen designates one of the archers as his target and lets loose an arrow.
Genisen's arrow slams into bandit 5, nearly taking him off his feet.
The archers respond with fire at Genisen.
Bandit 5:
Bandit 6:
Both arrows wobble sideways off into the dark behind you. Genisen can tell that, while the bandits are competent, they have no real archery training, and their bows (or arrows) must be just horribly made. It's a wonder they can hit anything at all.
The spearmen ready their spears.
Up next: Ofelio, Laya, Garim, Half-Orc, Genisen, Bandits
"You are poorly equipped. You cannot outlast us!" Ofelio calls out, walking into their midst rather than running, volunteering himself as a pincushion.
Ofelio picks his way through the spear points, knocking them aside with his shield.
Laya is up.
Laya pulls out her sling, but doesn't use it just yet. "He's right, you know," she calls out. "How many times have you had to fall back so far? We can keep the fight going if you want. Then you'll fall back again. You might be able to manage that one or two more times, but in the end, you'll just end up with more casualties. Better to just surrender now."
She readies to use her sling on any of them that makes an attack.
Staying just out of reach of the spears held by the closest bandits Garim watches the half-orc closely.
Thin ribbons of metal stretch out from Garim's shirt sleeve, seeking to entwine themselves around the half-orcs legs. The metal proves brittle though and simple breaks into pieces as soon as the half-orc moves his feet.
Garim, just to clarify since there is no map, at the moment Ofelio is standing just inside the five foot wide hallway. The room opens up in front of him. Right in front of him are three bandits with spears. Behind them are two archers, one almost dead. The half-Orc is up on the ladder. The only way the half-Orc could get next to Ofelio would be to walk through his own line of men to get Ofelio.
The half-orc looks quite unimpressed with the arrival of your group. "Kill them!" he snarls (though you're not quite sure if he's ordering his men to kill you, or suggesting that you kill his men). Either way, he heads up the ladder, still carrying his wounded dog.
Ofelio can take an AoO against the half-orc (or his dog, if you'd rather).
Up next: Ofelio (subject to AoO), Genisen, Bandits, Ofelio, Laya, Garim, Half-orc
Genisen continues his shooting against the same ranged bandit as before.
He does indeed bring down one of the archers.
The three bandits in front of Ofelio each drop their spears, draw their longswords, and attack.
Bandit 1 attack:
Bandit 2 attack:
Damage:
Bandit 3 attack:
The centre bandit plunges his sword deeply into Ofelio's gut. Again, the paladin looks ready to fall.
The last archer targets Genisen.
Attack:
The wobbly arrow glances off the archer's armour.
Up next: Ofelio (AoO and normal actions), Laya, Garim, Half-Orc, Genisen, Bandits
Ofelio tries to take out the fleeing orc, but his weapon veers to the left. He makes a thoughtful urking sound which changes into a strangled cough as the blade catches in his flesh.
"Hm. Their swords seem to be working well enough." He points out unnecessarily, using the shield with more gusto, if only to continue plugging the passage so as to not allow the people behind him to be cut to ribbons.