DM Salsa Presents: The Curse of the Crimson Throne (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

Though the rain appears to not bother her even the slightest, the events unfolding around give the young warrior pause.

Glancing over at Cal with a nod, Elise adds "You might very well be right, it could be a trap," pausing and looking over her shoulder with a shrug, Elise grins "but let's follow it anyway."

Drawing her sword, Elise begins to heading after their charge with determination, and yet secretly trepidations at the thought of vigilante action.

Catching Mercy's gesture, he returns an uncertain smile, nodding to say I'm OK. He dons his shield and draws his scimitar, the trail of blood certain to lead them to a confrontation. He walks directly behind the 'front line' people of the party, staying out of the way of the more able fighters. He glances at Zev and smiles.

"It's amazing what a couple of days can do, isn't it? The sun will rise every morning, and the light will always defeat the darkness, but those are the only guarantees beyond death. Two days ago I was hearing the confessions of minor sinners and performing the evening service under a supervising senior cleric. The King has died. Today we are helping to hunt those who would prey upon the weak. A surprising turn of events, no?" He chuckles without mirth.

Nicoletta is at the front - while not heavily armed or armoured, her rapier and leathers fill her with an over-inflated sense of confidence, as does the memory of stabbing through Lamm's henchmen. She flicks her wrist a few times, sending the blade through the air with a whispering of faint wind, pointing at the arteries of an invisible person before her. Neck, thigh, arm. The eye. The heart. The wrist.

"If it's a trap, at least we're aware of the possibility," she shrugs, lowering the weapon but keeping it drawn. She pulls her cloak back across her shoulders with a small shiver, cursing the cold, staying in front of Paulus - if she got cut open again, he was the man she wanted at her back. At the priest's words, she chuckles, looking over her shoulder at him briefly.

"Funny how life works out, isn't it?" she grins. "At least we're doing something good with our time."

The trail leads to a group of abandoned warehouses on the western shore of the Jeggare River. The rain begins to fall more heavily, quickly washing the trail away. Fortunately, it appears that it is no longer needed.

"Damn b~!##!" a surly voice can be heard. "Not only does she blame us for losing that cunt from the guard, but she has us out here freezing out asses off!"

"Better not let Ruby hear you say that. Remember Polk? She caught him mouthing off and ripped his balls off." The second voice isn't as surly, but it does carry the weight of experience.

"Bah, there's no way she did that!"

"I was there, dumbass. After she ripped them off, she shoved them down his throat. So watch that fat mouth of yours, although I bet you won't choke to death like he did if that happens to you."

I'll have a map up tomorrow. In the meantime, feel free to roll for initiative and post what your pre-battle prep is.

With a raised eyebrow towards Paulus and Nic, Elise adds passively as though her mind is elsewhere "Yes, life is full of surprises..." Coming on the warehouses, Elise looks to the others and mouths the words "Ready?"

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

With a toothy grin, Nic nods back at Elise. Ready, she mouths, gesturing with her rapier.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 And how ready!

"Seems a bit too convenient to find these two blabbing for us to hear," Annabelle whispers as she reaches for her bow.

Initiative 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (17) + 3 = 20

Rhasuel brings his spear to readiness and nods to Nic.

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

The priest thinks about it, then discards the idea of preparatory spells. If it was just these two fools, he had no doubts his companions would overwhelm them in short order without his assistance. He simply nods to Elise, preparing himself for the mad dash sure to come.

Initiative 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7

Zev isn't certain enough that this is their target, so he waits to see if Paul will take any hostile actions.

Appropriate, considering they have the same init.

Initiative:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Calcedon pulls his sword from his scabbard quietly and whispers:
"In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger."

Ready action to Inspire Courage (act) when the first person charges, I'm guessing that's going to be Nic. If I can't ready an action, I suppose I'll just go on my turn.

Mercy smiles grimly at the interplay and comments of her companions.

As she draws her own scimitar and readies her shield, Mercy recounts a simple prayer of her order; one taught early to novice paladins, yet which still remained a favourite of the holy warrior:

Be a beacon in the darkness
Be a bulwark in the fight
Be both stalwart and merciful
Be the Dawnflower's martial light

Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

Decker Init: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Map is here. You get the surprise round and the first round to act. Also, can each of you pick out an image that best represents your character? I'd like to use them for tokens.

Rhasuel moves in behind Nic and intends attack her target, though the men were much further away than he thought. It might take a few crucial seconds to get at the men.

Attack, just in case: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Paulus moves behind the front line, quickly scanning the area and realizing that any of the doors around the men were capable of holding more combatants. "Secure the doors around them!"

As the rush of his allies flows towards the two beleaguered men, he firmly states, "You would do well to lay down your arms and surrender."

Schrodinger's post! (Since she's not going to go attacking if they "lay down their arms and surrender".)

Either way, surprise round action will be to move around the corner and into the room.

Surprise round:
Zeverin moves out of the alleyway and into the open space.

Move action to get closer.

Round 1:
Once he sees the space, he can tell he won't get to either of the two in time. He instead decides to cover the two southern doors in case someone emerges.

Double-move to the corner between the two south doors, watching them both.

Taking Paulus' cue, Annabelle moves forward to cover the doors. Drawing her bow taught, she cries out "You're covered on all sides! Give it up!"

Two move actions in the surprise round, covering the doors that Zev isn't.

Holding action to take a shot should anyone emerge from said doors.

Attack (if needed) 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 24 if human

Elise follows the others in the initiative, so her action will be predicated on whether Nicoletta charges - if they surrender, Elise will enter the ally with shield drawn, fighting defensively should it be a trap; if they don't and Nic attacks, see action below.

"Nic wait...!" Watching Nicoletta charge out, Elise sighs and joins the assault while muttering to herself "We haven't secured the exits..."

Charge attack: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 2 = 25
Confirm Critical: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 2 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10
Critical Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Well, if combat ensues, Elise is off to a good start. Whichever target Nicoletta hits, Elise will go for the other.

Calcedon and Mercy, are you going to go?

Both men go for weapons as the party makes themselves known.

"You picked the wrong guys to screw wit-- ARGH YOU B*!&*!"

"F$#~! WE'VE GOT F#~@ING SHITS TAKING OUR TURF!"

Both men scream as Nic and Elise go after them, followed by Rhasuel.

Map link: Dockside Decker Hideout
Also, these guys are screwed up in the head, They're going to fight, so I went ahead and applied your attacks.

Mercy posted on Friday that the player is still slammed at work. Calcedon readied an action to Inspire Courage.

Are we up now? As in, all their turns were to pour out the doors, and now it's top of round 2?

One thug opened the door allowing the other to move out to where you see them. I'm working on the post with their actions right now.

Okay, cool. I was watching as they all got different rainbow borders on the map :)
Also, I need to put Zev in better armor, his AC does not bode well with being flanked.

Yeah, and I gotta go back and do that on the RotRL map I did.Makes it much easier to keep track of them. :D
Sorry for the delay. Internet at home was being a pain in the tookus.

Zeverin: 20 points of damage.
Elise: 5 points of damage.
Mercy moves up to help Zeverin cover the doors, which turns out to be a good thing as more of the thugs come spilling out.

Two of the thugs come from every door, one opening it, and the other rushing out to beat back the assault. The two of them rush up to Zeverin and flank him. The alchemist goes down as both of them score devastating blows, adding two wounds to his belly.

Elise finds herself in a similar situation. The thug she attacked draws his blade and manages to gash her leg.

"Idiot!" one of the newcomers cries out, "Keep the b@$#&es alive!"

The two that flank the paladin have much less success in their attacks, apparently trying to keep from killing her by accident.

Rhasuel steps back and engages. This was going poorly quickly.

Attack on green, inspired: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 1 = 19
damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

In response to the slurs, Nic yells back some choice words of her own, putting to use the tongue that earned her more than one belting from her father, even as she stabs out again.

I'll attack green; if Rhasuel takes him down first, I'll 5-foot step and go for aqua.
Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
Damage: 1d6 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

If anyone attacks me, I'll use opportune parry and riposte.
Pre-rolling parry: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20
Pre-rolling riposte: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Bluh. Fail.

Between Nicoletta's and Rhasuel's savage assault, one of the thugs goes down with a gurgle.

Paulus keeps his calm and focus as his friend goes down under a vicious assault. He moves forward to assist Mercy, calling upon Sarenrae to assist himself and his companions.

Can't see the map at work. :( Please move me towards Mercy. At the end of movement will cast Bless (50 ft burst centered on me). If angling slightly away from the straightest approach will catch more allies, please do so.

Done, Everyone is now under the effects of Bless

Calcedon saw Zev drop out of the corner of his eye. He ran over to check on him when one of his assailants made a move. Acting on instinct he swung his sword out wide and cut deep into flesh. Not bothering to watch the man react to the sword in his neck, he turned his eyes on Zev. "Stay with us man, help is on the way."

Attack on Yellow guy:1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 2 = 24
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
Confirmation: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Continue performance
Heal (how bad is he doc?): 1d20 ⇒ 17

The bard, realizing the dire situation in front of him readies a spell and hums his healing tune. Hopefully it would not be too late.

Cure Light Wounds 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
Well, you won't bleed out like that.

Initiative 10: CONDITIONS: Blessed

Seeing hardy Zev going down under the thug's weapons galvanises Mercy and the holy warrior moves quickly to engage those who would butcher her friend;

"This one is ours scum! He's not for the Boneyard this day! Not for the Boneyard by your hands!"

5ft Step and engage "red" thug with lethal force

Silvered Scimitar (Melee): 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 3 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5

Is it round 2 yet? Who still needs to go?

Yes, it is Round 2.
I think it's just Elise and Annabelle at this point.

Annabelle swiftly takes out an arrow and lets fly at the thug she'd hit earlier.

Teal, again!

Ranged: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6 +8 if human...
damage: 1d8 ⇒ 3 +5 if human...

Blast...

In the interest of staying alive, Elise will fight defensively which will push her Armorclass to 22 until next round.

Realizing the precariousness of her position, Elise's combat training kicks in as she suddenly takes a defensive stance. Sword in hand, she makes a methodical strike at the decker she had already struck.

Attack Roll, defensive fighting: 1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 19
Longsword Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Since the Blue Decker has only 3HP left, I'm going to assume that strikes him down, at which point Elise will take a 5' step back west to try and prevent further flanking.

Orc Ferocity for the... win? How about for the vengeance? Do we have Inspire courage and Bless?

As the men rush out, Zev and all the others are shocked to see him get stabbed hard by two of the thugs. He begins to slump against the wall, the life fading from his eyes. Suddenly his orcish blood takes over. He growls and snorts, his eyes grow big and red. He stands upright, sidesteps over to place one of his attackers between himself and Mercy. Roaring with fury he swings his greataxe hard.

After delivering his vengeful swing, his knees wobble and he looks at Mercy, points to his pouch, and mumbles "Use the red one on me..." Before falling to the ground.

Orc Ferocity, disabled for this round
5' step to flank with Mercy
Attack Decker 4 (red) 1d20 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1 = 22,
damage 1d12 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 1 = 14 plus SA 1d6 ⇒ 4
(if we don't have inspire, remove 1 from each roll)

So I took 20, got healed by Calc for 2, then lose one for attacking while disabled with ferocity?

Oh, yeah, forgot about that. Yes that sounds right. Zev's on the ground and unconscious, but not bleeding out.

"F~%*in' A, this prick is a 'ealer!" One of the thugs yells as he moves from the door and tries to flank Calcedon. Even though his fellow keels over after failing to hurt Mercy, he manages to give the bard a long, deep gash on his arm.

"Where'd'ya think you're goin' my pretty. If you're lucky, maybe Ruby will let me play with ya some." one of the thugs says as he moves to flank Elise. His attack, like the one on Mercy, misses.

Not to say that all of the attacks on Mercy and Elise are ineffective. Both of them receive bleeding gashes as two of the thugs get lucky.

Calcedon, Elise, and Mercy all take 7 damage each.

Rhasuel attempts to relieve some of the pressure on Elise.
attack+bless+inspire: 1d20 + 3 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 3 + 1 + 1 = 15
damage: 1d8 + 4 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 1 = 6

Forgot about inspire. Anyway, Elise will focus on the guy Rhasuel just hit; she'll move over his body once it hits the ground in a 5' step. My fault for hyper-extending too far, but doubtful Elise survives another round of that... nevertheless, here goes nothing.

If somebody strikes at Teal (#7) before Elise in the initiative, she'll dish out to one of the others before moving (light blue, or magenta in that order). AC is still 22.

"Hell will freeze over before you ever lay your hands on me."

Growing desperate, yet somehow still keeping her wits about her, Elise strikes at the Decker who is busy with Rhasuel, hoping to fell him and reduce the number of attackers on her.

Attack Roll, Inspire + Bless, Defensive Fighting: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 21
Confirm: 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 1 + 1 - 4 = 9

Longsword Damage: 1d8 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 2 + 1 = 10

Striking him down, she moves up beside Rhasuel, continuing on defensive. Her breathing more labored now, Elise suddenly begins to fear the worst. There are just too many of them...

Paulus smiles grimly as Zev finds a reserve and manages to put another of their attackers down. Seeing that the two men still up on their side (Cal, Paul, Zev, & Mercy) were relatively uninjured, he channels positive energy, feeling Sarenrae's mercy flowing through him, mending the wounds of all within his range except for the two dying thugs. He then slides to his left, waving his scimitar at the bandit in front of him, attempting to distract him from Calcedon.

Channel Energy: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Channel Energy where I am right now. Should catch Annabelle, Calcedon, Mercy, Zev, and the two upright thugs over here. Selective Channeling to exclude our two downed bandits. Moving 5 ft to the right (Paul's left) to set up a flank with Cal.

Which two?

The two between Mercy, Zev, and Cal who are already down. I don't want them to reenter the fight.

As I understand it, Decker 3 (dark red) and 6 (orange) are getting the healing. Decker 4 (red) and 5 (yellow) are not.