Muqaq reaches up and yanks down on one of the tapestries as hard as he can.
At a signal from Muqaq, tapestries get ripped down on each side of the entrance to the sanctuary. A small voice squeaks from somewhere in the darkness, from the far end of the sanctuary, beyond the range of your darkvision.
Gin = 10
Muqaq = 9
Sati = 16
Mohgwier = 11
Seif = 7
Tarin = 11
Xanyon = 19
Inititives:
Gin = 14
Muqaq = 7
Sati = 17
Mohgwier = 9
Seif ; = 12
Tarin = 6
Xanyon = 11
The badguys
As the heavy cloths settle on the ground, the squeak that came from the far end of the hall is followed by a grunt, and then a heavy *thwack!* sound echoes forth.
Almost simultaneous with the sound, something speeds out of the darkness and slams into Muqaq. . A heavy bolt, from some sort of crossbow, now sticks out of his chest.
A tiny voice can be heard in the dark, "Je sisi kumtwanga?"
A short set of wide ceremonial steps leads down to a cavernous chapel in which the congregants would gather for sermons in happier times. The vibrant orange and red starburst of Sarenrae still stands behind a film of rusted rainwater and dirt along the north wall overlooking the collapsed altar. Between the stairs and the altar stand dozens of old wooden benches, many overturned and even more broken into two or more pieces. A wide walkway bisects the pews, leading directly to the raised altar. Here and there a few clumps of the original red carpet along this thoroughfare hang on against rot and neglect.
Above the center of the chapel, dangling about ten feet from the floor, hangs a cluster of gnoll skulls in various stages of decay. Strung together like a ghoulish candelabra of twine and bone, the boulder-sized ornament hangs from the wooden rafters about twenty feet above the ground. Slight movement can be seen within.
Round 1:
"Ranged fighters target the rope holding up those skulls."
"Ranged fighters target the rope holding up those skulls."
When the bolt slammed into his magical armor barely avoiding a serious wound Muqaq sprang nearly a foot into the air in surprise, "Oh sh*t!" escapes his lips before he can regain control, ducking low to make himself a smaller target.
"Watch the steps, they're wet for some reason.
Seif-al-Din stares in abject horror at what has been done to the Sanctuary.
"Nini shetani wale damn panya kidogo wamekuwa wakifanya katika hapa? Mimi utaona kwamba wao kuchoma!"
He then gingerly begins to pick his way through the room...
Sati takes what careful aim she can, aiming for the ropes, just above the lowered bone cage. When ready, she looses her shot.
Mohgwier jumps up onto the marble dais in front of her on the stairs. She silently hopes the cretin that have befouled this place overlooked this particular path when planting their spikes.
She stumbles and can't seem to get purchase on the slick stone, and so grabs with her front paws and pulls herself up instead.
She'll move and jump to the first row of in tact pews. (R13)
Tarin leaps through the tapestry and moves into the room in a direct line .
Tarin swivels his head, looking for targets.
Gin slips carefully down the stairs and over to P13.
Acrobatics if I need it:
roll 2:
Round 1
HP = 13/13
AC = 17/13/14
Weapon Equipped = Pistol
Grit = 2/2
Orc Ferocity = 1/1
Bullets = 48/50
Black Powder = 48/50
Alchemical cartridge (paper) = 18/20
Speed = 20' (30' normal)
Status Effects = None
Hearing Muqaq's order Xanyon takes careful aim at the ropes.
Round 1:
Sati takes aim at the rope holding the little chamber fashioned from skulls that hangs from the middle of the rafters. Unfortunately, the shot goes wide, but you here a squeak of fright from within the chamber all the same.
Gin steps down onto the steps and instantly realizes the reason they looked wet to Xanyon; they are covered in a slick, dark grease. He nearly looses his balance and goes down, which would mean falling onto the conveniently placed spikes at the bottom, but he recovers enough to get down the steps, if a bit awkwardly, and get around the first rank of spikes at the bottom.
Seif moves quickly to charge up the center. . As soon as his feet meet the steps however, they shoot out from under him, and he slides down the steps and into the hodge podge pile of spikes and wooden shrapnel.
Xanyon takes aim with his pistol and fires off a shot, the sharp crack reverberating through the large open chamber. The shot fails to connect, but brings another cry of distress from the cage.
Mohgwier at first jumps, and then scrambles up to the top of a marble dais, before leaping across the open space. Her footing unsure, she lands short of where she aimed, and stands on a broken pew instead of an intact one.
The Pugwampis can be heard scampering in a few places, and the sound of their clawed feet on wood can be heard throughout the rafters above. The ones at the far end can be heard struggling with something and shouting, "Tandika, tandika!" . The creature in the cage takes action, and one of the tiny spine-like arrows the creature's fire shoots out at Seif, looking vulnerable as he does. . The arrow hits, inflicting a trifling wound. . Three come to the edge of a platform in the rafters, a choir box by the look of it. They each take aim, and loose one of their tiny arrows at the three interlopers who have entered the sanctuary. , , .
Muqaq ducks down to make himself a lower target, noting with annoyance that the gremlins on the choir platform are probably just out of reach of his firebolt.
Tarin moves into the room, landing next to Mohgwier. He then covers himself in a spell of divine protection.
Round 2
Map -
Round 1
Muqaq will try to clamber over the black marble altar in front of him to get close enough to the gremlins to use his magic.
Round 2
Muqaq will again attempt to scramble over the marble altar again.
He will continue to advance up the left side of the sanctuary as far as he can make it over the spikes and pews.
Cursing the little rat-men in a voice that sounds like a roaring flame, Seif-al-Din gets to his feet, and begins to move forward.
The hooded Brother skirts around the edge of the room, blade ready, honing in inexorably on the beasts at the altar.
[Double move to AA11. Do I need any checks to go over pews? Here's some just in case:[/ooc]
Round 2
HP = 13/13
AC = 17/13/14
Weapon Equipped = Pistol
Grit = 2/2
Orc Ferocity = 1/1
Bullets = 47/50
Black Powder = 47/50
Alchemical cartridge (paper) = 18/20
Speed = 20' (30' normal)
Status Effects = None
Unsure what Seif and Gin have planned Xanyon continues following his last orders from Muqaq and once again takes aim at the ropes.
Not feeling she's a good enough shot to hit the rope, Sati changes her aim and draws a bead on the gremlin on the corner of the choir balcony.
; ;
With an exasperated sigh at the unlucky, ill-timed shot, Sati reloads again.
Mohgwier moves over the pews, moving to get around the side of the aisle, trying to get to even ground again.
Once there, if she makes it, she dashes up the aisle, around the curve of the sanctuary as far as she can go, headed for the raised platform at the far end, and the pugwampi voices originating there.
Sati, despite aiming for an easier target, misses the Pugwampi at the edge of the choir platform.
Gin moves swiftly, dancing across the tips if the pews in order to get to the aisle. . He manages pretty easily and hops down into the aisle. . Just before landing, he spots something suspicious laying beneath the rest of the detritus on the aisle floor and tries to land to avoid it. . He lands with his feet spread, and gets a better look at what appears to be a large metal toothed trap on the floor, set to snap at the ankle of anyone who steps down without looking.
"Bear traps, hidden under the garbage. Watch your steps!"
He then moves off down the aisle, towards the sounds at the end of the sanctuary. As he gets closer to the end, two pugwampis come onto view of his darkvision, wrestling with reloading a heavy crossbow clearly too large for them, but fixed to the alter on a swivel, not unlike a miniature bolista.
Seif stands, pulling a few bloody, splintery shards of wood from himself as he does so. (S11) Ignan curses spouting from him as he does so, he hops over the back of a pew and moves to the centre aisle. Just then he hear's Gin's warning and looks out the ground in the aisle so see if more traps are laid out there. . He spots one right at the end of his pew, and so drops down onto the ground beside it to the north (S8), before rising with another step towards the dais (T8).
"More of the traps here," he calls to anyone following behind him.
Xanyon takes aim again with his pistol. The massive thundercrack of the firearm echoes out again, and the bullet tears through the rope holding up the cage built of skulls and bones. A terrified, squeaking scream is heard as the thing falls to the ground, 20 ft below. The bones break, and the cage as a whole shatters when it impacts, just a few feet in front of Seif. . There, in front of Seif, lays a tiny, moaning and dazed gremlin creature, entangled in the remains of the structure.
Mohgwier moves over the pews, more awkwardly than she might otherwise, during less unbalanced circumstances. She makes it to the aisle, jumping clear of the traps pointed out by Gin. She then runs around the edge of the sanctuary, headed for the front of the room.
The Pugwampis gear up for action, with a series of more terrified squeaks and shrieks. The two on the dais swivel their now reloaded crossbow, aiming for the most imminent, and therefore dangerous, target. Once leveled at Gin, one pulls the release, and a quarrel is sent streaking towards the monk. . It hits the Undine with a fleshy thwack, slowing him for an instant.
The three visible on the choir platform take aim at various targets, two at Seif (closest) and one at Xanyon (loudest). , . All three miss.
As targets emerge beneath them, someone, or multiple someone's on the eastern choir platform drop heavy loads down upon the now injured monk and savage looking eidelon. , . A pile of rocks, and a sluce of black grease, like that which spilled on Tarin earlier, fly down from above, but miss their intended targets, having been thrown too late.
Muqaq stumbles up and over the marble alter, with some small difficulty. Dropping down on the other side, he finds himself clear of the grease trap, and on relatively dry, though filthy, ground. He begins climbing over the pews in order to allow himself to maneuver around the awkward stack of spikes before him. . He scans the ground ahead of him for signs of more traps, but as the ground appearing to be just more garbage, he hops down into the west aisle (S1). His foot comes down on something metal, and though he tries to pull back quickly, metal jaws clamp shut on his ankle. A sharp click, and the hot lance of pain that shoots through the leg makes it feel at though something might have broken as well.
Gin makes his way down the the isle looking for traps, trying to get to the two gremlins that tired to take a shot at him.
Assuming that he is close enough (which I doubt as they just barely came into view, unless they are chargeable):
Attack1:
Unlucky Reroll:
Round 3
Muqaq will grit his teeth and continue forward.
Round 3
HP = 13/13
AC = 18/14/14
Weapon Equipped = Pistol
Grit = 2/2
Orc Ferocity = 1/1
Bullets = 46/50
Black Powder = 46/50
Alchemical cartridge (paper) = 18/20
Speed = 30'
Status Effects = None
Xanyon's tongue sticks out slightly as he reloads his pistol and taks aim at the creature that attempted to hit him.
Sari takes aim again and takes another shot with her crossbow.
Mohgwier dashes up the stairs and moves to attack one of the creatures by the alter.
Round 3:
Sati takes aim and looses another bolt, cursing under her breath as the bolt sails over their heads and sinks into a wooden beam of the domed structure behind them.
Gin dashes up the stairs to the side of the gremlins manning the crossbow and lashes out with a blow. His blow lands and he feels the tiny body crunch as ribs and bones snap under the force of his giant fist. The little body flies through the air, bounces, and lies still.
Seif steps forward and swings his massive blade like a polo club, aiming to finish off the creature who fell with the cage. . The blow connects, and the gremlin's head and one arm spin off from the rest of the body, his little arrows spilling from his quiver all over the ground.
Xanyon takes a shot with his pistol, but takes a chunk off of a choir bench instead of hitting any of the enemies.
Mohgwier runs up the stairs behind Gin, and maneuvering around him takes a bite at the other pugwampi. His fangs sink deep, and blood flows out from the punctures. The creature gasps and slumps against the alter, still standing, and still somewhat alive.
The Pugwampi bitten by Mohgwier cries out feebly, and tries to run, moving for the west side of the sanctuary. Those above Tarin on the east choir balcony continue to drop things on him, hoping to brain him with rocks and hunks of wood. . All the debris falls pitifully short of where Tarin is standing. The Archers on the west balcony continue their barrage, repeating their shots at their last targets. , . All the shots fail to even hit their intended targets.
Muqaq continues moving forward, dragging the heavy trap and its chain along with him.
Tarin see the Pugwampi running from the stage and sees a way to head him off. Charging straight ahead he meets the creature as it hits the bottom of the dais stairs. , . He meets the creature in mid stride, and bringing his sword down, splits the little monster in two.
Round 4:
Round 4
HP = 13/13
AC = 18/14/14
Weapon Equipped = Pistol
Grit = 2/2
Orc Ferocity = 1/1
Bullets = 45/50
Black Powder = 45/50
Alchemical cartridge (paper) = 18/20
Speed = 30'
Status Effects = None
Crippled by the curse but unable to close fast enough Xanyon returns fire with the pugwampi attempting to kill him.
Shaking the Pugwampi's blood from his curved blade, Seif-al-Din ducks reflexively as tiny arrows pepper the pews around him.
Narrowing his eyes, he heads towards the ladder leading up to the ceiling, shouting a challenge in a voice like roaring flame.
"Mimi nitakuona panya kidogo isyo kwa hili!"