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As Midge and Kioshi desperately search through the chaos of the office, finding the right key without any sort of idea of where to start seems hopeless. It doesn't take either of them long to realize that finding it in any sort of timely fashion is likely impossible, and Becher seems to have faded out again, and is no help at all in offering suggestions on where it might be.
At Londo's suggestion, Marcus digs around in his pack, and produces not only some parchment, but an official signet ring for his family, and even some sealing wax, and the two of them go to work trying to make at least a semblance of a fake document, though it is obvious it would not pass even the most cursory of inspections.
All the while, you try to secure the doors by lowering the wooden braces... or at least the two nearby.
Even as they work, they can hear men starting to beat on the southern doorway, attempting to force it open as well.
Marcus starts calling back to Grald outside, pretending to be making a claim to the land as well, though he knows that the proclamation that the soldiers are taking advantage of is only available to members of the Taldan military. Londo's words a moment later seem slightly more plausible, if somewhat contradictory... Luckily though, the men outside don't seem to make that connection, and you can hear Kretchmoor calling back after a moment, thoughtfully.
"Pathfinders? I've heard of you lot." He shouts. "Dunno how you got yourselves caught up with that drunken fool, but you know as well as I that whatever document he's showing you isn't worth the paper it's printed on! The Crown says these lands belong to Taldor now, not foreign interests!"
"But... if it's a lodge you want, I'd be happy to help arrange that once the land is mine, and Becher has been taken care of!" He adds. "As soon-to-be nobility, I see no reason not to be magnanimous! Just open the doors and hand over that sot, and we can sort all of this out so everyone's happy!"
Even as he talks, you think you can hear the muffled sound of more banging coming from the distilling room to the north, though that group hasn't managed to get in yet. The also start to see cracks in the main door, the men there tying to hack their way through it, though it continues to hold, but not for much longer!
Of course, all of that becomes moot, a moment later, when the southern door splinters, the wooden board Marcus set in place breaking like it was kindling, bursting inward. Two somewhat surprised soldiers stumble in through the opening. They both recover quickly, bringing their weapons to bear. One calls for everyone to lay down their arms and surrender, and the other shouts back that they've breached the building! The first smashes Marcus in the face with the hilt of his blade to emphasize his point, sending the Taldan man rocking backwards from the blow, his mouth suddenly filled with the salty taste of blood from a split lip.
- Round 1 ------
The Party's turn to respond!
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Up until now, Fifi would have stayed put, trying to help with Marcus' and Londo's idea, but failing to come up with a good plan, since she has no idea of Taldan nor human politics.
Seeing the two soldiers attack Marcus, Fifi's flame lights up in zeal "You think you can just take whatever you want because you have the muscle to take it? You call yourself the law, yet you act like bullies and warmongers."-she says while procuring her scimitar and dashing towards the man that injured Marcus.
She holds out her scimitar between her and the soldier, looking for an opening-"The law should be upheld in peace and kindness, and it is certainly not brave to hit an unarmed man! I will not let you harm my friends and go unpunished!"
She goes for a lunge, aiming to parry the soldier's lance and go for a hit at his forearm.
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Londo wastes no time addressing the enemy group before him and quickly projects onto them the horrors of what Londo has seen. The human carnage wrought by the vicious pogroms of the Third Crusade. The good men and women viciously slaughtering innocents because they were "possessed".
He placed these men into that situation as the innocents. Showed them what it was like.
Zarisha plays into these fantasies, playing up herself into the shape and form of a Crusader her fists delivering punishment.
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Marcus chuckles as he his eyes refocus. "Hrmmm... yes... I do believe that your action was against proper dueling procedure... but if you insist on this style of duel..."
He kicks up a handful of splinters from the damaged door, adds some of his own spit and smacks it across the nearest thug's face.
With that he casually walks over to the door to assist Masym, drawing his blade as he saunters over. "Quite magnanimous indeed. Would you care to see our paperwork before or after your thugs are all in dire need of medical attention? If I do recall, the cleric's bill will be going to you as their de-facto leader after all."
[dice]1d8+4
The two breaching phalanx soldiers' moment of bravado is very short lived. No sooner have they stepped into the taproom, one of them giving Marcus a shot to the head, then Fifi steps right back up to them, and clocks the offender in the chin with the hilt of her own blade. He stumbles backwards, his eyes rolling back in his head, and crumples to the ground.
Midge and Kioshi, up in the loft, both start to cast spells. Kioshi tries to lob a small glob of arcane acid into the fray, though has a hard time targeting. Midge's spell proves to be more involved, as she begins a larger incantation.
Below, the second soldier gets a grim look of determination on his face as his partner falls... though that look quickly turns to one of trepidation, then fear, as his mind is suddenly assaulted by Londo's psychic powers. But even those fears prove nothing compared to the pure terror that descends on him a moment later, when the ghostly form of Zarisha advances and begins to wail on him with her ectoplasmic fists. The first blow sends him reeling, as he almost starts weeping, and the fearful cry that follows is suddenly cut short, as her second blow lands with a resounding thud... sending him to the ground beside his fellow, a slow puddle of yellow liquid slowly forming beneath him where he lay.
Outside, Grald responds with a snarl as his soldiers continue to fail to breach the main door. He steps forward and kicks the door with a heavy booted foot, first once, then a second time. Already heavily damaged, it is finally too, and the wood buckles and collapses.
One of the soldiers immediately steps through the door, on guard... only to take Masym's readied spear through the shoulder! As he staggers back, Marcus kicks up a bunch of the broken splinters, right into his face. With a startled yelp, one hand goes to his face, while the other waves his sword trying to fend off attackers he can no longer see.
Elsewhere you hear the other soldiers still trying to breach the distillery door and you think you can hear others trying to pry off boards on one of the walls on the northeast end.
- Round 2 ------
Party is up again!
Marcus steps up to the guard, who is desperately trying to clear his vision, intent on impertinently grabbing the man's weapon for himself. Unfortunately, he overestimates his maneuver, or perhaps underestimates the veteran soldiers ability to work with the handicap. With a snarl, the man manages to clear enough of his vision to react, bringing his weapon around in a vicious slash, nearly taking the Taldan's hand off at the wrist!
He gives a sneer of victory, and starts to offer up a retort to Marcus' haughty words... but as he does so Kioshi summons another small ball of arcane acid... and this time lines up his target perfectly, sending the caustic missile right into the man's open mouth!
Whatever he was about to say is suddenly cut off by pained screams, and his sword falls from his hand anyway... as he collapses to the ground, writhing violently for a moment, before laying still. Masym then steps over his slightly smoking form, daring Grald to step into the fray, while at the same time coordinating his companions' attacks!
- Round 2 ------
Bold (aka, Londo, Fifi, and Midge) to go!
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Midge suddenly thrusts both of her arms up above her head causing a glowing portal to appear in the air for a split second between Kioshi and Marcus. Flying forth from the portal is a glowing silvery-blue eagle. It lets out a cry and soars into battle against the nearest enemy, the soldier in the purple scarf.
Then Midge draws her morningstar and hurries back down the steps.
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Assuming the others have the main door covered, Fifi hurries past, hoping to cut off any threats that might breach from the distillery. Even as she moves that way, the sounds of the men banging on the door leading into that area changes, and she hears them shouting, sounding like they have indeed managed to get through the outer doors... though they seem a little overly excited about it.
As the young paladin moves to guard the northern end of the taproom, Midge finishes her spell on the southern side, calling forth an avian helper from the celestial realms to assist. It immediately dives down on the nearest soldier, sharp beak tearing at his eyes, though he fends it off. The little halfling then hurries down the stairs, following Kioshi's to the main floor. Nearby, Londo once again uses his psychic power to bring forth terrifying images and cast them into the mind of an unsuspecting soldier. The man suddenly starts looking around fearfully, suddenly no longer caring about the eagle trying to tear at his face, his eyes wide at terrors only he (and Londo) can fathom. He slowly takes a couple of steps backwards, much to the annoyance of Grald who is trying to get him to press the attack. Instead, the soldier turns, and flees off into the darkness!
Grald calls a few choice words after him, but doesn't retreat, instead turning his attention to Masym.
"So be it." He growls. "Men, to me!"
Though he holds a sword ready in his hand, it is the other hand that strikes out, lightning fast, catching Masym across the temple . The blow sends him reeling, and he almost blacks out for a moment. Before he can recover, Grald strikes out at him again, hitting him hard in the throat, the crunching sound audible even from the back of the room!
Something's definitely going on out there.
The soldiers that sounded like they were trying to tear the boards off the northeast wall, seem to stop, and you hear rapid boot steps running south along the outside of the distillery.
- Round 3 ------
Party is up!
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Fifi, unsure on what is happening, decides to dash for the door.
"I'll try to see what's happening here! Focus on the boss!"-the ifrit paladin says while she smacks into the right-most door.
As she runs, she hears the distant sound and yells-"Guys! I don't this is all the trouble we've got on our hands! I think something out there is attacking the village, and I don't think it's soldiers!"
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He begins to deliver a sound tongue lashing as he prepares for his next physical lashing.
"Fie! You think you have what it takes to maintain an estate when you can't even control your own men?"
He lunges with his blade, but deliberately misses, instead taking advantage of Grald's evasive action to grab hold of his shirt, pulling it up over his eyes.
"Next time it will be your pantaloons!"
He motions to Masym to move around for a flank.
As Fifi makes a break for the doors to the distillery room, Marcus tries his dirty tricks on Grald... but the captain of the Taldan Legion is a veteran of many battles, and not so easily tricked by juvenile classroom antics . He bats Marcus's hands away with a disdainful flip of his blade, nearly finishing the job his man did earlier at amputating the offending limb.
- Round 3 ------
Bold still to go! (Londo, Midge, Masym, and Kioshi!)
As Kioshi continues throwing small globs of arcane acid, his aim also continues to prove deadly accurate. Despite the chaotic melee in the doorway, he manage to strike Grald with some of the caustic fluid, burning a small furrow along the Legion leader's shoulder. But acidic missiles are the least of the man's concern at the moment, as he tries to cut down Masym who ducks under his swing and out the wide doorway, trying to circle around behind. Despite his efforts though, Masym proves far more difficult to strike than previously. Once he's in position, he sees Midge peeking around the doorway and uses her as a distraction to sink his own sword almost to the hilt in the man's back!
Grald lets out an anguished yell, spitting out blood with his wordless cry. He manages to keep his feet under him, even fending off the celestial eagle, as it swoops past pecking at him with a talon.
But it is the halfling sorcereress who proves his final undoing. Despite the doorframe blocking most of her swing, she manages to bring her small mace around in a wide enough arc to strike Grald around the corner. His knee collapses under the blow, and he falls to the ground, no more fight remaining in him!
At the norther doors into the distillery, Fifi stands ready to defend against the soldiers who broke through into the far room... and they do soon throw open the doors, neither proving to be secured, and rush in. But neither of them appear to pay any attention at all to the paladin! As they scurry in, both of them are near panic, yelling excitedly. They immediately stop and slam the doors shut behind them, throwing themselves up against them as if intending to hold them shut manually.
An instant later, something else hits the far side, sending a shockwave through the door and both soldiers, almost knocking one of them off his feet. A muffled ravenous feral howl echoes through the wooden barrier as multiple somethings start clawing at scraping at the door as if trying to tear it open with their bare hands.
"Gods save us! They're everywhere!" One of the soldiers yells, as he desperately tries to hold the door shut. "Help us hold it shut!" He yells at Fifi.
The other one is just swearing over and over, quietly to himself.
Almost simultaneously, over at the southern doorway, still standing wide open from when the previous group of phalanx soldiers burst in, you hear the approaching boots of more soldiers coming quickly from outside. The first of them appears in the doorway at a dead run, sword in hand.
Londo is waiting though, and the look he gives him nearly stop the man's heart in his chest. The soldier skids to a stop at the sight of the half-orc, clearly not at all eager to rush through, instead taking a couple of steps backwards. A second man, running behind him does not see Londo at all, pushing his way past his friend and into the distillery yelling at him to stop blocking the door. He too stops there, at the sight of Londo and Zarisha, and brings his sword up to fend them off.
The first soldier, shakes his head, still eying Londo and the phantom worriedly but eventually starts to step in after his comrade... Only to be suddenly side swiped by a number of shadowy figures an instant before he can take that first step. The figures and the soldier disappear from the doorway, and you suddenly hear him screaming in pain, accompanied by the sounds of tearing flesh and chewing sounds.
A moment later, the screams suddenly stop... though the slavering chewing sounds do not.
Masym, standing alone outside the main doors, can now hear the sounds of screams and yells coming from all over the hamlet. As he turns to look, squinting through the darkness, his light spell barely reaching the nearest cottages, he can make out very little beyond flickering shadows.
A moment later, some of those shadows separate from the gloom and start racing directly towards him.
Ghouls!
- Round 4 ------
Party is up! Things just got real, yo!
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Masym wasn't about to let Grald get devoured by the ghouls, quickly dragging him inside the building.
"GHOULS! Close that door Marcus! They have us surrounded! We have to get out of here....NOW!" He quickly motions for the Phalanx soldiers to pick up their fallen companions, "There's no way we can hold this building, we gotta git down those stairs!"
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Marcus looks at the soldiers, then down at Grald, then eyes Masym and Londo. He tries to catch a breather and shakes his head. "Well... it seems that my choice words from earlier have become more true than I would have hoped."
"Attention! I am Marcus Vulpares Fantailler, Baronet of Ridonport, and I am assuming command of this regiment for the defense of Railford! As the most experienced tacticians here, Commanders Greenbottle and Deleare will be your commanding officers. Follow their lead, follow their orders, and you will live to fight another day."
He points to a portion of the regiment to be assigned to Masym, and another portion to assign to Londo.
"Midge, Fifi, and Kioshi are our specialists! Call them for spellcasting support!"
He holds his blade high, pushing his cloak off of his chest to reveal the insignia on his armor. "Our fellow countrymen are in danger, and if we are to defend them we must first secure a base of operations!"
Quietly to his friends he mutters. "Masym... Londo... I order you to not die. The rest is up to you."
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Fifi would like to hold down the door together with the soldiers, giving it her best.
"Guys! I don't think escape is an option! We'd have to carry Belcher back the way we came, and we'd leave the town to fend for themselves!"-she says while pushing the door with her back.
"If we want to save this town, we need to get rid of this Ghoul menace while it's focused on more capable people, where their chances of multiplying are lower than with normal citizens!"-she says while trying to dodge a claw that comes out of the door.
"We should make our stand here! Get whatever ghouls are coming our way, and counter-attack with the few forces we have!"-she says while preparing for the inevitable downfall of the door.
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"We're not fleeing! The people here need us!" Midge retorts to Masym. As Marcus rallies the troops to defend the town, Midge gives the man a nod.
Midge takes a step back from the broken doors in front of her and prepares herself for battle....
The eagle winks out of existence, returned to its home plane.
And just like that, the situation turns from siege to survival.
Outside the main doors, Masym grabs the fallen form of Grald, and hauls the man unceremoniously back through doors that you realize are in no condition to keep out anything anymore. He tosses the limb body at the base of one of the large barrels and turns, just in time to see the two ghouls leaping over the remains of the doorway, both of them clawing at Marcus, as they try to tear chunks of his flesh away with blackened yellow fangs!
Fifi immediately throws herself at the northern door, joining the two soldiers desperately trying to hold it shut. The ghouls on the far side tear at the boards relentlessly, their dark claws poking through the widening spaces with every heave. The three of them manage to hold it closed for now, though its hard to match the pure ferocity of the undead trying to get through.
Marcus tries to take on a leadership roll, calling to his fellow Pathfinders and the remaining soldiers alike... but it doesn't seem like anyone's listening. In fact, Londo abandons the doorway entirely, instead hurrying up the steps to the loft, phantom following in his wake. Kioshi, searches for something to re-secure the door with, but the search ends up being pointless if no one closes it first.
The soldier on that side looks around, eyes wide, confusion, horror, and panic all warring to take control. He had raced into the room to fight the Pathfinders, but now two monstrosities were right outside the door, literally tearing his partner apart. Seeing Londo take off, panic finally wins out, and he takes the path of least resistance, racing deeper into the taproom, away from whatever is happening outside, leaving the entire southern flank open to the new threat.
The ghouls out there notice the movement and abandon their feast for live bait. The first emits an eerie cry and lurches into the light, blood and gore dripping from its face. Midge immediately launches a small ray of holy light at it, but it is moving far too quickly. It does draw its attention from the fleeing prey though, and it instead turns to race towards the little halfling, stopping only when it notices Kioshi. The second ghoul, seeing the first take off, soon follows, and joins it in reaching for the tian man with a ravenous howl.
- Round 5 ------
Party is up!