'I've got a little blast damage, but I'm feeling better with every passing minute. So let's tuck Soren in a corner up here and protect him by clearing the rest of the thugs out of this place.'
Pendrick begins to arrange Soren so he is comfortable and hard to see if someone casually pokes their head up into the loft.
'Grab your carrot quiver Tzu, there's baddies to slay!'
"Nobody comes near Keiva. Or Shekebbet. We hurt them harder, faster and sooner. Good plan Pendrick."
'A quick listen, a look, and then down the ladder and to the door across from the door we took into the hallway'. Pendrick listens intently, then comically ducks his head into the hallway before climbing down and moving 'silently' to the door.
Pendrick doesn't see anything in the hallway, but he hears a muffled thump behind the door nearest the hatch, as of someone moving.
"Can't we just leave and pretend none of this ever happened?" Keiva asks in a small voice, belatedly realizing that the others have already made a decision.
"Don't go anywhere, Shekebbet," she tells the unconscious mojh, patting his knee, then follows Pendrick and Tzu down the ladder. She rummages in her pouches to find the components she'll need if she has to cast a spell.
'Psst'. Pendrick catches his companions' attention and points to the door where the sound came from. 'change of plans'. He moves to the door ready to burst through when his friends are in position.
"Oh." Tzu's ears twitch.
woulda shoulda coulda practiced these moves!
Pendrick looks back and forth between the doorknob and Tzu's face several times before, in a highly exaggerated manner, mouthing 'three'. He then slowly mouths, 'one...two...three'.
It takes a moment for Pendrick's antics to penetrate, but finally Tzu nods emphatically. "I understand" she mouths back.
Tzu - can she open a door? (1d20 3=19)
The door opens easily and Pendrick bursts through!
Pendrick manages to avoid hitting his head on a low beam just behind the door, presumably because he was crouched low, like some jungle cat. Or dumb luck.
He bursts in to see two sibbecai women ready for a fight!
A familiar rumble starts in Tzu's throat.
A feral grin spreads across Pendrick's face as he explodes into the room.
Keiva whimpers quietly to herself. Even having mentally prepared herself, she's still taken a bit by surprise by the sibeccai behind the door.
"It's alright Keiva. They have to get through me first," Tzu murmurs comforting words at her charge.
Pendrick's assault takes him 5' into the room...
Both of the sibbecai look ready for a rumble, armed with sibbecai khopeshes and wearing leather armour.
Pendrick aims a cut at the nearest Sibeccai jeering 'kennel or slab, it's your choice...Rover'. After his attack he focuses on defense, weaving a careless but oddly effective pattern of defensive strokes.
The nearest sibbecai sneers, "Maybe you should go back to the trees, monkey." as she effortlessly parries Pendrick's attack, and Pendrick does the same to hers. Distracted, Pendrick is wounded by the other who comes to her companion's aid.
Sloshing the nearest sibbecai (1d20 3=21, 1d6 3=8)
Tzu extends a long fist and clouts the nearest sibbecai hard. "You don't come near my friends. And you don't rob buildings," she announces, blithely indifferent to her own explorations in the attic.
Tzu growls impatiently as her fist meets empty air. "Step outside, if you don't mind. Let's do this properly."
"What's going on?" Keiva hisses impatiently, unable to see past either Tzu or Pendrick.
Realizing he's outsmarted himself, Pendrick withdraws into the hallway.
muttering: 'ouch, stupid dogs' and loudly 'BAD. DOG. Keiva, I can't wait to see how your magic is going to save the day.'
"Uh...my magic? What about your sword? Tzu's claws? What about the fact that you're 12 feet tall compared to me?" But Keiva rummages in her pouches, looking for just the right components to blast the sibeccai when they emerge.
"My claws are just fine. Although funnily enough, they won't go through the door," Tzu sounds a little irritable.
Tzu v Sibbecai 1 (blue) (1d20 3=17, 1d6 3=7)
Tzu proves her point about the functionality of her claws and rakes at the sibbecai in front of her before stepping aside to protect Keiva.
The brave litorian's claws meet hard wood.
One of the sibbecai leaps into the corridor to come face to face with the friends looking grim.
Finding a moment of clarity in the battle, Pendrick retreats behind his shield to avoid the explosion and extends his longsword, allowing the hound to impale himself upon it.
TA-DA!
Keiva thrusts out her hands as the sibeccai walks through the door, drawing on her rage and anger to summon forth the frigid power of a deepwinter blizzard. A blast of icy fire leaps from her hands to engulf the sibeccai.
2d6=6 damage (Reflex DC 23 for half)