Thankful that his attackers have vanished, Yorad shakily climbs to his feet and draws another dagger - ready to engage in some therapeutic shanking after the day he's had. Lazarus offers Thern the Lady Starsong's favor while Grayscales hustles back across the cathedral to help his companions. Tathane readies his bow and scans the perimeter of the mist like a hawk, ready to shoot the first thing that emerges.
ThernBot holds his ground and continues to try swinging at the spot that he's certain one of the darts came from...
...but the shrouded figure easily evades his punches. Though unable to actually see a target, Teann has a good estimation of where at least one of those darts came from and takes aim with his bow. He fires...
...but though he's certain he's got the mark, having to fire around Tathane is enough to make the shot zip into the mist and thud into the cathedral wall. Fuzzy moves into the mist, using his sense of smell to locate the hidden mages and after a few seconds, a yelp of fear can be heard and then the sound of footsteps...
...as Green comes running out of the mist and onto the grease, skating along but managing to keep his feet! Tathane looses his arrow at the panicked figure but it sails harmlessly overhead and sticks into the wall.
Green fumbles, trying to fire another acid dart at Thern...
...which connects, sizzling into the brawler's side!
Purple also steps out of the mist as well and tries flinging an acid dart at the druid who shot at him...
...and misses spectacularly! It seems clear that the two remaining figures are beginning to panic now, fighting erratically and letting that panic cloud their judgement...
_______
Thern (-12, Disabled, Pending AoO vs. Green)
Teann (-5) + Fuzzy (-2, Magic Fang)
=======
Robed Figures (Green -1)
=======
Yorad (-4)
Tathane (-8)
Lazarus (-2)
Grayscales (-5)
Active Conditions: None
Everyone is UP!
_______
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Yorad focuses his attention upon the remaining cultists, a murderous look on his face. Not wishing to test his luck with the grease patch he instead swings around to cut off their escape route. "Hope your friends enjoy that Key, 'cause you sure ain't!" He growls, stabbing hard into the cultists side.
With the two mages exposed once more, Yorad and Lazarus unleash hell on Green, greeting him with magic and blade! Green staggers, blood pouring from his wounds but he doesn't fall.
_______
Thern (-12, Disabled, Pending AoO vs. Green)
Teann (-5) + Fuzzy (-2, Magic Fang)
=======
Robed Figures (Green -9)
=======
Yorad (-4)
Tathane (-8)
Lazarus (-2)
Grayscales (-5)
Active Conditions: None
Thern, Teann + Fuzzy, Tathane and Grayscales are UP!
Tathane fires another shot, this time, at Green - though it doesn't connect with the robed figure it also (thankfully) doesn't connect with any of his allies, either. Thern, having been surprised by Green's initial bolt out of the mist, punches only air when the man comes running past but with the pain of the acid burning through him, he aims one final punch at his attacker...and connects with a solid punch to the man's skull! Both Thern and Green collapse to the ground and Thern's last sight before losing consciousness is that of Green twitching slightly and then growing still...
_______
Thern (Negative 1, Dying)
Teann (-5) + Fuzzy (-2, Magic Fang)
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Purple
=======
Yorad (-4)
Tathane (-8)
Lazarus (-2)
Grayscales (-5)
Active Conditions: None
Teann + Fuzzy and Grayscales are UP!
_______
Grayscales advances on Purple, the sole foe remaining, and whips a chakram at him - the chakram leaves a vicious slice across Purple's abdomen and he screams with pain! And then, from within the mist, comes a snarling sound as sharp teeth suddenly lash out as well...
...and though they miss, it's only a small delay in the inevitable. Cornered and with nowhere to go, Purple summons up his last bit of courage, declaring, "My job is done and now I die, knowing that the key is beyond your reach!" moments before you surround him and cut him down.
Though some of the other Pathfinders still battle a few remaining remnants of the cultist forces, the cathedral is now largely deserted. A pair of disheveled-looking acolytes come rushing up and you recognize Cynthia and Gavin from the other day, at the pre-auction gala.
"That was amazing!" Cynthia gasps. "I think they would've killed us all if you hadn't stayed to fight!"
"She's right," Gavin agrees. "But that assassin got away, right? There's still time, maybe you can catch him!"
_______
After taking a few seconds to patch the worst of your wounds, you all hurry out into the city streets after the assassin. The city streets are full of pedestrians and other traffic and for a moment you fear that you've lost him completely. But there, in the distance! A running figure leaping over a fruit cart - it's him!
_______
To clear a square, you need to take a move action to move through the square, then use a standard action to face one of that square’s two obstacles to exit the square. The DCs are unknown and unequal.
A character may attempt to move three squares during his turn by taking a full-round action. That character must overcome both obstacles on the square he is leaving. In this case, if a character fails either obstacle check by 5 or less, he only moves one square forward and his turn ends. If a character fails either obstacle check by more than 5, he cannot move at all that turn. A character who fails both obstacle checks in a turn becomes mired in his current square. A mired character must spend another full-round action becoming unmired, effectively losing his next turn.
Instead of exiting a square, a character can choose to take another standard action not directly related to navigating the chase’s course, such as casting a spell, channel energy, activate a wand or drinking a potion.
A character can choose to make a ranged attack or cast a spell during his turn in a chase. If the action is a full-round action, he can’t move at all. A character can only make melee attacks against targets that are in the same square.
Distance: Each card represents a 30-foot distance, to estimate distances for ranged attacks and spells.
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A creature more than 3 cards away has total cover (i.e. can't be targetted).
Creatures 3 cards away have improved cover (+8 AC, +4 ref save) and concealment (20% miss chance).
Creatures 2 cards away have partial cover (+2 AC, +1 ref save) and concealment (20% miss chance).
Creatures 1 card away only have partial cover (+2 AC, +1 ref save).
Movement Rates: Characters with enhanced movement rates receive a +2 bonus on all skill checks made to bypass an obstacle for every 10 feet of movement they possess beyond their initial 30-foot movement speed. Characters with movement rates less than 30 feet receive a –2 penalty for every 10 feet by which their speed is less than 30 feet.
Creative Skill Use: If you can roleplay it, I'll allow other skills to be used for each card, but the DCs would be higher.
Unskilled Characters: If you get stuck at the same square for two rounds, in your third round, you "found another way around". :)
As if sensing the eyes upon him, the fleeing assassin glances over his shoulder as you all come racing down the cathedral steps. He turns and continues running, his pace quickened by the sight of you. A giant pothole lies just ahead of him but he doesn't even slow his pace as he leaps across it with just as much grace as Fuzzy! With the crowd swirling around him, he's now barely within sight of the group.
Assassin
=======
Grayscales (-3)
Lazarus
Tathane (-6)
Thern (-11)
Teann (-3) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2)
Active Conditions: None
Everyone is UP!
_______
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Ever shrewd, Lazarus is able to easily pick up on the subtle patterns and currents of the crowded streets. He slips into them as easily as he might slip on a pair of comfortable shoes and allows the current to carry him along. Tathane, too, follows Lazarus into the sea of humanity and both of them manage to work their way along the street. The pair duck into an alley that looks as though it might provide a shortcut but to their dismay they find that it's piled high with junk and various bits of garbage.
Yorad and Grayscales both decide to try for a combination of guile and brute force, hoping to gain some ground on the fleeing assassin. While Yorad has some luck in trying to follow in Lazarus and Tathane's footsteps, he's stopped cold by a little old lady that's apparently much stronger than she looks and who seems quite offended by the attempt to push past her. "Hooligan!" she snaps, giving him a sharp rap on the head with her cane before continuing to amble on down the street.
Grayscales fares even worse as he tries to slide past a group of young children, unnoticed. "Hey look, it's a snake man!" one of them gasps and almost immediately the nagaji finds himself surrounded by a flock of children that shout a variety of questions as they attempt to touch his scales and armor.
_______
Assassin (Card 5)
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Grayscales (-3; Mired Card 1)
Lazarus (Card 2)
Tathane (-6, Card 2)
Thern (-11)
Teann (-3) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2, Card 1)
Active Conditions: None
Thern and Teann + Fuzzy are UP!
Teann and Fuzzy also weave their way through the crowd, Teann mimicking Fuzzy's catlike grace and agility with ease after all the time they've spent together. The pair very quickly catch up to Lazarus and Tathane, who are pondering the best way to navigate past the cluttered, junky alleyway.
Attempting to do the same, Thern follows behind Teann and Fuzzy. Though he makes a little headway he quickly finds his progress blocked by a pair of elderly gentleman who seem to be engaged in some sort of disagreement.
"I ain't tryin' to steal nobody away!" one of them exclaims. "And besides, Carista wasn't no big prize either - I should know, I was married to her for twenty...no, thirty years!"
"Yeah but she meant the world to me," the other grumbles.
"And you're a danged moron. If you'd stayed with Carista then you'd have never met Fae! Fae was a good woman."
"Got that right...she was the best."
"Not to mention she was a darn sight more loyal than Carista ever was..."
"Yeah!"
"Yeah."
"What?"
"What?"
"...huh?"
"Wait...what were we talking about again?"
Up ahead, the assassin pauses for a moment before a building with a very steep rooftop. The figure glances over their shoulder again, apparently noting that some of their pursuers have made some headway in catching up. Reaching into a pouch, the assassin pulls out a small vial of mystery liquid and quickly chugs it down.
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Assassin (Card 5)
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Grayscales (-3; Mired Card 1)
Lazarus (Card 2)
Tathane (-6, Card 2)
Thern (-11, Card 1)
Teann (-3, Card 2) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2, Card 1)
Active Conditions: None
Lazarus, Tathane, Thern, Teann, and Yorad are UP!
Eager to catch up to the assassin, Tathane nimbly climbs up onto a rickety old piano and then leaps over onto a pile of broken furniture that clatters and creams ominously but does not fall. He slides down and attempts to exit the alley by squeezing between a stack of barrels but isn't quite able to fit! Too many pancakes at breakfast, perhaps?
Lazarus doesn't fare much better; he follows Tathane up onto the rickety piano but stumbles atop it and is forced to drop to one knee to avoid losing his balance and falling.
Further back, Yorad gathers his wits and his dignity and slips back into the crowd. He weaves along with ease, occasionally elbowing past people...and then slams into a mountain of a man standing at a fruit stall. He turns, eyebrow raised.
"Can I help you?"
Tired of the shenanigans, Thern suddenly explodes forward in a burst of speed through the crowd and down the street! He ducks into the alleyway, scaling the piles of junk with ease and shimmying past the barrels, and shoving past a rather large and bulky fruit cart! He stops to catch his breath, a large pothole just in front of him.
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Assassin (Card 5)
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Grayscales (-3; Mired Card 1)
Lazarus (Card 2)
Tathane (-6, Card 2)
Thern (-11, Card 4)
Teann (-3, Card 2) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2, Card 1)
Active Conditions: None
Teann is UP!
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Delayed by a gaggle of young children , Grayscales takes a moment to speak with them ”Yess, Iam a Nagaji. ... No Not a Naga, they bread our racce to be sserverentss to them, not a nicce racce thing to do. .... SSo what are you going to be when you grow up? .... A wizard doess weld great power, but with great power comess great ressponsibility! ..... I am on an important misssion right now and must run, but I do deputize all of you as junior Pathfinderss, and if you sstudy and sstay in sschool when you grow up you too can become a true pathfinder!”
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Perhaps inspired by Thern's suddenly burst of speed and agility, Teann manages to scale and shuffle along the top of the rickety piano - but instead of leaping to another pile of junk and then down to squeeze past the barrels he simply gets a small start and leaps onto the barrels themselves and then hops down on the other side. Up ahead, the druid and his cheetah friend see a large, bulky fruit cart that blocks the way!
Meanwhile, the assassin looks up at the sound of approaching footsteps. The hood falls away slightly and you see not a man, but a woman with oddly-colored eyes and small horns peeking out from rumpled nest of dark hair. Her face registers shock and surprise at seeing Thern closing in...and then a wicked, vicious grin creeps across her face. Reaching into her pack, she produces a second vial...drinks it down...and then vanishes.
Back on the crowded street, Grayscales finally extricates himself from the crowd of eager children with promises of future adventure and glory as Pathfinder agents in their own right. He turns his attention back to the matter at hand and to the chase.
Yorad too, decides that he's finally had enough of foolish pedestrians slowing him down. He looks up at the incredibly large man that he just slammed into and suddenly points at a point somewhere over the fellow's right shoulder, bellowing, "Look! Over there!" When the man obligingly turns his head to look, Yorad decides to relieve a bit of frustration by slugging him in the jaw. Caught by surprise, the man drops to the ground, briefly stunned. Taking advantage of the distraction, Yorad quickly ducks into the crowd and slips into the alleyway.
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Assassin (???)
=======
Grayscales (-3; Card 1)
Lazarus (Card 2)
Tathane (-6, Card 2)
Thern (-11, Card 4)
Teann (-3, Card 3) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2, Card 2)
Active Conditions: None
Grayscales, Lazarus, Tathane, Thern, and Teann are UP!
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Throwing propriety to the wind, Lazarus hikes up his robes around his hips, backs up a few steps, gets a running start and makes another leap, trying to clear the crowd in the alleyway.
A weary midwife, heading home after a long night delivering another set of halfling quintuplets to Mrs. Peachbottom, stretches her arms above her head with a giant yawn. Her left hand collides with the samsaran's right ankle, knocking the poor man sprawling, blue-toned arse over teakettle to the hard cobblestone street.
Lazarus lifts his head from the pavement and groans, "Ow."
TeannBot, knowing they need to catch up with Thern, takes a deep breath and bellows, "Hey! Get that hunk of junk outta my way or we'll see how well Fuzzy here likes the taste of fruit-monger!"
Unfortunately, Fuzzy rather ruins this gruesome threat by choosing this exact moment to flop down and show his belly, eager for some belly rubs.
Further back, the rest of the group fares about the same in trying to catch up. Thern, however, is on a roll as he continues barreling forward and clears the pothole with ease! And now, where'd that assassin go...?
Thern - and everyone else - gets an answer to this unspoken question very quickly, as a shortsword suddenly bursts from Thern's chest in a shower of blood! The assassin, now visible once again, laughs cruelly as Thern's lifeless body slumps to the ground and turns to face the rest of the approaching Pathfinders.
"I've never met a foe that I couldn't best, for Lissala guides my blade!" She makes a grand sweeping gesture with her sword, leveling it the rest of you. "But still, you're welcome to try - if you're feeling brave," she grins maniacally. With that, she fishes a third vial from her pack and drinks it down, vanishing once again just before Teann and Fuzzy arrive on the scene.
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Assassin (Invisible)
=======
Grayscales (-3)
Lazarus
Tathane (-6)
Thern (Negative 17; dead)
Teann (-3) + Fuzzy (Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2)
Active Conditions: None
Teann + Fuzzy are UP!
_______
_______
Springing into action, Teann calls for Fuzzy to scent out the hidden assassin while he instinctively rushes to aid Thern. Fuzzy sniffs the air for a moment and then begins to make a beeline directly towards the location where the assassin had last been standing - directly behind Thern. Risking his own hide, Teann rushes forward - but then remembers that he'd given his scroll to Lazarus to hold. He readies his healing wand, praying that Lazarus and the others can catch up to them in time.
Perhaps sensing that the cheetah is ultimately the greater threat than the man attempting to save his companion, the assassin suddenly appears once more as she stabs at Fuzzy...
...and though Fuzzy yowls in pain and surprise as she opens a cut across his flank, it's not enough to drop the proud feline! The woman curses and takes a step back from the cheetah and his master, her eyes glittering with malice. As she does, the sound of pounding footsteps can be heard as the rest of the group finally catches up with Teann, Fuzzy, and Thern...and as two more robed figures also come running into view!
"Flee with the key!" one of them, Purple, calls out as he sends an acid dart zipping towards Grayscales. "We'll hold them off!"
Intent only on trying to reach Thern before it's too late, Lazarus races forward and with a flick of the wrist pops Teann's scroll out of his spring-loaded wrist sheath. As he begins reading from the scroll, the assassin takes the opportunity to lash out at him with her sword...
...leaving a small gash across his cheek. Focused only on the scroll, Lazarus powers through the pain and completes the spell! With a bright flash of light and a surge of positive energy, Thern's soul is pulled back from Pharasma's embrace and into his body! Working in tandem, Teann immediately reaches down and taps the newly-resuscitated Thern with his healing wand and closes a few of his more painful wounds. Though he's still not in the best of shape, Thern lives once more.
_______
Assassin
Purple
=======
Grayscales (-3)
Lazarus (-3)
Tathane (-6)
Thern (-7, Prone)
Teann (-3) + Fuzzy (-9, Magic Fang)
Yorad (-2)
Orange
Active Conditions: None
Grayscales, Tathane, Thern, Fuzzy and Yorad are UP!
_______
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Yorad is close enough to see the assassin drop the brawler, yet still too far away to prevent it. Drawing one of his many knives he readies to fling it at the cold-hearted once he gets a clear shot...yet the appearance of yet another cultist slows his advance.
How many of them ARE there... he grimaces as he abruptly switches targets, send his knife flying...
...way off target, clanging against the side of the building. He quickly draws another blade he readies to finish off the newcomer. Don't even think I will stop, not until my blade tastes your breath!