Into the West (Inactive)

Game Master Simeon

sorry, just waiting to see if there was anything else going on.

Nodding at the dead body of the creature Angus asks the team. "I recon we should double check to make sure there is no more signs of these chupacabras. If we don't find anymore tracks or another lair, I vote we return to the Smiths and tell them the spring is safe now."

Angus then moves around the spring carefully checking for any more sign of the creatures.

if he doesn't find anything else he will mount Marion and wait until everyone is ready to leave.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

Zaranna nods at Angus' suggestion, and mounts up, carrying the unidentified bow and three magical arrows, and wearing the non-magical ring, but leaving the leather armor and hides behind, figuring that if someone wants them, they will take them.

John Thomas stows the magic leather armor.

"Must be worth something I would guess. No point in leaving it here. Looks like none of us can work out what its function is."

Once packed he will mount up to follow the others.

Survival roll for skinning and processing: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27

After Kuruk skins the chupacabra, the group sets out. You travel for a while before beginning to climb a hill approaching the Smith's homestead when you smell something. Smoke. And then you see it, a great black gout of smoke billowing up from the homestead.

Perception checks please.

Oh no! Zaranna thinks.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Seeing the smoke John Thomas rises in the saddle.

"No. no. no NO!"

He rides towards the fire.

As they begin to climb the hill outside of the Smiths, Marion begins to prance, "What is it boy?" Smelling smoke himself he realizes John is moving forward, He spurs Marion on to see what has happened.

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

Casting Cat's Grace on myself a we are riding toward potential danger.

I do not like the implications of that smoke.

Cresting the hill you see the source of the smoke. The Smith's barn, engulfed in flames. There are five people in front of the house. Jack and Tilda are on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs. Standing close to them however, are three men dressed in the garb of Mexica warriors.

Roll initiative please.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8

init: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Init: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

Guess I'm the rear guard :D

Initiative Order
John-Thomas
Enemies
Rest of Party

Ride Check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 So close

John Thomas tries to quickly dismount but his boot gets caught a little and takes some time. Once on the ground he adopts a defensive stance, shield out.

Failed Fast Dismount so dismount is a move and then total defense.

Effective AC 26

The Mexica standing on the porch begins to chant in old Nahuatl. His chanting reaches a crescendo and the warriors seem more driven to fight. One of the warriors runs at John Thomas, slashing at him with a large macuahuitl. The other charges at Huera.

Warrior 1 Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12
Warrior 2 Attack: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 1 = 10

Zaranna aims at the warrior still by the Smiths, hoping to prevent him from killing them.

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

'Zaranna has the right idea, we need to save the Smiths, John and Kuruk will be ok for a moment.' Seeing the fire, Angus states the obvious as he stands in the stirrups and brings his rifle to his shoulder studying the Mexica nearest the Smiths. "Blast, the barn is gone, at least we should be able to save the Smiths." Aiming at the chanter, he squeezes his trigger.

Move action: Studied target, Attack: Rifle, St +1/+1, PBS+1/+1, DA-2/+4, PS
attack: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27 for damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10

Kuruk takes a 5ft step as his move action, then casts Aggressive thundercloud on our caster type.

DC 15 reflex save to negate electrical damage each round, it persists for 4 rounds

damage: 3d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 2) = 8

Huera is going to power attack this round.

gore: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 1) + 12 = 15

Clearly not expecting a thundercloud to appear around him, the cleric isn't able to dodge out of the way.

Reflex Save: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

John Thomas, you're up.

Sorry I did not realize.

John Thomas smiles at the attacker in front of him and picks his strategy, thinking maximizing his attacking power may be best and unleashes two quick elbows.

Elbow 1: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 6 + 1 = 23
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Elbow 2: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Martial Flexibility, Weapon Focus Unarmed Strike.

The caster steps to the side to get away from the thundercloud. He chants in Nahuatl and his injuries seem a bit less grievous. The warriors continue their attacks on John Thomas and Huera.

Warrior 1 Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Warrior 1 Confirmation: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Warrior 2 Attack: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15
Warrior 1 Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Based on order of post I am assuming I got hit for the 5 damage.

Zaranna shoots at the enemy near the Smiths again (the Cleric?)

Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22
Damage: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Yes, you were the only one hit.

As the initiative order wraps around, which I did not notice before, I am going to go ahead an post an action knowing it comes after my teammates.

John Thomas hollers to the others as he unleashes a few more blows at the fellow in front of him, these ones seem to have less bad intention.

"Want me to try and keep one of them alive for later?"

Knee Strike: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 6 + 1 = 12
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 non-lethal
Backhand: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 6 + 1 = 8
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5 non=lethal

Brawler takes no penalty for non-lethal attacks.

the cleric moved from the 'storm' how far is he from the Smiths?

'at least Kuruk has driven him away from the Smiths.' Drawing his pistol, Angus aims it at the Chanter, "Good job Kuruk, now we just need to kill him enough that he doesn't heal." he then squeeze the trigger, his shot going wide hitting the Smiths house.

move action: draw weapon, attack: +1 double barreled Pistol, St +1/+1, PBS+1/+1, DA-2/+4, PS
attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10 for damage: 1d8 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10 pistol now has broken condition

Swift Action = Animal Aspect Bull
Move action = moves aggressive thundercloud back on caser
Still DC 15 reflex to avoid electrical damage: 3d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 1) = 13
Standard action = rapid shot on caster

shot 1: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
shot 2: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

damage s1: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
damage s2: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Huera
power attack gore: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
damage: 2d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 5) + 12 = 19

Free action:

You should surrender fools, the war is over!

As Kuruks arrows hit the caster, he falls to the deck with a hollow thud. Huera's horns rip into the warrior near her, and he collapses onto the dry, packed dirt. The last warrior shouts in accented English, "A true Mexica does not surrender!" He tries to slash at John Thomas with his terbutje but the blows he had sustained from John Thomas beforehand seem to have thrown off his aim.

Attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9

Making sure to stay well out of range of the remaining combatant, Zaranna hurries over to the Smiths, checking to see if they are okay, and freeing them.

'I'll need to fix this before we leave.' looking at the pistol,"Blast, the pistol has fowled." He turns and studies the last Mexica then fires the second barrel.

broken, attack: +1 double barreled Pistol St +1/+1, PBS+1/+1, DA-2/+4, PS
attack: 1d20 + 9 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 9 - 2 = 15 for damage: 1d8 + 7 - 2 ⇒ (5) + 7 - 2 = 10

"Would have been better just to give up mate."

Elbow uppercut: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 1 = 20
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10 non-lethal
Elbow strike: 1d20 + 6 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 6 + 1 = 16
Damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7 non-lethal

Figure we can tie him up for questions if unconcious.

With a swift jab to the stomach, the warrior falls to the ground, unconscious but breathing heavily. As Zaranna approaches the Smiths, Tilda looks up and says in a shaky voice, "Thank the lord you got here when you did. I...I don't know if we woulda made it if you didn't come along." After being untied, Jack helps Tilda up and says, "I was gonna ride out to the spring to see if y'all had cleared it. The damn Mexica snuck up on me, killed my horse and tied me up. Came over to the homestead and got Tilda. They said they were sendin' a message, gettin' revenge for their last attack."

Anyone in need of healing?

Kuruk will pull the caster's body over with the other and start searching them.

He changes his animal aspect from bull to hawk
perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

The Mexica caster wears a magical armoured coat and carries a magical macuahuitl. The warriors carry masterwork armoured coats, bucklers, and larger macuahuitls. In addition, the Mexica caster carries a scroll written in Nahuaña.

"Glad we came back when we did, that's for sure. Revenge I get, done some myself but what do you folks have to do with it? Would think nothing. I know you need some patching up and all but other then that you ok?"

He starts to strip the clearly well made armor off the warriors for sale later.

"Some fancy gear they had there, any of it look magicie?"

Zaranna asks Jack Will they send more when these don't come back?

John Thomas grins at Zaranna's comment and talks to himself. "Not if they have half a brain." then he clears his throat to cover it.

to the smiths: "Sorry about your barn."

to John: "coat and weapon are magical, beteen that the bow and the ring we should get things checked out"

'I will need to fix that tonight.' Angus, dismounts Marion as he holsters his pistol, "Were glad we got here in time Jack and Tilda."

"Fancy gear indeed, I think in the morning we should follow their tracks back and make sure that no one is planning on heading this way again."

"I'm a fair tracker and they had best bring a regiment if they intend to attack here again.

I wonder if we can make some sort of a treaty with them. We don't want this to keep happening, and I worry that it will if we just escalate the violence.

Jack scowls, "I don't rightly know if they intend to strike again. When they came during the war we had a whole group of soldiers here. This time was different. If you'd make sure they don't come back me an' Tilda would be grateful. Don't know how to repay y'all for savin' us. If there's anything you need let one of us know." Tilda pipes up, "There'll always be a warm bed if you head this way again on your travels."

"Nahh, there is no need for thinking about repaying but an open door is a sign of friendship. A treaty sounds pretty fine if we can do it. Never been the most dip-lo-matic me self."

Nodding in agreement with Kuruk's statement, Angus then tips his hat to Jack, "We'll do what we can."

Looking from John to Zaranna, "I'm all for making peace with the peaceful. But the government already signed a treaty with those who'd sign it. And you heard the one fellow, 'A true Mexica does not surrender.' It doesn't sound like this group is very interested in peace. The question is if we sneak in and bush whack 'em, cut the head of the snake, so to speak. Then treat with those left. Or go in waiving a white flag and hope they don't cut us down before we can get a word in."

We don't even know if these were rogue young hotheads from the group or if they all feel like this. We have no idea whether they are in a village trying to survive or they are set up in a warcamp trying to reconquer something. We should at least find out before deciding they are all bad. If we just go in and start slaughtering, "those left" will only treat with us because they have no choice, and they will hate us forever, and teach their children to hate as well. If instead we at least give them a chance to save face, despite the actions of a few, then we might actually change a few minds, and maybe in time the two groups can learn to respect each other again.

I'm not saying roll into the middle of their camp and let them slaughter us. Just saying that we should try diplomacy first... as safely as possible.

'Diplomacy first, interesting.' Angus pauses for a moment. "I know very little about the drake's that you claim to hunt. But I have heard that they are a smart creatures, able to communicate when they choose. Is that how we will deal with them also? Approach their layer, ask them if they are friendly drakes and if they would like to have a cup of tea? Or will we ruthlessly hunt them down killing them before they can kill us?"

'That was uncalled for.'Angus shakes his head "I'm sorry, you are right, there is a lot we do not know. However, we do know these three were led by a holyman of some power. We know that the vast majority of the Mexica have accepted the peace offered. We were also warned that there were Mexica still on the warpath, refusing the surrender. My recommendation was to 'cut off the head of the snake.' We may not find a snake, how ever unlikely we may find a peaceful village instead of a war camp. I only recommend that we investigate carefully and deal with the problem appropriately, as you would a drake."

People aren't drakes, and they aren't inherently evil. But do whatever you want. Thanks for being a jerk. I won't try to question your interesting perspective on humanity again.