"Come on, stand still, ye scaled scallywag! How else am I supposed to kill ye?!?"
Trying again. If this fails, I'm buying us a new dicebot.
Round 5: Devoraz
The half-orc screams in pain, as both of Baolo's arrows dig into his skin! Unrelenting he steps over Aero's body in L16 and attacks the Mwangi recklessly, putting all his power behind his scimitar blows!
Round 5: Lizardmen
The lizardman on Left-ear wobbles, but boes not fall, despite the vicious wound inflicted by the bard! He raises his club and launches himself at the human, hatred fueling him! His blow connects, again bashing the bard! The lizardman smiles and collapses to the floor!
The Lizardman Chief is severely wounded now, his anger and frustration mounting and he swings his weapon again at Gruug, only to have the half-orcs deflect it in the nick of time!
Ialda keeps swiping with her spear, hoping she can find some opening in the lizard chief's defense!
Attack
Damage
Seeing his foe looking haggard, Gruug presses his attack.
Gruug sighs, looks back at Ialda and then at the chief and says "It feels like the gods not want us to fight."
"Damnation!", 'Left-Ear' cries as the lizardfolk gets one last strike on him, staggering back as he feels the weight of his wounds. He turns to Baolo, and sees the Mwangi just as harried. "Alright, Devoraz. Ye don't want to listen to reason? Then ye'll die like the rest o' yer crew. At least they had the excuse to have been bitten by rabid demon monkeys first. Ye're just naturally dumber than a sack o' hardtack!" He steps up and stabs at the half-orc, hoping to end his life quickly.
Move to L15.
Attack Devoraz!
The dice hate us this round.
"Left-Ear, no! We need ta regroup!" Baolo holds up his bow in front of Devoraz's scimitar and darts back from the half-orc. "Shimye-Magalla, bring ya healin'"
Round 6: Devoraz
Devoraz screams "Coward!" at the retreating Baolo and turns around to face Left-Ear after his pathetic last swing. He grips his scimitar and smiles, "Guess your death will be on the Mwangi's conscience! I'll punish him like that!" The next thing you all hear is a shrill scream from Left-Ear that dies out, as the scimitar slashes through his body and he collapses to the floor!
Ialda sees Devoraz step through the doorway where Left-Ear was, a smile on his face and his hands dripping in blood, despite the pain from the arrows. "Two down!" The half-orc moves to I14 to flank the green-skinned female.
Round 6: Lizardman Chief
He again tries to bring the hammer down on Gruug, this time connecting, smashing the half-orc's shoulder! He grunts in satisfaction as he sees Devoraz on the other side of the PCs.
Things look grim!
Ialda flies into a fury and keeps stabbing at the lizard man, hoping she or Grugg would strike a lucky blow and turn the tide of battle.
Attack
Damage
Seeing Left Ear take a grevious blow, the half-orc shaman knows he must be on death's door. Seeing the bloody Baolo with-in easy reach of the chief and Ialda potentially sandwiched between two foes, Gruug's options are both numerous and confusing. Gruug looks to his leader in desperation and calls out, "What me do Boss? Hold ground or save Lefty?"
[b["Save him if you can, Gruug. I'll hold these two off,"[/b] she replies confidently, although that was not how she felt at all.
Forgive me Left-Ear. All will be lost if we don't bring this pair down. Baolo takes a step to the north and draws an thistle arrow, firing it at the lizardman chief. "Shimye-Magalla, bless ma arrow an send it true."
"Why won' ya fall ya wretched reptile." Baolo draws a thistle arrow again and sends it lancing toward the chief.
"Go Gruug! Save Leftah! Ialda and I will deal with Devorahz!" Baolo looks desperately for a way to thread the doorway and Ialda. He fires a thistle arrow through, praying for a friendly breeze from Shimye-Magalla to bring it home to the half-orc.
Baolo's first arrow pierces the Lizardman Chief's chest, causing him to howl in pain but he still stands. The second pierces his brain and kills him! The lizardmen in the corner, who just regained their sight, flee into the canal at the sight of their Chief's corpse.
Gruug will run over to Left-Ear and call upon what little divine influence he has to stem the flow of blood.
Upon hearing the scream of his Chief, a lizardman clad in robes comes down the stairs and sees his large corpse and other dead lizardmen. He looks at Ialda and at Devoraz. "I knew - venture bad - gods punish us for it. My Chief iz dead. I need to tend to needs of my tribe. Safe passage and I will trouble you no more."
His hands glow with dark energy, as if to warn Ialda and Gruug and he moves to L13.
Ialda knew she was in no shape to attempt to interfere with the remaining lizard folk.
"Three more of your troops have fled. Please gather them up and take them with you, and you won't have trouble from my group and I. I can't answer for this psychopath," she says as she points to Devoraz with her spear.
Devoraz sneers at Ialda for her comment and attacks her twice, timing his strikes carefully, slashing the half-elf!
Baolo calls out, "Ialda, if ya can take a step aside, I'll have a clear shot."
Taking careful aim at Devoraz, he shouts "I'm baak ya bastud!" In quick succession, Baolo fires another pair of thistle arrows at the half-orc. "Come an' get me!"
The warrior kept struggling against the evil first mate, with her last breath, she swings at him again, trying to protect her friends. She falls unconscious with the effort.
Attack
Damage
Possible crit
Damage
Gruug rushes up and slashes the half-orc, causing him to spit up blood. Defiant till the end, Devoraz raises his scimitar before Ialda's spear pierces his heart and she collapses. As the half-orc pirate starts to close his eyes and accept death, Baolo's two arrows strike him square in the chest, ensuring Devoraz' last seconds on this Plane are as painful as possible! He falls down in a heap of blood!
As you look around, you see the courtyard and the dining room drenched in blood with corpses and fallen comrades all over!
Halfway to drawing another arrow, Baolo sees Devoraz fall. Suddenly overcome with the emotion of the fight, he returns it to his quiver and finds himself shivering and shaking as the adrenaline flees. "Do ya hear anyone else comin' Gruug? I'm goin' ta see 'bout Left-Ear and Aero if you can watch Ialda."
With the party members stabilized, Baolo and Gruug move to the second floor, where they find Lavinia and 2 of her Jade Ravens bodyguards tied to their chairs. Upon release...
"Thank you so much! I was hoping you would make it back in time. The lizardmen came out of the canal and surprised my guards and the Ravens. By the time the fight ended, three Jade Ravens were killed by the hellish half-orc. He kept telling me how he was going to torture and kill us as an example to Vanthus. Like he would even care! I hope you sent Devoraz to the afterlife in pain!"
Lavinia calls to alert the guards, while she starts mopping up blood and suggests you may want to stay somewhere else for the next few days during the cleanup.
Once Ialda was brought back to consciousness, she followed the others. "You lot saved my skin again. Thank you so much! I'm sorry we couldn't stop them sooner, Lavinia."
"I am thankful you came at all. You've saved me yet again!"
"No worries Lavinia. We did send dat half-orc to de Boneyahd. Did dey say anythin' else 'bout Vanthus?"
As she comes too, the voices in her head grow softer as she looks up at Baolo's grinning face.
"Blessed Dreamer! I thought... it was over."
Slowly making her way to her feet, Aeronniell calls upon Desna's favor to knit her injuries and gives a spiteful look at Devoraz's fallen body.
Aeronniell frowns at the threats of torture.
"You'd think Vanthus' enemy would be our friend -- isn't that how it's supposed to work? Perhaps we should make an effort to make it common knowledge that you and Vanthus are not on the best of terms... to minimize future threats to your life? I'm sure he's making plenty of enemies..."
Gruug will scour the corpses for useful gear.
You scavenge the manor and its dead occupants for treasure. The two surviving Jade Ravens quit and leave Lavinia's employ. Angered by their disloyalty, Lavinia gives you their comrades' treasures as well.
A few hours later, when you are all awake, after a hearty meal, she presents you with some treasures for saving her life yet again in the form of a staff, a glowing dagger, some boots, and some potions. She also gives you each 100 pp and asks you to stay on at her mansion. She raises your monthly stipend from 100 gp to 200 gp.
"Thank you very much, Lavinia. This will be put to good purpose, I guarantee you," Ialda says as her coin purse bulges from the platinum.
Louis coughs and sputters as he returns to life. "THE BLOOD!", he bellows, grabbing whomever brought him back from the brink of death. "IT CALLS TO ME!" He looks at his victim's neck, and can almost hear the blood pulsing, calling to him. "NO!", he cries, pushing himself away, clenching his fists and pounding the floor with his bare knuckles. "Control yerself, Patterwell! This damned curse ha'n't brought ye down yet! Ye can master it like anythin' else ye damn well please!" It takes a few minutes, but he finally returns to some degree of normalcy. "I'm sorry about that, mate," he says. "Curse. Nothin' for it but to get through it."
He follows the group upstairs and gives Lady Vanderboren a small bow. "I don't believe we've met, lass. The name is Patterwell, an' from what I hear, yer brother ain't exactly interested in parley any longer. As it happens, my course be followin' yer tradewind - I aim to see him dead as well. Think we can come to some sort o' accord? Ye seem to be in the need for new help, as it happens." He glances at one of the chairs the captive Jade Ravens sat in just minutes ago, then back to her. "What say ye?"
"If Ialda and the rest vouch for you, Mr. Patterwell, you my utmost confidence. As you heard, I owe them my life, a number of times already. Welcome to my employ."
"Things have been so crazy, I guess I forgot you hadn't met the missus, Left Ear. She's good people, even if she's got a rotten brother."
Aeronniell smiles awkwardly as Left Ear's introduction is made, her face paler than usual as the pit of her stomach continues to twist and turn with anxiety at her near-death experience.
Jovial voice: It was not yer time yet, lass...
Calm voice: Yes, you must do what we could not. Protect Lavinia.
Roguish voice: I wouldn't have minded the visit, there's *no* women here. Whatever happened to Xarethi? She was a dandy lass.
Shaking her head, Aeronniell continues to focus on Lavinia's face, wondering what will be next among the plans of their benefactor.
Lavinia gladly pays for a cleric of Gozreh to pay her manor a visit and heal Ialda and Left-Ear of their "savage fever". The cleric is shocked by the degenerative form of the disease, as he has never seen anything like it, and cautions you to rest for the next couple of days to recover your attributes.
"Thank you so much, Lady Vanderboren! That strange disease was like nothing if ever experienced before. It made me so wild and out of control. I'm just glad we made it through before we were sickened even worse.". Ialda was glad to rest for a few days and gather her strength back.
A week passes in Eleder, with the party being the talk of the town, as they helped repel a lizardman invasion. It is in the morning, as you are all getting a little bored and stir crazy of just sitting around Lavinia's mansion, which has been cleaned and remodeled. Your patron is out on business when you are surprisingly called to the entrance and told there are guests looking for you.
When you approach, at the door you see a massive man who looks to have orc blood in his veins with his arms crossed over his barrel chest. He glares at you over a mouthful of tusk-like teeth. Next to him stands a man in black cloak and leathers. The image of a snake upon a shield is embossed on a brooch attached to his cloak. He wears a rapier at his hip and bears a fine, oiled mustache. In a soft voice laden with the faint accent of the Shackle Isles, he says, “Greetings. I am Kelim Esteban, captain of the River Maiden, and if you allow me, I have a business proposition to make you…"
The servants look to you to see if you allow the two strangers in.
"Hey mon, dis manah is not ours to invite ya in. Mebbe we bettah speak here or in da garden?"
Aeronniell studies the pair of men carefully, recent events leading her to exercise more caution that she may have just weeks prior. Absentmindedly, her hand reaches towards the quiver at her hip and feels the reassuring softness of her arrows.
She maintains a casual smile as her eyes drink in their features.
Jovial voice: The mustached one. He's familiar...
Gruug nods at Baolo's suggestion. After the last week's events, Gruug has become very suspicious of everyone and accordingly stares intently at the interlopers, hand at the ready of his blade. The half-orc carefully scrutinizes Kelim's words.
"Greetings Captain...as the others said, perhaps we should gather here in the garden. It's a right pretty day and I don't think that we should waste such a day inside."
"Aye, come on in, cap'n," 'Left-Ear' replies. "We'll have the servants bring ye some coffee black as midnight, and we can discuss what business ye have with us."
The Captain smiles, "Thank you for your hospitality. Yes, the garden would be perfect on this beautiful morning. Faruq, follow." The half-orc follows his Captain and stands behind him when he sits, acting as his bodyguard.
Once he sits, the Captain begins, "I am, as you may have noticed and surmised", glancing down at his pin, "an agent of the Aspis Consortium, a northern mercantile group with interests in this area. My employers need able bodies to help guard a valuable trading depot against incursions by cannibal savages who recently moved into the area. The depot is well-defended and has successfully fended off many attacks, but the defenders are on the verge of exhaustion and need some temporary relief from competent sword-arms until company reinforcements arrive from Sargava. The incident everyone in town has been talking about how you dealt with the lizard king and his invading force in defense of your patroness has demonstrated that you all are a cut above the average Eleder resident, and the consortium is willing to offer you 20 gp per day for the duration of the assignment." Captain Esteban pauses to drink from his flask, unless you offered him drinks. "Does any of this interest you? Or am I wasting my time?"
"As for myself, sir, I am in the service of Lady Lavinia. If she has no need of us for a short period of time, perhaps we could talk about employment terms then. But, I have to ask, could you tell me more about the cannibal savages? That sounds scarily similar to a group we recently ran across. Both Left Ear here and I were temporarily infected with the disease. Thankfully, we are now cured," she said, trying to keep the man from freaking out too much.
The Captain smiles, "I am sure I can convince Lady Lavinia to let me borrow you all for awhile. Perhaps some favorable rates on trade goods. That usually works." He later gasps when he hears your tale of cannibal savages. "No disease, my good lady. I am referring to the savage jungle tribes in the Mwangi Expanse. Some of them are cannibals and our depot station is located very near their territories. How dreadful! I am glad m'lady is cured." He smiles at Ialda and Aero, a little lasciviously, as his eyes take in your healthy and fit bodies.