AoO
Rapier: arcane pool (+1)
to hit damage
Confirm crit: arcane pool (+1)
to hit damage
Melon didn't get hurt that badly by the fireworks, but man, do they ever dazzle and blind. The goblins are a half-shadow and she hits after afterimages. Not successfully, mind you.
As goblin #5 moves away, Malan and Melon both attack. The goblin manages to avoid Melon's attack, but Malan manages to pierce his side. The goblin lets out a shriek.
While this is happening, Corinna moves up to the edge of the bridge and waits an opportunity.
Melon follows the fleeing goblin and strikes, but again the goblin dodges her blow.
Next Up: Aago, Malan, Blue Rajah, Goblins (#1, 3, 4 subject to readied actions), Corinna (subject to readied action), Melon.
As the goblins step off the bridge, the cracking sounds stop. Gilfroy waves his paintbrush again, and the sounds of rustling leaves followed by the zing of arrows whistling past them surrounds the goblins. Will DC 17 again.
As his move action, he gets his crossbow off his back. He has it aimed at his own chest, but at least it's not loaded yet.
Malan moves up.
Rapier: arcane pool (+1)
to hit damage
Aago, fearing that the bridge was about to collapse under him begins moving forward with the intention to get to the goblin side of the bridge. The shaking ceases as he steps in front of the elf however, and he instead decides to focus on the goblin in front of him. He reaches out with both hands and attempt to grab hold of the goblin.
Yer not going anywhere," he growls.
Action changed to cast Daze on goblin fighting Melon. Save DC is 13.
As the sound of the snapping bridge stops and the sound whistling arrows begins, Aago moves forward. He reaches out and grabs hold of wide-eyed goblin #5 and his still lit firework.
#5 suddenly gains a distant look in his eyes as Malan casts his spell.
Next Up: Goblins (#1, 3, 4 subject to readied action, #5 dazed), Corinna (subject to readied action), Melon, Gilfroy, Aago, Malan.
Listening to Gil speak goblin, Rajah smiles. "You know, you are going to have to teach me that language, Gilfroy. I don't suppose you can speak Elven as well, can you?" He asks as he keeps an eye on the group, watching for potential injury.
Still keeping an eye on the others, "Fantastic. You are going to have to teach that to me as well, my good gnome."
"Excuse me," Corinna speaks up from in between Rajah and Gilfroy, "could we possibly discuss philology sometime when we aren't about to blown up by pyromaniacal goblins?"
"I'm with her," Gilfroy says as he inexpertly fumbles with his crossbow.
Rajah grins, looking quite unconcerned with the current situation. Noticing Gilfroy have a difficult time with his crossbow, "Careful, Gil. You could shoot your eye out with that thing. Or...someone else's." He says wryly.
Goblin #5's firework shoots off another burst of flame, but without him controlling it (he just stands staring with glazed eyes), it flies up into the sky and back down into the river.
The other goblins, perturbed by the sounds of whizzing arrows, hurry back into the marsh for cover.
Next Up: Melon, Gilfroy, Aago, Malan, Blue Rajah (subject to delayed action).
Corinna looks relieved to see the goblins at the far end of the bridge scatter. "If we're going to cross this bridge," she calls to Aago, Melon, and Malan, "hadn't we better go ahead and do it while we can?"
Next Up: Gilfroy, Aago, Malan, Blue Rajah (subject to delayed action), Goblins, Corinna (subject to delayed action).
Melon, seeing the goblin before her looking quite out of it, grins as she light-footedly hops passed him. "We want this guy alive?" she asks as she deftly tries to pull the weapon from his hand.
Move to R18 and Daze the goblin. (DC 13)
Aago, feeling the goblin stop resisting his hold, shifts his weight and pulls the goblin around, thrusting him off the bridge and into the water.
With the goblin gone, Aago makes his way to land.
Gil fumbles a bolt into his crossbow, aims it, reverses it, aims it for real, and fires at a non-meleed goblin. The recoil nearly sends him flying.
Attack:
The bolt shoots high up into the air and (lost on a 1 ) disappears into the muck of the marsh.
He watches it soar for a moment, then starts fumbling another bolt out, staggering a few feet closer to the end of the bridge (5-foot step forward).
If Aago successfully clears the end of the bridge of goblins, Corinna will take her action immediately after his to move as quickly as she can across the swaying bridge and take his place at O 20.
Melon pulls the lit firework out of the goblin's hands, then slips past him.
Gilfroy pulls out his crossbow, but fires it off wildly.
Aago lifts up the wide-eyed goblin and deposits him over the side of the bridge. The goblin doesn't even make a sound as he splashes into the water and disappears under the surface.
Next Up: Blue Rajah, Goblins, Melon, Gilfroy, Aago, Corinna.
"Oh, well done, everyone; they're running away," Corinna notes in relief. "Quickly, let's find this Proudmarshal Stump or whoever it is we're looking for and see if he knows where they might have taken the dogs."
It will just be that last parting shot.
"Thank you to our healers," Melon says, "I was nattering away too much - completely taken by surprise by those arrows. haha! That'll teach me! But -" she looks at where her puncture wounds should be, lifting her shirt and exposing her belly enough to make Corinna instinctively stand between her and the guys, a little blush developing. "- there's hardly even a scratch left. That magic sure is powerful."
"Wow! That was...there were so many goblins...and that firework...and firing arrows...excuse me a moment, I think I see somethingbehind that bush..."
Gilfroy dashes to the side behind a bush. A moment later, the sound of retching can be heard.
"The fellow, we are after may be in trouble. Let us keep moving."
Aago looks regretfully after the retreating goblins but nods. "Quite right!" he says, clapping Malan on the back. "We need to get moving. Well done, all!"
As they continue on their way, he glances at Melon. "I recognized the Crane style, but what's that other? Quite impressive! It seems you've learned a great deal in the last dozen years or so."
Melon is all teeth as she grins back at Aago, "Crane is something that Ameiko and her clan brought along to Sandpoint; but that other one is something I found while watching a Sczarni knife duel. Man! That is serious stuff - it's all about patience; the first one to move is usually the one to lose." She puts on a mysterious face, "I've adapted it for unarmed combat, improvising a few things as I went along. I call it Eye-Poking-Til-They-Stop style, after the first time that I used it for real."
Corinna listens to Aago and Melon with a mystified look on her face. "They sound like a couple of wizards discussing spell refinements," she murmurs. "How many ways can there possibly be of hitting someone?"
Melon beams back to Corinna, "A lot! Easily as many as there are of f-" The rest is lost as Aago clasps his hand over Melon's mouth.
Gilfroy retches again into the swamp.
Aago, hardly aware that it was Corinna who had asked the question in the first place, nods and speaks before Melon can shock the poor girl half to death.
"There are as many styles of hand to hand combat as there are grains of sand. At least, that's what one of my teachers told me. I think he was overfond of his voice and made shite up as he went along. But there are certainly a lot more than I'd have thought just a few years ago. Most of it requires a lot of discipline and persistence, a strong mind as well as a strong heart..."
Aago suddenly erupts into laughter and releases Melon to wipe a tear from his eye. "Sorry, I couldn't listen to the masters say all that pretentious dragon crap without losing it and it seems I can't say it either. There's just a lot of way to do things. What works for some people, doesn't work for others. My preferred style has the grand name of the "Snapping Turtle Style" but I prefer to think of it as a decent way to 'Stop Things From Hitting You.'"
Walking over next to the bush, hands clasped behind his back, not looking behind the bush directly, "Gilfroy, my dear fellow, did you find what you were looking for?" He asks with a small grin on his face.
"My understanding was there was a sense of urgency to our mission. We should continue on at this time." Malan leaves.
"Almost!" he calls out. "There was some delicious snapper I had a few days ago. Seeing if I can get it again." He laughs weakly.
The firework that Melon snatched shoots off two more bursts before dying. Although the flames just fly into the air and then fall into the water, they are enough to cause yelps of fear from the fleeing goblins in the marsh. Very soon, the goblins are out of sight. You're not sure what happened to the one Aago threw in the water. He never resurfaces, so he either drowned or managed to swim out of sight and flee.
The trail continues to wind through the swamp, once more managing to be at least twice as long as it would be if it went in a straight line. After a little over thirty minutes of travel, you reach another bridge, much like the first one, passing over another tributary river. This time, however, there does not appear to be any goblins waiting in ambush, and you cross over it without problem.
It's only about twenty minutes before you reach the next bridge. After that the trail turns towards the west, still winding greatly as it follows what few dry areas there are in the marsh. After about another half hour, you finally catch sight of what might be your destination. Up ahead, the trail leads to a swampy lagoon. The open ocean is visible just beyond these shallow waters, while an old two-storey building, its walls soggy with moss and its roof sagging with age, sits on the lagoon’s eastern shore.
Gilfroy emerges from behind the bushes, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "So that's a battle, is it?" he mutters weakly to Rajah. He spends the next half hour uncharacteristically silent, brooding inwardly and with his head hung heavily with each step.
After a time, his good spirits start to return, enough to comment to Aago with a sickly grin, "So were those useful enough tricks for you? It occurs to me that I should have some way of warning folks that I'm about to create an illusion. Some of you might have thought the bridge really was giving way. Any suggestions?"
Corinna's rush of optimism that followed the rout of the goblins fades away and is nowhere to be found an hour later. "We must be lost," she insists, weary and dispirited. "These trails must lead round and round in circles. The swamp can't possibly be this big! Are you sure that last bridge wasn't the same one we crossed before?" She arcane marks the second bridge so she'll know if they cross it again.
Melon goes over to Gilfroy and ruffles his hair a little bit, in a way she thinks is encouraging camaraderie; but it may just be a bit overbearing for Gilfroy. "I remember my first time. Was pretty bad. Blood everywhere, and he came back later for some more. It just comes down to trying to give better than them, and having more than they can take."
Aago looks down at the gnome, surprised. "That was you? Well done! The sound was quite effective. A note of warning would certainly be useful. Perhaps you could shout some nonsensical word first, like 'fiddlesticks.'"
In response to Corinna's despair, he glances back and offers her a warm smile. "It takes a lot longer to walk somewhere than it does to be carried about in a carriage. We're not lost. Look there - see that building? That's probably where we're heading."
When the cottage comes into view, Malan stops. "Hold for a moment. It would not be wise to walk into an ambush" He looks over the scene with his blade in hand.
Perception
In response to Corinna's despair, he glances back and offers her a warm smile. "It takes a lot longer to walk somewhere than it does to be carried about in a carriage. We're not lost. Look there - see that building? That's probably where we're heading."
Corinna sighs with relief. "Well, at least I know we haven't passed that before." Her pleasure at arriving at some sort of civilization is tempered by a closer look at the sagging, mossy structure. "It doesn't look very ... sturdy, does it?"
"A-anybody see any more goblins?" Gilfroy asks nervously. He has his crossbow tightly held in his hands, the proper end pointing out. He whips about at every little noise, and has done so as soon as Malan mentioned an ambush. He very nearly shoots Corinna's head off as she breaks the silence with her own brand of nervousness.
You pause as the cottage comes into view and look about. There is no sign of anything else in the area other than insects buzzing about over the lagoon. As you move a bit closer, however, you see the door open and a small shape comes out. "Hello?" the figure calls out. He appears to be a halfling male with dark hair and dark eyes. He wears plain brown clothes that have large mud stains on them and appear torn in several parts. His face is smudged with mud and maybe even a bit of blood. He has a slight limp as he walks out the door and a short distance along the trail towards you. "Can I help you?"