Nodding at Lash, Dirk says, "I agree. But if it's possible, I'd like to keep one of them alive - at least temporarily."
Dirks eyes take on a predatory visage as he finishes, "I'd like to have a chat with them."
Softening slightly, he turns to regard Selena, "An unusual suggestion from the woman who recently chastised me for putting a hostile monster out of its misery."
After cinching a strap on his banded armor, Dirk looks back at Selena, "I do appreciate the offer, but let's wait until you are more... certain of your spell. Standing before an enemy with an unknown weapon invites disaster."
Turning back to Lash, "When you are ready, let's move in together quickly."
To the rest of the group, "Standard marching order then..."
Selena narrows her eyes.
"There is a difference between a creature defending itself from predators or attacking something out of hunger, and those who attack with murderous intent. Hostility is not a reference of evil or cruelty."
[ooc]The Alchemy Lab you passed through a while back was up at room 14 and the meditation room you came out of a bit ago was room 15 marked on this map.
"Dirk, I think Lena hitting first is a good idea. They tried to soften us up before engaging using the rust monster, I say wwe make them pay for it."
"There might not be any need to, Lash. Until we have a better idea of what we're up against. Can you listen at the door and try to find out how many we're fighting? Also, check for traps. They've fooled us once out of a total two tries, so far. I'd prefer not to be blown up."
Lash approaches the door doing an in depth search for any indication of a trap. Once she is sure thre is none she listens as the door.
Perception
Perception
Selena holds her hands up in an arcane gesture, muttering celestial syllables as a glow extends over her body.
Lash moves up toward the door, motioning everyone back a ways knowing what happened last time.
Running her hands expertly over the door and probing the various cracks and crevices, Lash is certain there are no existing traps. Knowing, however, what happened last time, she takes another careful pass, finding nothing.
While going through the process of trap checking, she proceeds to give a good listen at the door. The thick, fairly well cared for, oak door muffles the sounds coming from the room pretty significantly, knowing how large it is from the map you carry. Conversation does seem to carry on, though at a lower and lower level, and you can hear at least 4 distinct voices. A deep voice from somewhere back in the room exclaims "It's got to be here someplace" and from farther back in a higher pitched voice "can't get through" filter through the door somewhat unhindered by two distinct voices, the last coming through almost faintly enough to have been unrecognizable. It's obvious that the combat you heard is over.
As you listen you clearly hear the words "It's got to be behind that door...Zemond, do something about that."
Thantos quiets his mind in preparation for a battle, he begins to summon a magic missile preparing his mind to release it the moment his foe is in sight.
"If I have to pose a ballad about this adventure, it will be a very long piece". "Open the door and let's go".
"They're about to go through another door, from the sound of it, one on the opposite end of the room. Now's the perfect time to hit 'em."
"If we are all prepared then... We'll execute the plan I came up with, which is to rush in and release a blast of fire. Hopefully the journal will not be among their possesions, for I'm not certain how the journal might be affected by that. I have heard that some wizards protect their belongings from fire." Selena's low whisper can be easily heard by the rest of the group.
Selena moves into the room, calling the fire to her hands again, prepared to assault the room's occupants with a deadly blast of fire, but also prepared to relinquish the flame if the situation demands it.
Thantos begins to creep forward in preparation for attack.
Lash sheathes her rapier, pulling out and loading her crossbow.
As the door flies open Lash waits for Selena's blast, then draws a bead on the first hostile she sees and fires.
if still flat footed Sneak Attack
With a questioning glance at his King, Dirk reluctantly sheathes his Elven blade and readies his heavy crossbow.
Dirk will move in the room along with Selena - he will fire on any hostiles that direct their attacks toward her.
Initiative
As Selena begins to move, Dirk loses a step as he struggles to unclasp his infrequently used crossbow from his pack.
Initiative
Initiative:
At a nod from Dirk, Selena throws the door open and steps into the room.
The first thing all of you notice is that it's huge. Fully 50' and more on a side, this room dwarfs any personal room in any house you have ever seen, including most mansions. Only reception rooms, like the ball room and throne room, in the palace in Kethlenica were this large.
Your eyes quickly take in the room as a whole. It must have been luxurious once, for the carpets, furnishings, books and paintings look of a rather high quality. A large desk half way down the right wall and a smaller table and chairs on the left denote comfortable places for the mage to relax and work, piles of papers and books lay scattered across both surfaces. Several lanterns along the walls and a fireplace at the back of the room provide a warm atmosphere to the entire area while keeping it bright enough to work in, but dark enough to still be cozy.
Along the north wall to your right are some chests. Along the east wall is a large wardrobe and dressing table with a water basin resting upon it for washing up. At the back of the room, along the south wall are a door at the south east, a fireplace at the center, and a bed, table and chairs in the west corner.
All of this you notice at a glance but your attention is drawn to more immediate concerns.
There is a pile of shattered iron on the ground and four other people in the room. A dwarf in plate mail is inspecting the wardrobe, bent over and obviously searching for something. A tough looking warrior in chain poking at the mass of iron in the middle of the floor. A dark-haired man with chain mail and a mace is moving back away from the door in the south east corner of the room, obviously backing away, and a blond man with a dagger in his belt is holding a bone scroll tube and pulling a sheaf of parchment from it.
Spinning from the wardrobe, crossbow in hand, cocked and loaded, the Dwarf grins evilly and says "Ah, there are our guests!"
The fighter pulls his sword and shield up in an offensive position and starts moving toward the group while the Dwarf fires, the two men at the back of the room turn, the one with the bone scroll tube, snaps the cap back on it and drops it at his feet and starts chanting. While the dark haired man starts moving around the mage, keeping a wary eye on Selena and Dirk as they move into the room.
Selena looks around the large room. It was bigger than she thought, and their opponents were too far spaced out for her power to affect them all as she had hoped. But there were also too many books and papers around. The lone fighter in the center of the room seemed somewhat vulnerable, and the pile of iron beside him did not seem flammable in the least.
Selena steps forward and releases the heavenly flame from her hands, letting it go where it would in a twisting cone of fiery tendrils, engulfing the fighter, but far enough from the shelves and desks nearby that nothing of wood or paper could be damaged.
The fighter sees you spellcasting and jumps to his right in an exagerated spin. The fire bursts from your hands but only singes the warrior as he spins mostly out of the path of the blaze, the leather straps and his under tunic smoking a bit from the heat. Growling off the pain the warrior begins to advance on the party. ()
From the back of the room a gasp of surprise registers as the priest yells "Of all the layers of the abyss IT'S HIM! PLATE AND SHIELD, KILL HIM!"
Armand raises his mace and shield but holds his attack, not wanting to either interrupt Selena's spellcast or push aside the others in the party.
Fyird eager for action charges the fighter whom just sidestepped the spell.
The fighter growls out a curse in a language you don't quite understand as Fyird's axe bangs off his chain mail, biting in and drawing blood () and points directly at Armand while taking a swipe with his long sword at Fyird.
Fyird deftly brings his axe up to counter the overhand chop, the fighter's blade doesn't even nick the handle of his perfectly crafted axe as the sound of the parry rings around the room.
Meanwhile the mage stops chanting and points a finger directly at Selena, a blazing blue bolt shoots unerringly from his fingertip and strikes Selena in the chest, burning a hole in her tunic and scorching her slightly ().
Meanwhile the Dwarf fires his crossbow bolt, also at Selena, judging this to be an easy shot at a large threat.
The crossbow bolt flies wide of the target, barely passing between Lash and Selena and grazing off the top of Armand's shield to shatter against the stone wall.
The creaking of the open door behind you is the only warning you get as a black leather clad man steps out of the shadows behind the open door and shoves his shortsword at Armand's back. "Die Prince!" he whispers as he strikes.
Armand grunts in pain as the shortsword enters through the back of his armor and punctures him just above the left hip.
In the mean time, hefting his mace, the priest moves a full movement up behind the fighter and starts praying to his foul deity, touching the warrior on his damaged shoulder. (
Hearing the commotion behind him, Dirk spins to see his worst nightmare - someone drawing blood from his friend and King. Adrenaline courses through his veins giving his muscles the extra edge that has kept him alive for so many years as he deftly drops his crossbow and draws his Elven blade in the span of a heartbeat. At the same time, moving toward the rogue with an involuntary, "BLADES OF HELL!".
Lifting his two-handed sword above his head he launches an attack at the rogue borne from 30 years of being a warrior and duty to his King.
Hearing Armand hiss in pain, Mird swings his bow and fires point blank at the rogue.
The arrow flys true and smacks the rogue right between the eyes...but if he felt it, it doesn't show. Other than snapping his head back slightly the arrow seems to have ABSOLUTELY no effect on the rogue at all.
In the mean time the priest moves up to the warrior and places his hand on his shoulder, as you watch both the cut from Fyird's axe and the burn area from Selena's burning hands spell fade leaving the warrior healthier and more ready for action.
Lash's crossbow bolt pings off the warrior's shield, denting it but doing little more.
Dirk, following Mird's arrow, spins and slams his blade down into the rogue, the rogue gives what looks like a half hearted block but the blade cleaves straight past the pueny short sword, blasting it aside, and slams down into the rogue's shoulder, almost where the neck and shoulder meet.
The force of the blow practically wrenches the sword from Dirk's hands but he manages to recover and fumble through the followthrough, seeing, but hardly believing, the rogue still whole and unaffected by the blow.