It appears nothing has changed... We must go to the Blackwing first either way and then decide options. Yridhrennor nods to himself and folds up the map. Falfaerel, please scout the area. But, stay safe! Try to look like a normal raven... We don't want you to attract attention to yourself... and there could be dangers in the air. lThe bird gives Yridhrennor an odd look before flapping off into the air.
Yridhrennor gasps in shock. Um.. that is.. uh.. if you think we should, um.. Crusader. I.. um... for a moment I felt like I was in one of my books. I'm not a great hero, though. That's... that's you.. um.. ya.. I'm sorry.
At some length, after a few detours around buildings fallen into the street, chasms, and putting a dozen or more dretches, manes, and quasits to the sword, the crusaders finally come to the Librarium of the Broken Black Wing. Where once stood the most complete archives on the subject of demonology in Mendev, now only a facade and the main hall remain. Curiously, the buildings around the Blackwing seem to have fared far better than the library itself despite their close proximity.
As the crusaders draw near, a harsh voice barks from within, "Stack the damned books better!"
"I don't recognize that voice," Teofil said, looking blindly at the ruins.
The Librarium of the Broken Black Wing had many recent memories for Steave. He awoke from his long sleep within these walls. The harsh voice concerns him, so he strides inside and surveys the situation before jumping to conclusions. His heavy shield comfortably sits on his left arm, and his right fist rests on his weapons belt.
Um.. Crusader.. perhaps.. we... He grips his staff tightly and breathes deep. right, no time to be a coward! I have my own story to write! He follows the paladin at a safe distance.
"Curioser and curiouser" Abelard murmurs, to nobody in particular. He follows Steave in, keeping both hands round the grip of his falchion.
Steave and Abelard step into the Blackwing and find a man holding a mace and a bloodstained shield, brandishing the mace at a single harried librarian bent over a growing circular stack of books and scrolls. Within the circle sit a quartet of unconscious scholars lashed together. Four tieflings bearing a wide range of abyssal oddities stood closer watch over the woman and looked eagerly at the growing stack.
"We let you in against our better judgment, Chaleb," the harried scholar said. "I ask you again: Let us go. Take what you want and be gone."
"Your lives are what I want, Fenna," the man said, laughing just as Theran's foot dislodged a bit of debris and a clatter of loose masonry fell to the ground just outside the Blackwing's door.
"Better than scribe's lives!" Chaleb said. "I like that shield you've got there," he told Steave. "I'll have it from you!"
The tieflings turned and rushed forward for Steave and Abelard. One pierced the blind crusader's flank with practiced skill, striking close to his vitals. To his side, Steave took a slice to the thigh, just beneath his shield and near the artery.
Eyeing Steave's shield still, Chaleb rushed forward and swung his mace wildly. Steave easily caught the blow on his very nice shield.
Do the bad guys hear you coming?
I think I missed some armor check penalties in there...but doesn't look like it matters. The bad guys hear you coming in.
Initiatives:
Average 13
always acts in surprise
Average 12. Bad guys win!
Chaleb sets his crusader's challenge on Steave, with the claiming of the shield. -2 to Chaleb's AC vs. everyone but Steave. +4 to any damage he does to Steave. He moves in and goes at Steave because it is a nice shield, right? :)
"I'm using my shield at the moment." Steave replies and kicks wildly at the tiefling that hit him.
Then he centers himself and readies for the immient attack.
Galin steps into the room with his blade drawn, slashing at the nearest tiefling to help Steave protect himself,
I think you need to move Chaleb into melee with Steave or better describe his attack.
Muttering a quick prayer to his patron, Abelard heals himself; unfortunately, he takes one hand off his falchion as he does so and his swing misses the tiefling.
Yridhrennor pulls out a slender wand from inside his robes. He holds it aloft and makes an intricate gesture, waving the wand in the air but somehow evoking a slipping and sliding image.
Gwirodydd y ddaear, gwrando fy ngalwad!
Thick liquid the color of oil bubbles up from between the cracks in the stones, clicking the floor beneath the teiflings' feet!
As Steave leans into his blow, Theran swings over him to smash the fiend on his right.
"I'm using my shield at the moment." Steave replied, kicking wildly at the tiefling that hit him before healing himself.
Galin stepped forward and slew a tiefling to Steave's side with a single thrust of his blade.
Abelard tended to his own healing, but sparing a hand to staunch his bleeding left his falchion swing ever so slightly off-balance and easily parried by the tiefling he intended it to cut.
Yridhrennor gestured with a wand, incanting "Gwirodydd y ddaear, gwrando fy ngalwad!" A slick of grease appeared beneath the tieflings, but they keep their footing. Theran partly remedies that situation by braining one with his earthbreaker.
The surviving tiefling on his flank tries to pierce Steave anew, but finds the crusader more than his equal. Steave dipped his shield down just enough to knock the blade aside before it could lay open his leg.
The other tiefling tried his luck with Galin, but found his thrusts easily parried.
Chaleb took in the fall of half his men, but remained fixed on Steave and his shield. His mace slipped past Steave's guard and hammered painfully into the crusader's chest. He coughed and tasted blood.
saved :( The area greased is the green square.
Ouch. Good thing Steave healed himself.
"Let's try that again." Steave replies and kicks Chaleb twice.
Then he centers himself and readies for the imminent attack.
Regaining his balance, Abelard steps over the corpse of the tiefling who stabbed him, seeking to move past the guard of the enemy to his left. It works: his falchion cuts deeply into his foe's side.
Yridhrennor hurls a glob of glowing acid at the lead tiefling. gadael i'r dyfroedd sur o anfodlonrwydd llosgi y cnawd ac ysbryd!
Yridhrennor hurls a glob of glowing acid at the lead tiefling. gadael i'r dyfroedd sur o anfodlonrwydd llosgi y cnawd ac ysbryd!
attack was 18 from previous post
He moves to step in but sees the slippery ooze. Following Abelard, he steps in the other way and strikes out to his right.
"Let's try that again." Steave replied and kicked Chaleb twice before further healing himself.
Regaining his balance, Abelard stepped over the corpse of the tiefling who stabbed him, moving past the guard of the enemy to his left and cutting deeply into his side. The tiefling collapsed.
Yridhrennor hurled a glob of glowing acid at the last tiefling: "gadael i'r dyfroedd sur o anfodlonrwydd llosgi y cnawd ac ysbryd!" He struck the Abyss-touched man square in the face, blinding him. Clawing at his burning eyes, Chaleb's last henchman dropped his weapon and blundered backwards. He came in reach of the woman who had been charged to build a pile of tomes about the restrained scholars and she smacked him on the back of the head with a very stout volume. The tiefling fell senseless to the floor.
With Chaleb isolated, Galin maneuvered around to flank him and struck. His thin blade pierced past the man's armor and tasted blood for an instant before Chaleb turned and knocked it back.
"Damn you to the Abyss!" Chaleb shouted over his shoulder. He swung his mace at Steave again. Anger and pain drove his weapon past Steave's very fine shield. It struck the crusader in the face and nearly knocked him unconscious. Still eyeing the shield, Chaleb stepped warily back and put Yridhrennor's oil slick to his side.
"Damn you to the Abyss!" Chaleb shouted over his shoulder.
Abelard grins mirthlessly, pointing to his ruined eyes. "See, they tried that already. Didn't take."
With that, he steps in and strikes at Chaleb. His blade seems almost to have a life of its own as it weaves through the air, circling before finding the weak spot in his opponent's guard and cutting through, separating muscle from sinew, life from soul.
Yridhrennor dismisses the grease with a waive of his hand. That should help, I think.
"...It struck the crusader in the face and nearly knocked killed him knocking him unconscious."
"...It struck the crusader in the face and nearly
knockedkilled him knocking him unconscious."
Round 1:
Chaleb does nothing
Tiefs do 8
Steave heals himself for 19, which tops him back off at 25.
Round 2:
Chaleb does 16
Tiefs do nothing
Steave heals himself for 8. His then-current hp would be 17.
Round 3:
Chaleb does 16 again. Takes Steave to 1.
Galin strikes out at his nearby foe with his rapier before stepping between the enemy and Steave's fallen form,
Abelard grinned mirthlessly, pointing to his ruined eyes. "See, they tried that already. Didn't take."
With that, he stepped in and struk at Chaleb. His blade seemed almost to have a life of its own as it weaved through the air, circling before finding the weak spot in his opponent's guard and cutting through, separating muscle from sinew, life from soul.
Yridhrennor dismissed the grease with a waive of his hand. "That should help, I think."
Galin stepping between the Chaleb and Steave's fallen form before striking out at the man. His blade nearly tasted blood, but Chaleb pulled up his shield just in time to block it.
Steave laid on the floor, unconscious and bleeding, but didn't seem to get worse.
Theran, seeing the tieflings all dead and Chaleb pressed back from Steave, rushed to the air of the bound scholars. He quickly began untying them.
"Think you're a funny one, do you? Chaleb said to Abelard, just a hint of pain in his voice. He swung hard with his mace, knocking past Abelard's blocking blade to collide painfully with the blind crusader's shoulder. For a moment Abelard felt his fingers go numb, but he kept hold of his blade and command of his limb.
Redirected Galin's attack because there's no one else to kill, unless he wants to start in on hostages or party members. :)
Assumed Theran's action based on seeing him moved that way on the map.
Abelard smiles easily. "Just somethin' you said, that's all. Wouldn't know from funny, but I do know right from wrong."
He winces as Chaleb gets past his guard and the mace crunches into his shoulder. Time to end this: Steave is bleeding out and he himself is hurting.
Calling on the power of his patron, he infuses his attacks with the power of good; his falchion, now guided by a force other than his own hands, strikes true.
Theran is beginning to free the librarians.
Steave's super crusader body plugs the leaks and stops the bleeding on the slippery slope to death.
Abelard smiles easily. "Just somethin' you said, that's all. Wouldn't know from funny, but I do know right from wrong." Resolved to end things, Abelard invoked the Heavens against the evildoer Chaleb. The strike knocked past his shield and cut deep into Chaleb's side.
Theran started work cutting loose the bound librarians. He freed the first and the woman who was at work stacking books for their pyre helped the man free.
Yridhrennor entered the Blackwing and loaded his crossbow.
Galin pressed the attack, striking while Chaleb still reeled from Abelard's attack. He thrust his blade near to the artery in the man's thigh.
Chaleb cried out in pain and threw down his mace and shield. "I yield!"
Yridhrennor looks at Chaleb and then turns back to the other Crusaders. what do we do? In the stories, the heroes believe the villains when they yield, but then they're betrayed quickly.
Yridhrennor looks at Chaleb and then turns back to the other Crusaders. what do we do? In the stories, the heroes believe the villains when they yield, but then they're betrayed quickly.
"I'll give you my oath as a crusader?" Chaleb offered with a grim smile.
With Steave still down, Abelard takes charge. He looks directly at the elf. "Ask him some questions, find out what he was doing and what he knows. Think of stuff we need to know and ask him that. If'n you decide he's lyin' or he don't want to answer, well, give someone a call." He looks meaningfully at Theran.
Abelard swore an oath of vengeance against fiends and cultists, those who follow Baphomet in particular. If it turns out that Chaleb is one such, he has not much longer to live. On the other hand, he's not much interested in petty criminals - if all that was going on here was a bit of looting then he's willing to let the tiefling live. Evil is as evil does, after all.
Yridhrennor sighs. Very well. Why were you attacking those scholars?
Yridhrennor sighs. Very well. Why were you attacking those scholars?
"Places like this have lots of stuff worth taking. Man's got to have gold once he gets clear of this place."
Yridhrennor knows he's lying.
Abelard, um, he's lying.
Sheesh, don't be a tattletale! Falfaerel snickered. I mean, really, can you be any less intimidating? Calling the big crusader to make the bad nasty robber talk? Use your skills, elf! You're a wizard use magic!
Oh! Oh my... no. No, I could never do that! I mean, sure I could keep using simple cantrips to drip acid into his eyes, like Father Mercy did when he extracted confessions from that cell of cultists in Taldor. Or, I could, of course, follow Doctor Viktor Frnaken's experiments on the rejuvenation of dead tissue. He did fascinating things with electric shocks to the limbs. Do you know that he determined that the muscles and nerves of a leg STILL function even after being removed from a body? He even managed to restart a heart with applied electric shock. But that's all truly grizzly stuff... Reading those things gave me nightmares for weeks! You know that! I only did it because they were important aspects of history. Especially because the Crusades have used such methods here in Kenabres. I would imagine that many Crusaders would be familiar with the tools of inquisition
Abelard, um, he's lying.
Chaleb rolled his eyes, "You've been too long in those books, elf. You don't know a man when he tells you the straight truth."
Oh! Oh my... no. No, I could never do that! I mean, sure I could keep using simple cantrips to drip acid into his eyes, like Father Mercy did when he extracted confessions from that cell of cultists in Taldor. Or, I could, of course, follow Doctor Viktor Frnaken's experiments on the rejuvenation of dead tissue. He did fascinating things with electric shocks to the limbs. Do you know that he determined that the muscles and nerves of a leg STILL function even after being removed from a body? He even managed to restart a heart with applied electric shock. But that's all truly grizzly stuff... Reading those things gave me nightmares for weeks! You know that! I only did it because they were important aspects of history. Especially because the Crusades have used such methods here in Kenabres. I would imagine that many Crusaders would be familiar with the tools of inquisition
"Plan to hold me down for all that yourself? While your friends here watch? You crusaders know you got a torturer with you?"