You are actually across the room. It would take two move actions to reach Where Mju is now, and you would have to take the till round to sprint to reach the entrance of the temple where Mju appears to be headed and where Anathaym is.
Zamothis trots past Kara giving a warm grin as he turns the corner around the pool of gore to see Mju using some very impressive moves to break away from the cultist who attempts to hit him with a thrown spear.
OK, so things just went poorly for Mju. The cultist managed to land a big hit, but Mju still gets a defensive special effect on him from the exchange because of his critical success.
I would recommend using a luck point here because that blow will incapacitate you otherwise.
Mju needs to decide what happens next - luck point for the attack to be rerolled (or the location or the damage), and defensive effect from the evade.
Turn Order: Anathaym (2/3 AP), Zamothis (2/3 AP), Mju (2/3 AP), Kara (2/3 AP), cultists (only the one fighting Anathaym and the one fighting Mju are left alive).
Sigh. Another wasted crit! I'll burn the luck point. For the special effect can I go for the trip? What I was trying for was to goad him into rushing me, side-stepping him, and let him do a face plant on the ante-chamber floor.
The cultist gets a large welt across his left thigh but manages to square off effectively and he and Anathaym continue to be engaged, slwoly circling each other as the fight drags on.
OK, get your next actions in.
Turn Order: Anathaym (0/3 AP), Zamothis (2/3 AP), Mju (2/3 AP), Kara (2/3 AP), cultists (only the one fighting Anathaym (used 3 AP) and the one fighting Mju (used 1 AP) are left alive).
So, I would like to give the prone cultist a good kick, before I run out to the ante-chamber where I left my bow; would that use my Thievery Combat Style?
That seems in the spirit of the Thievery style, so I would allow you to use it for a cheap shot before running away. The swashbuckling combat feature is supposed to let you fade in an out of combat easier, so the only downside to attacking would be that the prone cultist may get an attack (though being fatigued and prone makes that nearly impossible to actually hit).
As Zamothis looms over the fallen cultist, Mju tries to throw a quick kick and misses.
The cultist puts his shield over himself trying his best to defend any incoming attack.
Zamothis is engaged with the prone cultist. The cultist only has a shield armed and look frightened.
Mju is not engaged with the cultist and free to move.
Turn Order: Anathaym (0/3 AP), Zamothis (1/3 AP), Mju (1/3 AP), Kara (1/3 AP), cultists (only the one fighting Anathaym (used 3 AP) and the one fighting Mju (used 1 AP) are left alive).
Because the opponent is Prone, the fatigue Zamothis feels is canceled out. Nice Critical! I'm doubling the Maximum damage because you don't need to withdraw from a dead man...
Zamothis strikes quickly, the veteran of many battles sliding his shortsword between the shoulder and chest of the cultist and ripping outward - all but severing the man's arm from his body.
The cultist rolls, unable to even move his limp arm as he quickly bleeds out on the floor. Zamothis turns to the exit of the temple.
New round! Everyone can act, and only Anathaym is left in the last battle.
Attack:1d100 ⇒ 36 Parry:1d100 ⇒ 6
Anathaym strikes with her shield, defeating the cultist's own shield in the process.
Location:1d20 ⇒ 11 Damage:1d4 ⇒ 4
The edge of her hoplite hitting the primitive armor on his chest as he grunts in pain from the blow.
Everyone may act, you guys are the only ones standing in the temple; Anathaym is outside the temple fighting the last cultist.
Zamothis begins trotting out the temple and will reach the melee with one more move.
Mju moves to his longbow and picks it up. He needs one more turn to ready it.
Kara and Trimostones start moving out behind Zamothis.
The cultist tries to hit Anathaym who relies on her shield.
Cultist attack:1d100 ⇒ 65
The cultist misses.
Next turn
Anathaym strikes back.
Attack:1d100 ⇒ 59 Parry:1d100 ⇒ 77
Anathaym feints right and strikes the cultist's left leg that was already injured previously.
Weapon damage:1d4 ⇒ 4
There is crunching sound that the entire party hears as the cultist's femur breaks, causing him to fall over in pain gripping his purple and red thigh.
Endurace:1d100 ⇒ 84 Turns incapacitated:1d3 ⇒ 1
OK! Combat is effectively over, you guys are free to act period!
Mju looks askance at Zamothis, somewhat appalled by his blood-thirstiness.
Oh well, these cultists were depraved, and the world is a better place without them. With that rationalization in mind, he begins to back out of the temple.
Exiting the temple and joining Anathaym, Trimostones has a spring in his step. I felt on my deathbed in that cursed place, but now I feel better than I have in a decade. I cannot thank you enough, you have saved me and you have saved my family. Let's make haste to the shore and return to my vessel.
Leaving the opening to the temple, the group scrambles down the loose rocks. The group of natives that guided you to the temple have not left, and seeing your exit they begin whispering to each other and shifting nervously.
Urm, the native you had worked with to get to the temple, approaches Kara and Anathaym and begins hurriedly speaking his voice sounding more confident and clearer than before. The words are difficult to understand with his excitement, but you hear him say You go in... fight priestess? You... won... now Urm head feel better... others say so too. Less angry, can think better. Urm continues to talk for a while, but it's hard to grasp more than that.
Turning the discussion to departure, Urm says he can bring you to his village near where your campsite was but he does not know where your landing boat is.
You can get halfway back to the shore with easier skill checks tanks to the guides, but remember it's midday of day 2 and the sailors will only wait for three days before returning to Myceras. Also remember that Anathaym, Mju, and Zamothis are currently Winded and will ave difficulty going anywhere without resting for 15 minutes.
"Chatty little fellow, isn't he.." Zamothis grins as Urm talks nonsensically.
"I say we get a little distance from the temple, have ourselves a breather, and then make it back towards the boat. It was a bit of a hard stroll getting up here, and I don't want to chance being late tomorrow with how nervous our crew were being near the island."
Sitting about a half hours walk from the temple, it still looms in the backdrop of the wilderness - the peak of the mountain ridge it rests on. The intimidating shape of the fist worn with time massive and immovable.
Resting and eating a small meal of dried foods, the party can see as a creature as tall as three men walks unsteadily from the far ridge on cloven hooves. The giant peers into the opening in the side of the temple with its solitary eye before leaning its human-like top half deep into the fist of the gods for a few minutes. Emerging wiping blood from its mouth and chin with stained hands, the creature bears a big grin returning from the direction it came.
The group hastily breaks camp and moves on in the opposite direction towards the village of the natives. They veer from the rocky mountaintops to the dense jungle descending to their village that Mju had seen previously. It's a difficult march through untamed wilderness.
You have recovered from your fatigue. I need both an Endurance skill roll and either an Athletics or Survival skill roll as you all navigate the terrain to the village.
Descending the side of the mountain through the dense jungle is more than simply difficult. Zamothis results to using his short sword to hack a path through the jungle making navigation easier. The heat of the midday, stress of the battle, and long path still makes the travel rougher than normal. Anathaym ended up falling near the end of the day and twisted her ankle leaving it swollen and painful but was still able to walk with a little help from Kara. Her sister being taller, heavier, and built for combat Kara struggles her way to the village pushing herself beyond her limits.
By the time the group arrived in the native village, Kara was very tired despite it being early evening. Urm began chirping excitedly to the elder near the back of the small village along with some other men from the escort party. The elder showed no emotion, but spoke softly in return. Immediately, some teenage boys and women move to different areas and activity kicks up in the village. Urm jogs back seemingly unaffected by the march, and begins to waves to the party, Come... Be our guests...
Trimostones looks at the group carefully, It's been a long day, but we do have a little time before we have to get back... it might not hurt to blow off some steam before dealing with the crew again.
Tired Condition:
All skills are 1 step harder.
Base movement is decreased by 1 meter.
It takes 3 hours of rest to recover.
Zamothis frowns, but then catches the girls out of the corner of his eye. Kara looked exhausted, and he did not doubt that Anathaym needed to get off her twisted ankle. At last he nods. "Alright. But let's not get carried away celebrating, and let's stay sharp."
Well it's really up to you guys, if we go now we need to move quick to avoid nightfall. We should be able to just barely make it if nothing goes wrong.
The spoiler above gives the status effect (reposted here). You would have a hard time keeping pace to the beach, but still can move relatively freely. The next two levels of fatigue are "I need to go to bed", the next three levels beyond that is physically debilitating requiring more than a night's rest, and the final three levels are literally comatose to dead.
Tired Condition:
All skills are 1 step harder.
Base movement is decreased by 1 meter.
It takes 3 hours of rest to recover.
To make it before nightfall would take good rolls, so I want this to be fair warning. Once night falls the jungle things can get risky for you guys. However, staying in the village represents pushing the timeline to get to the boat and makes tomorrow a difficult day of traveling. So it's a calculated risk either way.
"I think we're going to be pushing ourselves against dangers either way. Though my preference would normally be to push on, if you think the morning would be easier with -hopefully- a night's rest, I am fine with that."
So how common are the monsters in this setting? Can you go years without seeing a beastie, or should you expect so see at least one troll a day? I'm just trying figure out rattled Mju should be by the cyclops at the temple.
Cyclops are relatively rare, but live solitary lives on islands in this area. Even so Mju has only heard legends, and likely has seen Meerish marketplaces occasionally offer (typically fake) cyclops horn figurines to offer limited boosts to magic power. He has definitely never seen one with his own eyes even though he knows of them.
A real cyclops horn is a powerful thing, though distinguishing the difference between rumors and reality would likely be hard for any of you.
Deciding the rest was needed, and the good spirits of the native uplifting the party stays as night falls. There is terrible food prepared with love, and a simple liquor called Naktak or something similar that is passed freely along with pipes for smoking a dried root from the jungle. There is song and dance with fires lighting the villagers as night falls suddenly and deep.
Is there anything you guys want to do before going to bed?
Zamothis politely partakes of the horrid food, and a little of the drink, though he has no intention of coming close to drunk. If she allows, he also inspects Anathaym's ankle and applies first aid if he thinks it would help her.
Zamothis is able to spend a few moments binding the ankle of Anathaym, soothing the pain from the minor injury and letting it heal. She's almost in perfect health now.
1d3 ⇒ 2
Anathaym took 3 damage, but Zamothis healed her for 2.
The evening of revelry ends with a good night's sleep broken very early by the sun reaching past the treeline of the jungle.
The trip back to the boat will require a group survival check. One person makes one check, but the difficulty is adjusted by the number of people helping.
In this case one of Zamothis (77% Survival), Anathaym (39% Survival), or Trimostones (73% Suvival) needs to make the check with the other two assisting. This is an important check, so you guys just need to decide who is leading the travel back to the boat from the village through the jungle.
No matter what, everyone needs to make an Endurance check and an Athletics -or- Survival check to see how the travel affects them.
Travel checks:
Anathaym:
Survival:1d100 ⇒ 61 -> Failure
Endurance:1d100 ⇒ 58 -> Failure
1d4 ⇒ 4 1d3 ⇒ 3
Anathaym's legs are in bad condition, but luckily she has injured the other leg instead of harming the already injured leg again. She is winded from the trip.
