"Now you die pretty man..." Thresh says coldly as he launches himself against Marions, Bane slashing in a downwards arc in an attempt to remove the man's head from his body followed by a slash to the body!
in case the 10 hit was a raise
in case the 12 hit was a raise
Gaius (although I think that spades beats clubs I reckond that the Quick edge gives you a slight advantage plus it is easier this way because we don't have to divide into another initiative block) and Tenzin
The axe falls on Marions with deadly accuracy. Far greater accuracy and speed than the black clad commander expected. He had already started his dodge but midthrough relized that it was not enough. The tall man had to lunge back to avoid being decapitated. The axe falls inches short of his face slicing the top of the nose clean off as it rushes by . Staggered the commander stumbles backward giving Thresh a dangerous advantage. The savage barbarian presses on and delivers another deadly swing. He catches Marions and drives the blade into the man's side where it stops just short of his spine. There is a gurgle and then silence .
There is an immediate shift in the room. The two spear wielders look at the bodies on the ground then at each other. Their hands shake visibly. The fat man in the back is now almost squirting nervous sweat. Even though he might have kept his cool initially, he has now clearly lost his will to fight. The silence is however broken by a battlecry from the gladiator Janos. Shaking off the effects of Gaius sling stone his sets his sight on the former soldier and charges, ignoring both Thresh and Tenzin . With a roar he brings his sword down. Gauis is able to parry with his quarterstaff but is taken by surprise by the power behind the blow. The force drives Gaius' staff into the bridge of the nose, sending the world into a spin .
Tenzin gives not a second thought he moves to engage Janos whilst throwing a comment in the direction of the remaining thugs.."If you run you might live a bit longer"
Enlightenment activation(no multi action penalty) Wild
Smite activated
Engaging Janos....Fighting Wild
Damage
Tenzin follows after Janos' charge gracefully like a lone leaf in a updraft. His strike is quick and well aimed, certainly enough to fell a lesser man. But the gladiator had anticipated the attack and parries with his shield. The clang of the two weapons meeting rings through the common room and out into the street. Janos spins around and positions himself to face the three of you. "Cowards, you need to outnumber Janos to stand a chance!" he yells and raises his weapons in triumph.
The remaining thugs stand paralyzed for the moment, unsure what to do.
All of the thugs seems to be in agreement with Tenzin. The Red Hand’s latest catch is out of any of their league. One of the soldiers jabs his spear between the legs of Thresh, trying to trip the barbarian, while his partner slides a chair with full force in the northlander’s direction.
The plan is foiled. Thresh spots the rouse seemingly even before the two ill fated soldiers came up with it. Acting quickly he kicks the spear from the hands of its wielder sending the shaft to strike his companion over the bridge of the nose. Then the northener catches the chair and sends it flying towards the first guard. Both men are caught by surprise and loose their footing, tumbling to the floor in a helpless heap each .
The fat man has the right idea though. He decides to bail, moments before his cohort comes to the same conclusion. He kicks his underling in the back, sending the nervous fellow hurling towards Thresh. Trying to regain his balance he slashes at the barbarian, more by chance than by purpose. As expected he hits nothing but air.
Taking full advantage of the distraction the fat man disappears behind the door to the northen wall.
Tenzin chides himself mentally for his hasty blow and strikes out at the Gladiator again this time with more care.
Fighting Wild
DamageAdditional Damage from double Ace
,
The borderlander clears his head and watches for reinforcements.
The nimble monk finds an opening in the gladiator's defences. With super human quickness he strikes with his fist, hitting Janos just under the throat. The big fighter staggers and coughs as he looses his breath, but he manages to remain standing.
The two soldiers fumble to regain their footing and just about manages to get to their feet. Meanwhile the remaining thug is put in an impossible situation. Seeing no real outcome he continues to slash at Thresh but the northlander easilty swats the sword aside.
Thresh gives the swordsman a contemptuous look as he easily knocks aside his blade. "You should have run fool."
Thresh after slicing into the swordsman continues the arc of his swing attacking spear guy 1.
With two swift strokes Thresh ends two of his three opponents, taking the leg of one and the head of the other.
Janos manages to regain his wits and flies into a murderous rage. "I'll have your head for that!" he screams at Tenzin. There is a unnerving rasp to the gladiator's voice, no doubt brought on by the monk's attack. Janos swings his sword with full force and abandon against the jademan's head.
Spend one Bennie to soak
Soak roll Vigour wild ACE!!!
That removes both wounds and..
spend a second Bennie to remove my shaken condition.(SW page69)
Tenzin leans away from the blow at an angle some would claim was impossible
"Missed me" he quips as he straightens up.
Spend one Bennie to soak
Soak roll Vigour 1d6 wild 1d6 ACE!!!1d6
That removes both wounds and..
spend a second Bennie to remove my shaken condition.(SW page69)
Tenzin leans away from the blow at an angle some would claim was impossible
"Missed me" he quips as he straightens up.
Tenzin's grin falters slightly as a trickle of blood from his ear hits his shoulder.."Ah maybe not."
Sounds good, Thresh is ready for more bloodshed ;)
"Should have followed your fat friend."
Crowded by Thesig's dodge Gaius manages only a glancing blow.
Aided by Tenzin's distraction Gaius is able to plant his staff square in the gut of Janos. unfortunately the strike has little effect and he only manages to extract a brief grunt from the tough gladiator.
Just after Gaius' strike to the abdomen Namuda comes up from behind and slams his shield into the back of Janos, catching the gladiator off guard and creating an advantage.
The remaining guard fighting Thresh manages to gather his wits enough to grab his spear and stand up. Faced with the large northener his face pales visibly as he holds his spear and bracing for an attack.
Janos follows through the push from behind to step past Gaius, slashing at the former soldier as he passes. The strike is ill aimed and Gaius is able to parry it easily.
Thresh contempously ignores the spearman and focuses his attention on Janos. "NOW BANE DRINKS YOUR BLOOD!!!" he bellows.
Tenzin turns away as Thresh bisects Janos and stabs at the remaining spearman
Fighting Wild
Damage
Ducking under Janos's blade Gaius sweeps at the spearman's legs.
Janos deftly sidesteps Gaius as he moves himself to face his three attackers. It becomes appearent that his considerable battle prowness has more to do with raw talent than experience as he fails to account for Thresh, whose axe comes flying through the air with deadly precision. Bane slices through the air and through Janos, sending the gladiator's helmeted head flying across the room and landing in a clatter behind the bar. In response Tenzin effortlessly glides up to the remaining spearman to deliver a cut to the guards arm. The attack leaves an opening for Gaius to move in and swipe the legs out from underneath the remaining mercenary. The spear man falls hard to the floor and lies there unmoving. Then silence falls over the common room, broken only by the daily commotion outside on Teyerana's streets, and by the labored breathing of the combatants catching their breath.
"Good fight Southlanders...I no more call you puny...for Southlanders you are pretty good," Thresh says as he hugs first Tenzin and then Gaius. "You have the friendship of Thresh Darkon!"
After saying his piece, Thresh looks through the dead men's belongings to see if there is anything shiny or expensive looking to loot. As he does so he looks up at the others, "Who do we kill next?" he says with a happy look on his blood streaked face.
Tenzin weathers the rough hug from th Northlander then strides to the bar..
"We had best be quick my friends..someone get the girl and we can get out off here..once we have been compensated for our trouble."
He looks behind the bar for a strongbox that might contain the days takings.
"Here wear this. We need to move, the fat man will be back with friends."
Gaius removes the gem from his pocket and holds it to the light.
"The hood gave us some good advice. Time to get longer legs."
To Namuda and Rika: "We are heading {names a direction 90 degrees to our real path}. Your company would be welcome but the path looks to be rocky."
Gaius looks out the door. Company coming?
The deadly silence of the common room is broken by the boisterous of Thresh and followed shortly thereafter by a shriek of horror as Rika enters the blood soaked masacre. She stands paralyzed in the door way, almost at the point of shaking, and looks upon the scene with wide eyes. She relaxes slightly, enough to move, as Dubaku tries to calm her down.
As you search through the room you all find some trinkets. Apart from the armor and weapons worn by the defeated men Thresh finds a total of 225 moons distributed among their belt pouches. In addition the barbarian find a silver amulet at the end of a silver chain hanging from Marions' neck. The amulet is roughly two inches across and on the front is etched the stylized image of a war ship.
Behind the bar, Tenzin is able to find a wooden box with a simple lock keeping it closed. The box offers little resistance as the monk drives his fist through the lid, revealing what looks to be between 50 and 100 moons inside.
Gaius is able to find a few cloaks but few of the Teyerana garments seem to come in northlander sizes. The closest you can find is a large pelt from some unknown animal, clothing not that common in the warm regions of the independent cities.
To Namuda and Rika: "We are heading {names a direction 90 degrees to our real path}. Your company would be welcome but the path looks to be rocky."
All three fellow captives, Dubaku, Namuda and Rita seems to be in agreement that they need to leave the city, and all welcome your invitation.
Gaius looks out on an empty street. You can hear the normal sounds of commerce and activity coming from both directions, out of sight further down the winding streets. Appearently the everyday life has put some distance between itself and the Crimson Sun Tavern.
Thresh shows his new friends what he found. "Look at the shiny thing I found! Oh yeah, there's some moons too."
Thresh happily accepts the pelt of the animal and ties it around his neck. "Let's go Southlanders...Thresh is bored!"
Thresh recognizes the pelt as that of the bear, an animal of his homeland and a rarity and most unusual in this part of the world. The pelt fits perfectly around the barbarian's shoulders, but as much as it might hide the most blood soaked parts of his body, the warm garment draws the eye in the hot Teyerana weather.
At the door Rika dares a peek outside, probably more to escape the gore drenched innars of the Crimson Sun Tavern than for some inbound sense of adventure. "Seems that the streets have cleared. We should get moving. I think that the tavern has more regulars than those that lie spilled on the ground", she says.
Tossing cloaks to the more distinctive of us Gaius takes a last look at the tavern.
As we leave:
Softly [b]"Not sure how much of a splash we made. A bathhouse and some new clothing might help sooth memories. Or do we start on that rocky trail immediately."
In either case Gaius sets a decent pace towards Makish's Premium Beasts of Burden if he knows where that is.
With the oil lamps hanging of the walls in the common room Gaius has no problem setting the Crimson Sun Tavern ablaze. The fire will no doubt attract some attention and most likely spread to some neightbouring houses but you will be at a safe distance by then.
When discussing the matter it seems that all of you are new to Teyerana, and a large part of your stay has been in the dungeon of the Crimson Sun Tavern. Except for the name you have little knowledge about Makish's Premium Beasts of Burden. Without a better plan, you're afraid that you're going to have to ask for directions.
Thresh walks up to the nearest street urchin and holds out a 5 Moon piece. "Boy, show me where Makish' is and I give you this...lead me astray and I'll gut you and eat your liver!"
Having scooped the bars funds into his pouch as compensation for his confinement Tenzin shakes his had slowly as Northman etiquette comes to the fore again
"No need to frighten the lad out off his wits my friend.."
The street urchin, a boy of somewhere between ten and twelve years, eyes the offered money greedily. The threat at failure holds him at a distance, but the promise of five moons has his attention. Cautiously he reaches for the coins in Thresh's palm. "Makesh? Yes, I can bring you there", he says.
Behind the group cries of "Fire, fire!" can be heard.
The street urchin, a boy of somewhere between ten and twelve years, eyes the offered money greedily. The threat at failure holds him at a distance, but the promise of five moons has his attention. Cautiously he reaches for the coins in Thresh's palm. "Makesh? Yes, I can bring you there", he says.
Behind the group cries of "Fire, fire!" can be heard.
"Let's go quickly boy. There's another 5 moons in it for you if you can take us there without being seen by any watchmen."
dot
The street urchin shows proof of quick reflexes as he quickly sweeps up the coins from Thresh palms and takes a few steps back. He throws a glance down the street where a squad of guards are moving towards the blazing Crimson Sun. "Here, this way", he says and darts down a opposing street. However the young boy is he knows his way around the winding streets of Teyerana. Darting ahead and eagerly beckoning you on the youth guides you to your destination without incident.
Makish's Premium Beasts of Burden is a respectably sized stone building near Teyerana's city walls with a thatched roof and wooden fence enclosed animal pen next to it. A man of venerable age with sunburnt leathery skin and a wispy beard stands near the animal pen talking to a party of two men. Judging from their similar features the two men are probably brothers. "There, there it is", the urchin says and points at the building with his one hand, the other outstretched waiting to receive his promised payment.
Thresh happily hands over the promised 10 moons along with a slap to the back of the boy. "Good job southlander...now go away before I gut you after all."
Thresh turns to Tenzin and Gaius, "What are we supposed to do now? Killing those puny ones pushed the instructions out of my head."
It's been about three hours since you arrived at Makish Premium Beasts of Burden and was quickly ushered inside by the owner, Old Makish. "You look like a sturdy breed. Wonder why Valno sent you. There's nothing dangerous down the tunnels that would warrant an escort. Unless you're escorting idiots that can stay on the right path!" he said while urging you inside the shop. The years had deprived the old man of some of his teeth causing his "s":es to whistle. He led you into a featureless back room, empty except for a raggedy looking bed and straw over the stone paved floor. {b]"Wait here, I'll come and get you once they arrive"[/b], was the last thing Makish said before he left.
The only respite from waiting has been Makish's wife, a softspoken old woman with skin as leathery as the camel salesman himself, whose come by at regular intervalls to offer water and some fruit.
The street urchin snatches the promised payment from Thresh hands and quickly disappears down the street. Perhaps eager to find some other employment or perhaps just to get away from the huge man with the dire punishments for failure.
Near the animal pen the discussion seems to have escelated. The old man seems eager to sell, the two brothers not that eager to buy.
The big Ivory tribesman took one quick look around the room before choosing a spot in the corner, behind the door. He leaves his bow on his back, the space too small for shooting, and readies his shield, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. He does not expect trouble, precisely, but he has learned that the city and its denizens are a hundred times more treacherous than the savannah he once called home. The phrase "there's nothing dangerous down the tunnels," in particular arouses his suspicions, but he says nothing to the old man beyond nodding.
"It is good to see that you are well," he says to the amazon, when they are alone.
Thresh looks around in confusion as it seems as if he has lost Tenzin and Gaius.
Tenzin grins at Thresh as he reappears carrying a sack....."Provisions for the journey..here have an orange" he says as he peels one of the sweet fruit.
"Ho there friend.." he calls to the proprietor.."My companions and I seek sturdy stallions to traverse the Red Desert"
"As well as can be expected". "I added a pride mark that day, but have completely recovered". "Some were not so lucky".
The ravishing beauty pulls down her breech-cloth just enough to reveal the beginning of her hip bone, and a nasty newly healed scar running from her navel to just below the hip bone.
"Yes, yes, I will be with you in a moment. Right now I am dealing with customers", the old man replies and waves his hands dismissivly. What few teeth are left in his mouth leaves a whistle after each pronounced "s". It takes a moment for Tenzin's words to sink in but when they do his demenor shifts greatly. "On second thoughts these gentlemen does not want to buy, but you do." He dismisses the two brothers who look at eachother with a confused expression. The shopkeeper pays them no mind as he ushers you inside. "Sturdy stallions to traverse the Red Desert, you say? I am sure that we can find just what you need inside!" He leads you through a welcoming hall and down a corridor. The air is think with the smell of food originating from a kitchen you spot in a doorway that you pass. "You're more than I was made to expect, don't know if there is room for you all on the other side" he says. The corridor is rather short and you soon find yourself in a doorway at the end. "Here is your escort, as promised", he says and points to a man and a woman , both archers, standing waiting inside the room.
"Archers...bahh...cowards shoot in a fight instead of going steel to steel." The big Northerner gives the escorts a contemptuous look.
Bella turns to Shomari with a frown. "It seems that children are raised different in the northlands". "When a whelp acted like that in Ascaia...well..."Perhaps that is why we send the male children away". She then turns with a smile to the new arrivals. "Welcome". "I am Bella, and this is Shomari". "I guess we are to be your escorts".
The well muscled and tanned warrior is obviously an Amazon, and one of the most beautiful women they have ever laid eyes on.She wears only a breech cloth, bikini top, Fur cowl, and sandals with leather bracers on her wrists. She has a Spear, and knife in addition to her finely made bow and quiver of arrows.
Shomari silently appraises the amazon's scar, or perhaps her hip, and nods approvingly. Her clothes are not particularly shocking to him, being quite modest compared to what the people of his own tribe wear in the long, hot summers. Before he can remark on the pride mark, the old man comes in, with a big northerner and....
He gives the big man a wide smile and nods his head agreeably. He has had experience of northerners and their pride. Their desire to stand between him and the weapons of his foes had made them useful on more than one occasion.
"Is good. You safe now," he says slowly, thickening his accent dramatically. He put his hand to his chest. "Shomari protects you."
Bella turns to Shomari with a frown. "It seems that children are raised different in the northlands". "When a whelp acted like that in Ascaia...well..."Perhaps that is why we send the male children away". She then turns with a smile to the new arrivals. "Welcome". "I am Bella, and this is Shomari". "I guess we are to be your escorts".
The well muscled and tanned warrior is obviously an Amazon, and one of the most beautiful women they have ever laid eyes on.She wears only a breech cloth, bikini top, Fur cowl, and sandals with leather bracers on her wrists. She has a Spear, and knife in addition to her finely made bow and quiver of arrows.
Thresh frowns in concentration trying to determine if the Amazon was insulting him. After a long moment, his frowns disappears, "Ha, ha female southlander, you're funny. I like that. Maybe you tell jokes as I carve a path through my foes with mighty Bane who has already ended the lives of 20 men today," Thresh says as he shows his escorts his powerful Axe.