Okay, I see the plan. Group split and spoilers inbound.
NOTE TO ALL When the party splits I ask that you all keep your posts in spoilers and do not read each others unless it includes you. Since Tolus is departing the party and Raine and Draahzin are fetching their steeds, the groups will be divided into three.
Group 1: Tolus
Group 2: Draahzin and Raine
Group 3: Mia
Since it doesn't seem Lilith will be returning to us, I will be adding a new player from the recruitment list after this battle is concluded.
---Before Separation---
Yaline nods. "I know places we can check. We'll get the most from the tower at the wall. It is the highest vantage point in the town . We'll head there first, we may even bump into Azamad or Hadule along the way."
Tolus and Yaline depart.
Raine and Draahzin head out to the stable to fetch their mounts.
Mia stays in the inn (I am guessing.)
Tolus, you and Yaline begin sneaking out the back door and quickly make your way across town to the wall.
Along the way you witness much of the battle. The militia are fighting fiercely against the invaders and even some townsfolk are voluntarily getting involved trying to save loved ones or aid their defenders.
There are a lot of Anubites. More than you guys could hope to fight at all. Still, if what is said about Anubite leaders is true, that may be the only way to win the day.
You and Yaline move as quickly as possible without exposing yourselves. It takes several minutes but you do in fact reach the tower. Yaline points to Azamad who is desimating Anubites at the half-finished gate.
"There he is. We have to help him clear that gate. Let's go."
This will be a combat where you can perform a strategy instead of openly engaging a battle.
The Anubites are using the gate as vantage point against Azamad and the few militia present. Yaline suggests that she will sneak up and use her bard skills to aid the militia while you go and take a barrel of blasting powder and set it off at the base of the main gate support.
The result will be the destruction of the gate but also the elimination of over half the anubites in the area.
The barrely weighs fifty pounds. Once you reach it, you can either carry it or push it the 80 feet to the support. Then you must find a way to detonate it. Also, you will need to use stealth to avoid detection.
Additionally you do not actually have to do any of this right now. It will take several minutes time but you could leave Yaline here and return to the others and try and get their help.
[b]Important:[b] The time you take to return and get the others and come back here could have consequences. Not guaranteed but possible. Choose wisely.
Also, if you chose to return, you will have to wait. Raine and Drahzin will be in combat and you are several minutes ahead of them. This means a few dozen rounds. You won't show up until they find a place to wait and avoid combat. If you stay and help, we can continue.
Raine and Draahzin you both exit the tavern and head to the stables. Your mounts are there and ready to go.
As you mount up, you are noticed by some Anubites and will have to battle your way out.
There are three of them and it is an easy charge. You have the initiative.
After you deal with these you need to decide where you will wait for Tolus. His mission will take several in game minutes to complete and you all won't be able to stay at the tavern undiscovered.
Mia you are waiting in the sands correct?
Shanosuke:
Mia will head upstairs and hide at one of the upper windows, assuming they are present. She does however, takes her crossbow from her clothes and arms herself. Should any of the others come near the inn she could provide some cover.
Actually near the barely of blasting powder you do find some torches and oil. About five unused torches and about six prepared flasks of oil.
I assume you grab what you will and make your way to the wall. You now have to set up your rig. This will take at least two rounds to set up depending upon how precise you wish to handle this.
Please detail me your set up. Make a craft check or a knowledge engineering check. Alternatively you will be permitted to use your own personal creativity to reduce the DCs need considerably.
You both charge the Anubites.
You both do damage to them but do not drop them. They return attack against your steeds.
One hits Simoom for 7 damage.
Your turns.
From the upstairs window you can make out the action in the streets. The militiamen from inside the tavern have moved out to attack more Anubites. There are a number of targets to chose from. None of which stand out as anything special though.
What do you do?
Raine stabs viciously down with her guisarme.
Though she misses her own attack, Raine spurs Simoom another step forward to close the distance and add her own attack.
Alas, the camel has no better luck than her mistress.
Shanosuke:
Mia cautiously looks at the dogs outside. She will aim for the nearest, so that the militia can take them down faster.
You continue to fight the Anubites but scoring no hits this round.
The Anubites attack again, seeming to focus only on your steeds. Simoom is hit for 4 damage
Draahzin's horse is hit for 5
Don't forget if you have mounted combat, you can use it to evade attacks I believe.
Your turn.
It's about half a great. The stonework is mostly finished it is just lacking a door and additional supports.
It is in no way functional enough to keep anyone out at the moment, especially since the wall itself is not complete.
You can guess it is thirty feet tall. By the gate, where most of the fighting is, there is one sturdy support that is holding the whole thing up. The Anubites have pretty much taken it over and are using it as a forward base.
Around the area are mostly construction tools. Wood and assortments of other building materials.
Is there anything specific you need to know or that I have missed?
The anubite you shoot at is flat-footed so yes you attack hits. It is unable to ascertain where the bolt came from and looks really hurt now.
Nice shot.
Are there troops up high on the walls? Could I set this up on top of the gate arch, hopefully taking out the all-important keystone and that main support (which I assume is under the key stone, in the middle of the gate arch) at the same time?
Shanosuke
Mia takes cover behind the window's edge and reloads her crossbow.
Since said anubite looks "really hurt", she will try it again.
If the militia finished him off already while she was reloading, she will aim for the next anubite.
Bellowing in animal pain, Simoom bites again at the Anubite wounding it.
The elf grits her teeth at further injury to her beloved camel, and spurs Simoom back five feet so that she herself may attack.
Draahzin attempts to make Rossinante evade the attack, but fails. Angered he strikes the Anubite in retaliation.
Raine hits and drops the Anubite attacking Simoom. Simoom is unable to score a hit against the other attacker.
Draahzin attacks and misses.
The Anubites attack again and both moiss.
Your turns.
Only metal you find are handheld tools. The gate itself does not have a Keystone yet. It has rickety wooden plank connecting it together. One half of the gate is finished and no Anubites are on it as there are no walkways. The other half is being supported by a think wooden pillar and seems to be sturdy enough to hold up the wall and the work walkways are all connected to it.
The wall in that area is still soft, drying as it were, and if that pillar were to fall, the wall would simply topple taking everything and everyone on top of it down and falling on everyone bellow. All of which are Anubites.
There are no tools sufficient to direct the blast and would have enough force to knock out the pillar.
Looks like you going to have to run up there and plant it.
The Militia finish off the anubite you wounded.
Tolus carefully plans his execution. He needs the route with the least eyes. Yaline's arrival should produce a good distraction, but he still must be careful. He takes some of the oil soaked wrapping from one torches and ties it into a knot with a nice tail. He holds that in one hand. He takes a torch and lights it beforehand and holds that with the other. He then hefts the barrel, takes a steadying breath, wills himself invisible, and carefully, yet hurriedly, advances.
The plan: go invis (initially or when detected), move up to the pilar at 25' per move using double moves (50'/rd), pull cork, insert oiled rag from torch as a 'fuse', extend 'fuse' to max length while running away (holding it lightly so as to not disengage it from the cask), and finally drop the lit torch on the fuse. The fire should run up the oil pretty quick and ignite the full barrel, yet give me time to not blast myself to pieces. I also vanish upon egress, to avoid reprisals.
2 vanish uses expended (maybe more if this action takes more than 2 rounds)
Another attack, keeping up the pattern of nudging Simoom closer, then away, to best use her own weapon's reach...
Shanosuke:
I assume you will use the 2nd roll from previous post as the attack for this round.
Sure both rolls were misses. *shrug*
I will need to get back to you guys later tonight or tomorrow morning. Holiday season is killing me here.
Uniforms? You mean the white skirt right? HA! That's not much of a disguise, Tolus looks nothing like a seven foot darkfured dogman. Nice try though. Luckily your stealth is sufficient to get in and out unseen.
You plant the bomb and rig it as best you can. You presume it will be a sloppy explosion but enough to get the job done. You retreat.
After your a safe distance you witness the explosion and the strut holding the catwalks as well as crucial parts of the wall blows apart. The wall leans as the still wet clay is unable to hold the wall on it's own. The catwalks, litered with Anubites mind you, are the first to fall.
then the rocks begin falling off the wall and on top of the Anubites who have fallen to the base. The explosion has scattered the Anubite's ranks and caused a panic among them. This enables the defenders to regroup and counterattack.
The battle here is now going solidly in your favor. Anything else you do or do you leave?
I'm speeding this along a bit.
Raine and Simoom handily kill their anubite and with their help Draahzin will have no problem finishing his off. Are in the clear.... for now. What's next.
A shot and a miss. You see the chaos outside and it seems pretty bleak. Do you reload again?
Tolus grins at his handiwork. Who knew he could be such a destructive force. After a momentary pause to appreciate his accomplishment, he rushes to the defender's lines in order to find Yaline before proceeding. She is essentially his guide, after all.
Shanosuke
Mia grits her teeth, feeling annoyed she missed her shot.
Ugh..what a waste. And i've got only 8 bolts left.
Standard: Mia reloads.
"We should return to collect the... girl. Mia. The halfling." she says with a frown. "And then seek out a place to wait the serpent's return."
'Thanks for the help … Mia … a halfling? … Yes, yes … we should … explanations later … Take … the lead.'
The defenders have set up a rest area in the wake of their success over the Anubites.
There you see both Yaline and Azamad. Yaline looks at you as you approach. "Azamad believes he knows where the leader is. He and Hadule cannot abandon their positions to go get him though. If either side let's up, the Anubites will overrun the town before we even have a chance to drop him. If your people are skilled enough I would like you and your friends to accompany me to find and finish him off."
She picks up a case. "In here are eight potions of cure moderate wounds. These will come in handy I figure. I can assist with Bardic Performance and healing of my own. Will you help us?" She awaits your response.
You cannot take your mounts inside....well actually Draahzin can his mount is medium but Raine cannot fit Simoom in.
Mia is somewhere in the tavern. Are you calling out to her or going to retrieve her?
You shoot and miss. As you reload you see Draahzin and Raina and their mounts exit the stable and maneuver to the front of the tavern. What do you do?
Shanosuke
Mia reloads, but sees both Raine and Draahzin approach.
No need for them to know i can use one of these.
She puts away the crossbow under her outfit and just sticks to the window.
Mia will take the candleholder and, since it's day, will use the bottom to reflect sunlight as a signal towards them. Last time they saw her she was downstairs afterall. Making noise would be a risk.
Raine & Draahzin
A small light hits your eyes. Looking up you will see Mia using something as a signal for where she is at.
"Hai, what is this?"
'Oh it's Mia! She is signaling her position to us. Hey come here Mia!'
Shanosuke:
Mia goes down when Draahzin gets to the inn. But she'll grab her sickle from her pack as well.
Raine & Draahzin
Mia peeks around to see if no anubites are in sight.
She gestures to Draahzin to lower his voice, then she disappears from the window. A minute later she comes out of the door.
"The militia have been busy here as well. But none are in the tavern."
"We should try and be inconspicuous," Raine says... from atop a camel. They are not small beasts. "Lay low until Tolus returns. Perhaps we might be best served by the stable..."
Raine looks around for any building big enough to give them some semblance of cover from the roaming Anubites.
All but Tolus.
"For now that would be easy at the stable. The militia have already head out for the fighting. But they'd better not be dead, or it could become an issue."
If I may ask, where is this beast?
All but Tolus
"Be our guest to do so."
Yaline looks around. "Azamad has said his scouts found the beast in the home of lady Sianna commanding his forces from atop her tower. That is where we would need to go to slay him. I cannot believe he got so far into town. Azamad cannot spare any militia to raid the house as everyone is needed to keep the Anubites at bay. It will need to be a small team that takes him out if you and your friends are up for the task."
Whether you agree or not she will lead you back to the inn to meet with your comrades
To everyone, you are all held up in the inn or stable, wherever you chose to hideout, when Tolus and Yaline finally return together.
Feel free to fill each other in on what has happened.
Tolus looks a little less perky when he arrives at the inn. His clothes are filthy with sand and rubble, and he smells faintly of gunpowder.
I took out a gate and Yaline located the head puppy. He's located in Lady Sinna's tower and has set up a kind of command post there. The militia is hard pressed, and thus can spare noone. We are it, should youall agree to embark on this little act of euthanasia with me.
Ultimately your choices are as such.
Sneak out of town and leave it to it's fate.
Take our the head dog yourselves.
Or try and relieve another group of militia so they can do the job.
The longer it takes the more damage will be done.
Raine nods shortly to Tolus when he returns, her nose wrinkling at the unusual smell on him-- one she doesn't recognize, at least.
"Then we know our task. We must seek out this leader and put him down ourselves," she says as if it were that simple. In her mind, it is.
Perception
12 for Draahzin (he's on her lvl of face)
16 for the others.
Mia's face shows a smile. Quite unusual on a kid in such a situation.