The wererat runs north into the passage, squealing loudly. At the end of the passage she turns, shifting to a hybrid form. There she is joined by another hybrid form female followed by two more of those giant rats. The newcomer sighs. "So strangers have managed to get this far. Yay for you. But it ends here. Die!"
Init:
Delkaneth
K'nyaz
Kelgeah
Shadow
Talon
wererats x2
donkey rats x2
Round 1:
Shadow
wererats
K'nyax
donkey rats
Talon
Del
Kel
Shadow holds her position and attack behind Talon at his flank. Her best damage comes from less than "honorable" fighting.
The rats head for the guys and each of the wererats peals off to take on one of the women.
Del=1, K'nyaz=2, Talon=3
Rat 1 vs
Rat 2 vs
Kel=1, Shadow=2
wererat vs
Rat 1 for
Rat 2 for
wererat vs Kel for
wererat vs Shadow for (not a potential crit)
Talon drops the chakrams and draws his two-bladed sword instead to deal with the donkey rat attempting to nip at his heels, striking out with both ends.
Round 1, Full-Attack
In control angered, Princess Shadow strikes back at her assailant with one two-handed slashing down and across swing.
Regardless if the sword connects or misses, she then pulls back the sword and stabs at her assailant, letting out a loud battle cry (Kiai), "SHA!!!!"
Ki Pool 2/3
Critical Threat Roll
Oh goodie.......rats.....
Almost thankful that the foul creature ran up to him, Delkaneth swings the axes in his hands hoping to finish the thing off quickly before more reinforcements come to overwhelm the band of adventurers. Even being prepared for the rat's attack the young Chelaxian is caught off guard by it's vicious charge resulting in his attacks not being very effective.
Talon connects with is first swing, leaving the creature just barely alive. Rat 1: 5-4=1hp
Del's first swing just misses as the dexterous little critter just barely dodges.
Shadow's second swing swing is very effective, nearly removing a limb from her attacker. wererat: 18-11=7
Unwilling to trust her skill at firing into a crowded melee, Kelgeah maneuvers around behind Shadow and taps her on the shoulder.
"Good luck with that rodent problem, princess." She offers with a wink.
Waiting on K'nyaz; but moving on for now:
Round 2:
Shadow
wererats
K'nyaz
donkey rats
Talon
Del
Kel
Each critter stays on it's current opponent, though.
Rat vs Del for bite damage (potential crit) (no crit)
Rat vs Talon for bite damage
wererat vs Kel for
wererat vs Shadow for
With all the congestion near the opening, K'nyaz cannot get near the opening and the crux of the scuffle. He instead aims a line of frost at the ratwoman in hopes of using his energy effects to bypass her defenses.
This is the first time that she has been granted luck so she is was slightly confused by Kel's actions but at the same time feels more confident, she attacks her assailant with severe confidence and shouts out a battle call that sounds like ice, "ICE!!!
Critical Threat on Luck Attack2
Talon's first attack rips right through the rat attack him, while he uses the second spin of his blade to tear at the donkey rat plaguing Del.
Still trying to make sure he adds value to the group, Delkaneth calls on his luck and continues to focus his attacks on the rat in front of him.
Both donkey rats are down as is one of the wererats. However, you hear sounds from down the hallway as more combatants rush to join the fray.
Round 3:
Shadow
wererats x2
K'nyaz
tower girls x2 (non-ratty)
Talon
Del
Kel
Shadow "Princess" wants to thank Kel for whatever she did but alas, here comes the second wave! Lining up her sword with her ninja outfit, she attempts to bluff feint her next attacker or closest attacker that she is unarmed.
targets: Delkaneth=1, K'nyaz=2, Kelgeah=3, Shadow=4, Talon=5
wererat 1 attacks for
wererat 2 attacks for
Tower girl 1 attacks for
Tower girl 2 attacks for
for a possible crit No crit.
Now things were starting to get a little dicey in here. Talon's two bladed sword swept around, trying to cut at the tower girl who's sword had nearly stuck him like a pig.
"Back to back, don't let them flank us!" Talon tells to the others.
Delkaneth is hard pressed with two of the creatures attacking him but does his best to move into position to match Talon's directive without opening himself to attack. As the one wererat draws blood, Delkaneth responds with an attack of his own.
"Cramped quarters are usually a better fit for just two," Kelgeah muses, doing her best to stay out of reach of any fangs and claws, "Mind clearing us some space, fearless leader?"
Waiting for a pause between wide swings of his double sword, She reaches out to pat Talon on the back.
"Keep up the good work, by the way."
K'nyaz takes a step back, the chaos causing him to be unsure of how he let them get so close. He then tries to hit one of the wererats with a ray of frost.
With a flash of speed of Shadow's hidden blade, she viciously attacks the closest Wererat attacking Del or whomever she bluffed last round.
Target is Flat-Footed unless saved from the Bluff-Feint
On the new, numbered map:
Wererat 1 is at F14
Wererat 2 is at G12
Tower Girl 1 is at H10
Tower Girl 2 is at I13
I hope this helps.
As the chaos of battle escalates Delkaneth finds his focus split between two opponents and quickly getting the worst for it. Realizing that the wererat is only affected by one of his weapons he shifts his attentions to his more-vulnerable human target, and with clenched teeth he steps out of the group's protective circle and swings both axes at the advancing Tower Girl.
As Del takes down one of the unratty types, Shadow manages to connect on his ratty opponent.
K'nyaz also manages to connect with the other wereat, while Talon takes down the last unratted girl.
The wererats, seeing their sisters fall, call out to their leader and the rest of their little group.
"Ayala, get out here! They're slaughtering us!"
From ow the hall comes an answer "Karissa, I gave you the gift in order to handle such things! did I make a mistake?"
You hear new combatants heading down the hall.
One more un-ratted girl and two more donkey rats, led by what must be the leader of the Tower Girls, rush down the hall to join the fight.
They'll be there in one more round.
Round 4:
Shadow
wererats x2
K'nyaz
Talon
Del
Kel
I'll reroll init on the new round.
Shadow flanks Del's attacker making sure she is not flanked herself or at least tries to mitigate it.
Talon drops his two-bladed sword for now, pulling the silvered short swords out for the time being. The leader's coming for them now, so it's best to finish the rest of this batch now. He slices at the one pinned between him and his fellow party member, scoring their ratty fur with silvered steel.
As the remaining Tower girls approach, (consisting of the leader, 2 more donkey rats, one more rogue, and one more wererat) your team takes out the two you've been facing.
New combat:
Init:
Delkaneth
K'nyaz
Kelgeah
Shadow
Talon
wererat
donkey rats x2
Tower girl
Constrained by the entrance, the new group tries to work their way around you.
Note: let me know who you want to go after.
Irate at the steady stream of rodents, Kelgeah lifts her bow, nocks an arrow, and fires at the first new enemy to emerge, cursing under her breath as her arrow flies errant.
Last time I buy bargain arrows...
Shadow makes sure her back is to the wall and sets up next to Kel to help mitigate any sneak attack. She then attacks the nearest threat to her or Del ...
"Keep them from flanking us!" Talon states, looking at the leader. He places himself right in the entry way if he can, slicing at the wererat first with his silver blades.
Having dropped his opponent Delkaneth makes sure to position himself back with the group. He wants desperately to move into a flanking position against the leader and take her down but the flood of her minions is too much to get through just yet, and the wisdom of Talon's instructions to stay together is too obvious to ignore.
Seeing the silvery shine of the two swords in Talon's hands tells the young man that the wererat will be handled soon enough. He instead focuses his attention on one of the large vermin in the hopes of removing it from the battle quickly. His first swing goes a bit wide while the silvered weapon bites into the creature's side.
Round 1:
Kel - misses
Shadow - hits, they're still flatfooted at that point
Tower girl - attacks Del
Del - splats one of the big rats
Talon - tags the leader with his first swing
donkey rats - lunges for Kel
leader wererat - attacks Talon
wererat - struck by Shadow, she swings back
WR vs Shadow for
rat vs Kel for
Ayala vs Talon for
confirm crit no confirm
tg vs Del for
Cut by a scarf of all things slipped up his guard, raking over the scale mail painfully - nothing too severe, thankfully. He goes to take on the leader again, silver swords flashing once more.
Shadow kiais with the painful hit and strikes back with fury.
Round 1, init 18
SHAA!!!
ICCCEEE!!!
The wererat easily deflects the first attack but is intimidated by the Shadow attacker's combat yells and unorthodox fighting, and did not expect a second and quick attack from the opposite direction.
Bleeding heavily from several wounds, Delkaneth realizes that the fight is almost over so he only has to hold on for a little longer. He quickly discards the thought of taking a more cautious fighting stance to protect his wounds - better to finish things fast so he focuses his attacks on the Tower Girl that just took a chunk out of him.
Fortune favors the brave anyway.
Round 1, Init 15
Del and Shadow drop their opponents, leaving a big rat trying to have elf for lunch and the now furious leader. She lashes out at Talon, then, seeing that her troop has fallen, retreats toward the unlabeled room to the west.
Round 2:
Kel -
Shadow -
Del -
Talon -
donkey rat - misses Kelgeah
Ayala - once more tags Talon
rat vs Kel for
Ayala vs Talon for
"Oh, like hell!" Talon shouts, dropping his short swords and yanking up two silvered Chakrams in their place. He throws them at the fleeing leader, attempting to kill her quickly.
Turning his head from left to right Delkaneth realizes that both remaining targets are equally important. With an almost comical shrug of acceptance he raises both axes and hurls them in opposite directions.
As he suddenly finds himself empty-handed, he looks down at the remaining axes at his belt and hopes that there are not any other threats too close by.......
Spying the leader showing the better part of valor, Kelgeah aims to prevent her retreat. Finally finding the rhythm of her elven heritage emerging again, she nocks an arrow, sights the woman's retreating shoulders, pulls the bow taut, and releases.
Ayala drops as multiple weapons strike her. The big rat, confused by all the blood, flees into the storeroom to the east.
Shadow looks at the group to see if they are eager to chase the Donkey Rat. If not, she checks Ayala and the others for miscellaneous possessions and information.
Tower Girls: smokestick, tanglefoot bags (2); studded leather, hand crossbow with 10 bolts, short sword, climber’s kit, grappling hook with 50-foot silk rope (see page 65), hooded lantern, oil, second-story harness, thieves’ tools, 15 gp
Ayala: bloodroot (2), tanglefoot bags (3); masterwork studded leather, +1 bladed scarf, masterwork composite shortbow with 20 arrows, climber’s kit, grappling hook with 50-foot silk rope, masterwork thieves’ tools, second-story harness
Note: A second-story harness is a series of straps, trusses, and buckles that can be worn over clothing or armor. A second-story harness allows the wearer to, as a move action, secure herself in place on a vertical surface so that both her hands are free. The wearer can remain in this position without needing to make additional Climb checks, and does not lose her Dexterity bonus to AC as long as she remains anchored. As long as the wearer is anchored in this way, she cannot move and gains a +5 circumstance bonus on Climb checks made to avoid falling whenever she takes damage. The wearer can release herself to start moving again as a move action. A second-story harness costs 55 gp and weighs 3 pounds
The battle apparently over, the wounded Delkaneth winces as he draws an axe from his belt. He retrieves the two axes he threw and places them back in his belt. Moving to the western room that Ayala was trying to retreat toward he quickly peers in to make sure there are no more surprises waiting for the group.
The room she fled towards is empty, except for a new structure set into the window, seemingly a spot to attack her harness to climb down and make her escape.
Searching the rest of the floor does, however, produce some interesting results:
First: in the room off the storeroom the rat fled to you find a fesco on the eastern wall depicting a tall, redheaded woman with a ranseur standing over a short, hunch-backed man—the ranseur is impaled in the man’s belly, and his twisted demonic hands clutch at the shaft as black smoke wafts up from his face and wounds.
Second: in room 16 you find two things...first, three more tower girls, drunkenly passed out over a card game in what seems to have been used as their dining hall. On a raised dais on the western wall stands a stone statue of a beautiful woman wielding a ranseur. (Seemingly, the same woman depicted in the fresco.)
If you awaken the girls, they promptly surrender.
Kelgeah smirks at the fleeing rodent as she calls down a spell from Calistria. She places a glowing hand on Delkaneth's most severe gashes, and much of the blood loss ceases as the flesh knits itself back together.
As the group passes into the new rooms, Kelgeah stops to admire the depiction of a strong warrior woman, examining both the statue and fresco closely, searching her memories for images of them in her studies.