Rosemary charges past Grumblejack, leading with her longsword into the guard.
Carnadine charges one of the archers.
On the walls Carnadine hit his target but Rosemary missed. Carnadine's target cried out in pain and ran north along the wall withdrawing. The remaining guard stepped back and quickly fired another arrow at Carnadine but missed and the arrow flew off into the darkness below. He is 5ft away and reaching for more arrows. Through the darkness you can see another light searching for you coming from the rood of the Gatehouse but it has not found you yet.
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Down at the Warden's tower the battle is in full swing. Kelvar unfortunately misses his target and Kord grabs the other guard as the other prisoners crowd in with little effect for the moment. Rodgers lies on the ground laughing his head off at Yzera's new wound.
The archer next to the warden fires an almost critical hit at Red Ledger hitting him square in the chest, not quite felling him. Red looks at the wound surprised. "Yes, he will do," says the warden as he begins casting another incantation.
Flaming Sphere! A ball of 3d6 fiery death that is mobile and controlled by the caster moving up to 30ft each round, stopping when it makes contact with a creature(reflex negates)
A ball of flame soon erupts in front of Red and brushes him and burns him before he can dodge it. Red falls to the ground in screams, "It's not fair!!" now dying and crispy.
The guard strikes back at Kelvar but misses and Kords victim fails to break out of the grapple.
Kelvar grimaced as the wizard incinerated Red, knowing they had to finish him quickly. With a quick prayer to Asmodeus, he created a double, then swung his axe at the guard before him, hoping to finish him quickly.
Ahh a place for me to cook my dinner
Kord moves the guard through his square onto the flaming sphere.
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Not wanting to give the warden another chance to cast a spell, Yzera moves over next to the ball of fire, pulling her longbow over her shoulder as she does, and then prepares to pierce the Warden should he make any motion that appears to be spell casting.
Readied Action - fire at Warden as soon as he moves: <-- -4 from cover due to the combatants in the way
Damage: <-- if they were composite longbows, please add damage for strength bonus up to +4
"Rosemary, flank him," Carnadine calmly suggests stepping up to the archer. He attacks when Rose gets into position, but the guard's chain shirt turns his blade.
Kaath drops the barrel of lantern oil out of the Warden's eyesight and reaches for the girl.
In his loud, booming multi-tonal true voice, he shouts out over the skirmish.
"If you truly honor life, you will cease this lest I snap this innocent child's neck with a single hand! The choice is yours Warden! Call off your guards or her blood is on your hands!"
Kaath whispers into the servants ear "this is what Mitra has dealt you. Turn away and seek your true power with Asmodeus." He tosses the girl to her knees and he prepares to fight
Rosemary flashes a smile to Carnadine and ducks along the wall, outside the reach of the guard's blade coming up behind him and striking.
Carnadine and Rosemary surround the archer guard but their swings are not coordinated and he is able to dodge them both. He steps towards Carnadine, seeing him as the bigger threat and drops his bow, drawing his longsword in 2 hands.
He strikes Carnadine a terrible blow through his stolen armour.
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At the warden's tower Kelvar continues being unable to land a strike on the guards, this time slightly distracted with the burning ball of flame behind him. Kord seizes an opportunity and with his grappled foe drags him into the ball of flame.
He struggles in desperation as he realises his soon to be fate but is unable to escape.
Iscar and Kelvar take a free swing at the defenseless guard but only Kelvar wounds him but the fire does the rest. Kord remains grappling, holding him in the flames, the flames licking over the guard can be felt and some of the hairs on your arms singe and your hands feel uncomfortably hot.
Yzera realises the danger that the magic using Warden poses to them and prepares to stop the warden as he casts another spell.
Her arrow hits wounding his shoulder but he is able to focus and finish the casting.
Charm Person! If successful this spell makes a target humanoid become friendly and treat you as a trusted ally. +5 bonus on saving throw if being threatened or attacked. Will negates
Caprin feels his mind begin to be clouded.
The warden also moves the fireball off his guard and onto Iscar.
It burns the heretical former priest and he collapses to the ground in dwarven curses and blackened skin. Captain rodgers seems to laugh at this also, uncaring about the proximity of the flame to himself but the loudness of his outbursts seem to be subsiding.
Finally the archer looses another arrow this time into Kelvar to help his ally but it misses and snaps against the stone wall.
And the guard fighting Kelvar strikes back as well wounding the man deeply.
Kelvar withdraws back from the guard, hopefully allowing someone else to step forward and fill the gap to continue to fight against the guards.
"Comrades! Be careful! Someone here has enchantment sp- you know what? I think this whole thing was all just a big misunderstanding. I'm sure the warden is probably a really swell guy."
Carnadine goes does down in a shower of blood.
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Although she wants to eliminate the spellcasting menace, Yzera realizes that the guards may flank Kord and decides to try to remove the one standing before her.
Free - drop bow
Move - draw dagger (sabres dropped last round to draw bow)
Attack-dagger:
Damage:
If the guard goes down, she will 5-foot step back to where she dropped her sabres so that she can pick them up next round.
"That Wizard's spellcasting is going to make this very hard."
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Azrin conjures magical darkness around a snake, blotting out the vision of the guards and the warden. "Kill, my pets. The warden and his guards."
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,
Relevant FAQ on Darkness
Rosemary grits her teeth as Carnadine goes down. Invoking the wrath of Zura she attempts to strike down her foe.
But her goddess laughs at her, damning her to death.
"MAKE WAY," Kaath screams as he shoves past Kelvar and Caprin. His skin takes on glowing pale blue and his hair ignites as he tackles the guard with in bear hug.
On the walls Carnadine lays unconscious struggling to hold onto life. Rosemary continues to fight the remaining guard. "You cannot escape. No one ever escapes Branderscar." Their duel continues, dodging each others strikes.
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Down at the warden's tower the advantage starts to look like it is swinging towards the inmates as one of the guards is slain by a dagger and the Warden is enveloped in darkness. "What!" he shouts, clearly surprised at the obviously magical distortion to the light level.
Unable to see the tiny creatures biting his ankles he is startled. "The prisoner is summoning." he says to the guard next to him. "We can't let them escape men!" It seems he is no coward.
Kaath charges the last guard at the door and grapples him, though not before he receives a small wound from charging into the mans sword. The things some will do for freedom. With the room basically free to enter the prisoners rush in.
Kord moves in and casts a spell on the archer who falls under the fear effect and in a panic runs away from the fight, "All is lost!" heading in the only direction away from the fight. Into the darkness and up the stairs. "Get back here soldier!" Rodgers also moved in and up to the Warden, ready to fight. "That wasn't funny at all man."
Kaath's victim struggles to get out of his grip but fails.
Seeing himself almost alone and with a prisoner in his face the Warden takes a step back into the darkness.
Invisibility! No description needed.
Those with darkvision see him retrieve a scroll and moments later simply disappear. At the same time the ball of flame winks out, it's duration ended.
With the Warden disappeared into the magical darkness, Kelvar moves forward and takes a swing at the grappled guard, in vengeance for wounding him.
The pool of Carnadine's blood grows.
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Seeing the guards by the door fall, Azera bends down and picks up her sabres (Standard). She then moves to the doors, dragging the prisoner/girl as she does (Move).
Lets close these doors so that the Warden cannot get away. He has cast several spells and seems to be fleeing now.
Someone else head up the stairs in case he has some other trick stored up there.
Kaath drops the guard's limp body with little regard and dashes towards the outlined Warden and attempts to grapple him
Locked in a deadly duel with the guard, Rose glances at Carnadine, he seemed to be breathing still, if raggedly.
Rosemary ducks in with a vicious riposte, she was a dangerous and skilled swordsman.
Kord double moves towards the stairs to the wardens upper tower hoping to block him off.
On the wall the deadly duel comes to a brutal end. Rosemary penetrates the guards defenses and finishes him with her sword through his neck. He chokes and collapses to the ground.
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The body count grows as Kelvar beheads the man held in place for him by Kaath.
Yzera and Kord take measures to prevent the Warden's escape and Azrin casts as effective spell to do the same. Those with darkvision who saw the Warden turn invisible through the darkness now see him revealed again, outlined by a strange neon light. Kaath seizes this and runs forward to grapple the Warden. The snakes also slither closer, one managing to bite him.
The warden tries to slash at the grappler in an attempt to escape but does nothing to Kaath. "Mitra's Justice will come for you. Blackerly will never let you escape here." he says in defiance.
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Surprised, or perhaps not surprised as the group of escapees seem to be quite capable, Yzera looks at the dark cloud suddenly blocking her vision of where the Warden was.
Don't let him get away. Kill him or capture him for questioning.
Not being able to see in the magical darkness, she maintains her position near the door alert for any more guards who may come.
Ready Action: Attack anyone who comes near <-- yeh, it is probably useless, but that is what she would do at this point.
"Oh dear, Warden. It seems that coward Blackerly has been tainting your prison, stealing coin right from under your nose. I wouldn't be surprised if the dog took off with all that he could. Neither he nor your guards won't do you much good, and Mitra, what a joke! Mitra is dead!"
Kaath keeps a tight grip on the Warden's arms while he jams his foot to the back of his knee, causing him to buckle. He then sharply places his foot between the man's shoulder blades.
The Oni-Spawn lets out a cackle that grows into a rumble.
"HAIL ASMODEUS!"
The pool of Carnadine's blood grows.
The globe of darkness is impenetrable to Kelvar's eyes, so he looks about, and then says, "Have Carnadine, Rosemary, and Grumblejack caught up with us yet? If not, perhaps I shall go seek them. They may have run into some trouble. Captain, would you care to accompany me? I may have need of another blade."
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Yzera shakes her head at Kevlar's decision:
They chose to deviate from the plan and must suffer any consequences. I think we should make sure that this tower is cleared before we split up again. With the Warden down here, I imagine that there is little above, but would hate to run into his friends with even less than we have. We lost two men out there, that is less then the guards, but still a great decrease in our numbers as we do not know what defenses or traps the guards may have for us on the gatehouse. Blackerly sounds pretty tough from everyone's reference to him, so we will need all our numbers and tactics to get out of here since the entire prison is now on alert.
"It would be convenient if we had a means of magical communication with them. I don't suppose anyone would have any magic for such?"
As this voice continues to speak, Kelvar says, "A voice in the dark can be trusted as much as it is seen. If this supernatural darkness is your doing, dismiss it. If it is the warden's, we shall speak when it fades."
A strange voice from one I cannot see? For all I know, this is the warden playing some kind of trick. I must be cautious.
"Spill his blood in the name of Asmodeus, for he has given us the strength to destroy those who've stood before us. Let Mitra's faithful wizard be our first offering! Have at it! Make your mark! After this, we are no longer mere cell mates, brought together by happenstance. No! We are destined and HERE IS YOUR PROOF."
He adds more pressure on the Warden as his voice crackles and oddly pops.
His pitch hits a fierce low.
".....Finish Him...."
When Kord realizes Kaath has the warden pinned his face light up with glee. He giddily scurries over to the pinned sap and grabs his head.
kord's thumbs begin to reach for the wardens eyes as drool begins to run down his cheek onto the wardens face.
"Human eyes have such a savory FLAVOR! Kaath would you like one too!!?!?"
Kelvar moves to behind Kaath and studies the candle-light shrouded form of the Warden. Turning his attention to the one who spoke, he said, "And who might you be, to have been imprisoned here instead of the cells with the rest of us?"
Free from immediate danger, Rosemary kneels next to Carnadine and hefts the larger Dhampir onto her shoulder. "Don't go dying cutie." she says under the burden. She moves towards the Warden's tower.
As Rosemary carries Carnadine away the light follows you, arrows peppering around you but the distance is too far and they have little chance of getting you or Carnadine.
The inmates have the floor of the warden's tower. The warden is unable to move but able to speak. "You savages have no hope." The darkness fades and another prisoner can be seen chained to one part of the wall. With the chance to look around properly now you see on the walls a series of plaques depicting nobles and deeds no longer remembered of the history of this place. Banners and flags also decorate the wall. One such is an old tapestry depicting Castle Branding being turned into a prison with the motto, "His Judgement Cometh and that Right Soon" It could be worth something but also heavy and awkward to carry.