As Lureene is returning, Alis waves for her to get Mal's attention. When he looks over his shoulder, he sees Alis pointing at the healing wand and then at him. Evidently the princess doesn't want you choosing the early retirement plan...
Assuming Mal doesn't ignore her, Alis uses her action for Round 33 to heal him. She then glances behind at Priyya, and tips her head towards Mal.
Priyya's next act - convert Hold Person to CMW and use on Mal...
Spell Fail <20:
... and she moves with the team...
Mal thanks the women again, adding his own leave healing to the mix. He does this on the move, while drawing out his axe... moving as quietly as possible.
Lureene sees the group ready to proceed onwards and whispers to Alis, "I think we should have Grak fly ahead of us, to make sure we don't walk into trouble." She calls to Grak mentally, I am sorry, but could you fly ahead of us and make sure we are not walking into an ambush.
Grak flys ahead of the group, but he does give his mistress an exasperated look as he flies above the group. This is the first time you all have ever seen a snake with such an expression before.
Although she didn't need the well-meaning princess to encourage her, Priyya never-the-less obliges Alis, and sets to Healing Mal's injuries. Mal likewise catches his breath for a moment then casts a similar spell before retaking the lead. As you move forward, Alis recovers the wand the enemy caster employed as well as a scroll. She holds the wand for a moment, examining it.
"This might come in handy..." She looks up at Lureene and then hands it to her. "Magic missile."
When she sees Mal hop over the trap that Lureene had indicated, she hands Lureene the scroll as well, taps Priyya on the shoulder and slips past. She easily disables the pressure place with some shims from her pack. While she is doing so, Lureene is able to make out that it is a scroll of fireball that Alis' handed her. Unfortunately, in her distracted state, she fails to see Priyya (who seems equally distracted by Alis' handiwork), and bumps into her causing a bit more noise than Alis would have liked as the deafened warrior-priestess has to catch herself from falling.
Perception Checks
Stealth Checks
, ???; Alis, Priyya
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 34)
Mal holds up his hand for a halt, pointing at his nose. He then begins edging forward quietly, one step at a time, hoping to be able to turn the ambush on it's head for once.
Lureene mentally tells Grak, Leave him, and return to us as quickly as you can.
She whispers to Alis, "Looks like one of our prisoners woke up. I think he has had enough." She notices Mal gestures, and correctly guesses his meaning. She then hefts the newly acquired wand and waits for the others to advance...
Mal hugs the left hand wall and spies the lady card dealer, who ran away when you busted into the 'church'. She is cowering fearfully in the left-hand hallway. In her shaking hands, she clutches a single dagger, although he can tell that by the way she's holding it she has no idea what to do in a fight. She doesn't yet seem to see Mal...
What are you going to do?
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 34b)
Mal steps around the corner, motioning for the others to follow, he approaches the young woman and puts his finger to his lips and showing her his palm in a hopefully placating motion. He moves forward just far enough to make sure the woman isn't the only person in this hallway, using his nose if possible to alert him of others.
Upon seeing Mal, the woman's eyes go wide. She drops the dagger, screams in terror and tries to run away.
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 34c)
Damnit! Fool woman will get me killed!
Mal lashes out with his foot, hoping to trip her up and keep her from running off an telling everyone where they are.
The woman falls to the ground and screams out, "Nodon'tkillme!"
"Ssshhhhh, woman!" Mal says, intentionally low, knowing that if he's not careful his voice will carry. "I'm not gonna hurt you, but this place could get dangerous fast!" He says as he reaches out to help "escort" her back to safety.
The woman tries to beat against Mal's chest with her fists, but to no avail. Mal has no trouble picking up and holding onto the squirming woman.
, ???; Alis, Priyya
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 34d)
Lureene hears the confrontation between Mal and the woman, but she barely acknowledges it. Her attention is completely focused behind the group, where she knows the rest of the gang members have barricaded themselves. Her instincts scream at her, It’s a trap!. She grips her wand tightly, and readies to activate it should an enemy appear behind the group.
Although Mal cannot hear it, a voice behind Mal says, "Well sh1t man, I kin unnerstan why ya'd wanna give 'er a squeeze, but she's arready spoken for. *hic* Buh me!"
The unseen man aims a vicious stab for Mal's kidney's but the attack is deflected by his armor.
"Whut the? Damn, I gotta lay offa tha sauce..." He waves to the struggling woman with the dagger in his other hand and calls out, "Hang in there, sweetie, tryin' ta aim for the one in the middle here..."
Perception Checks
Jarvis
, Priyya, Mal, Lureene, Enemies
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round )
Alis feels a tightness in her chest as if her number has just come up. Putting the thought aside, she regards the attempts of the drunken rogue stab Mal in the back with one eyebrow raised.
Alis is about to come to Mal's defense when suddenly, she hears a chorus of screaming coming from across the room to the east!
"Jarvis needs help, let's get 'em!"
"Nobody busts this place up but us!"
"Ain't no other gang musclin' in on our turf!"
"Tar Dogs forever!"
"Hold up you idiots, HEY! Gods so much for an ambush..."
She tilts her head to the side as at least a half-dozen gang members aged 15 to 30 come pouring out of another passageway from the south.
"Hey El," Alis remarks dryly, her voice a whisper. "I don't suppose you'd have another Web spell handy, would you...?"
With that, she tosses her cloak aside and leaps to her bodyguard's defense. With uncanny precision, she tumbles between the two men and slashes the drunken gang leader across the chest with her rapier.
"HEY! That's my guy you're poking there!"
,
Theme: Showdown with the Tar Dogs
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 35)
Jarvis' eyes go wide at the blur that flashes past him and he gives a shout of surprise at the injury he takes. As he attempts to shake off his stupor, he looks at Alis with surprise and says, "Damn sweetie, I know you said there was a hot old lady with a great rack kicking everyone's ass but... DAAAAMN!"
As Jarvis regards the apparent GMILF with a combination of admiration and surprise, his girlfriend looks up at Mal with a frown and says, "Promise me you won't kill him?" She glares around his shoulder at Jarvis and says, "Don't 'sweetie' me, I'm going to kick his ass after this is all over..."
, Mal, Lureene, Enemies; Alis
Priyya runs forward (G26) and strikes at the brigand flanking Alis.
To Hit:
Damage:
Mal lets go of the girl, eyeing the man who attempted to stab him, "Big mistake, pal!" he digs deep once again, excitedly anticipating the embrace of the animal he just experienced, but instead pulls only a portion. Damn... guess i'll have to learn more about that particular ability. Seeing the wave of humanity pouring around their corner, he decides to try for a defensive position, attempting to dive past those closest.
Priyya moves forward and swings at Jarvis, but he leans just in the nick of time for her sword to cut a notch in his hat.
"Wow fellah," he says to Mal, unaware of the fact that the warrior can't hear him, "you sure travel with some lookers! How 'bout you set mah Trisa down now an' we kin kill each other like gentlemen. Ya know, without involvin' the ladies?"
"Big mistake, pal!
"Well, not like you coulda known she wuz mah girl, Ah guess..."
When Mal lets go of Trisa, he nods appreciatively and then takes a swing as Mal practically falls on his face trying to evade him. Jarvis himself very nearly hits one of his own men while swatting at Mal. "Oh damn man, Trisa, you didn't knee him in the jewels, did ya?"
, Enemies; Alis, Priyya, Mal
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 35b)
Lureene thinks, Yeah, I think a web spell would be ideal here..too bad Mal would be caught in it as well. Oh well..I can't take away all of his fun. She moves up behind Priyya, and looks at the far end of the cavern, picking her spot, and lets fly a different spell.
The pimple-faced teenage punks to either side of one of the gang-leaders you remember facing during the ambush the other night drop to the ground, put to sleep by Lureene's spell. Behind her, Grak finally manages to catch up and she feels something thump into her back and feels a shock like ice in her system. A split second later, Grak cries out in pain.
Turning around, she sees the two marksmen from earlier. One busy reloading the crossbow whose bolt just poisoned her the other getting ready to make another attack on Grak with his swortsword!
Perception Checks (distracted by battle)
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 35c)
"Trisa sweetie," Jarvis says, "why don't you go on up an' make sure Gerrold's arright. Gods know that fellah kin fight an' looks like we might needs some help."
"You're such an ass, Jarvis!" she says. As she runs down the hall, she calls out, "Don't you get killed before I get back, you bastard!"
Jarvis smiles and tips his head to Alis and Priyya before attempting to tumble away. Priyya's scimitar, still heavy in her hand, is too slow, but Alis' rapier jabs the drunkard in the rear rather hard.
"HEY NOW!" he shouts, rubbing his tush as he rolls back to his feet near where his lover was just standing. "I don't believe in hitting ladies, or the elderly, but if'n ya ain't gunna act like ladies, then I'm gunna hafta git rough!"
With that, he pops the top on a potion and downs it in one shot. "Oooh thaaat clears the old noggin!"
"HEY BOYS!" he shouts to the men. "Everybody pile in, there's more space over this way!"
AoOs
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 35d)
Yet more men pile into the room. Those surrounding Mal, each take a step to the side so that everyone can pile in around him. While he is able to duck and weave between the majority of the blows, the bat-wielding thug to his left cracks him right across the back of the head so hard that he very nearly blacks out. The marksman due east of him takes advantage of the moment and buries a poisoned shaft deep in his chest. Mal can feel even his mighty legs weaken from the vile stuff as he coughs up blood.
, Priyya, Mal, Lureene, Enemies
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 36)
"Trisa sweetie, why don't you go on up an' make sure Gerrold's arright. Gods know that fellah kin fight an' looks like we might needs some help."
What the hell? Lureene said these guys captured him!
Alis holds up her hands, releasing her grip on her sword and shouts, "Jarvis, did you just say that Gerrold was helping you fight?! We're his friends! We thought you guys kidnapped him! This is all a big mistake!"
Jarvis looks at Alis like she's grown a second head. "Look lady, I know I said I was drunk, but I ain't stupid! That's the biggest crock o' horse sh1t I think I've ever heard!"
, Mal, Lureene, Enemies; Alis
Priyya does a healing blast, selectively eliminating their obviously injured opponents.
Healing:
Priyya then moves up to carve a way out for Mal.
She looks at Alis incredulously since she can't hear her words. Is she surrendering?! "Dammit, Lisa, what are you doing? These bastards have Gerrold! If they won't give him up - we kill them all. It's that simple."
With Jarvis and the two men behind Lureen being the only obviously injured enemies, Priyya has little trouble healing her friends without aiding the enemy any. At Priyya's words, Alis puts the palm of her left hand to her forehead. Of all the times to be deaf...
At Priyya's words, Jarvis hesitates a moment, considering what he's just heard.
, Lureene, Enemies; Alis, Priyya
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 36b)
Priyya gives Lureene a hard look but can't, for the life of her, remember her cover name. She bellows like a warrior, "Get your ass over here, snowflake and bring your pet! We get separated - we die. We stick together - THEY die."
Lureene hears the overly loud yell from Priyya, telling her to make a stand here, she glares at those marksmen who had hurt her and is about to loose her wand in retaliation, when Grak communicates with her mantally. Her face sets in determination, and she move towards Priyya, . Grak flies above her
Once she has moved, she calls out in a clear voice, "Jarvis, we know you are the one who assisted Gerrold when he was assaulted. My pet here, " she indicates Grak, "saw everything. All we want is Gerrold. Return him to us and you can avoid further bloodshed."
Mal's mind submerges into the beast within once again... becoming a blur of tooth and claw, fighting for survival.
Her limbs starting to feel heavy, Ellie the Brunette Babe (codename Snowflake), moves around the corner to confront Jarvis, he wings still concealed by the cloak Alis gave her. When the man sees Grak laboring along behind her, a look of recognition dawns on his face. Looking past her when he hears a great deal of shouting, Jarvis leans to the side and raises an eyebrow as Mal knocks out an enforcer with a brutal back-hand before taking sending one of his lieutenants flying from a savage uppercut.
"Son of a–" Jarvis gently moves Lureene back out of the way and waves his hands, daggers suddenly missing. "OY! Errybody just calm the fu<k down! Looks like mebbe we had a bit of a misunnerstanding here!"
At Jarvis' word, the man standing next to Mal take an apprehensive step backwards. The two men following Lureene run into the room and stop, weapons lowered but still clearly on edge. The men on the eastern side of the room look at each other with questioning expressions on their faces wondering what's going on.
Meanwhile, even as Lureene and Mal manage to fight off any further effects from the poison (thanks in no small part to the injuries having been closed by Priyya's healing), Grak's body feels heavier and heavier.
MAP: Dunwaar Streets, (Round 36C)
'Lisa' puts her left hand on 'Sarah's' sword arm indicating she should stay her blade. She then looks at 'Andre', holds her right hand palm down and lowers it from chest high towards the ground meaning he can take it down a notch.
"You'll have to forgive my nurse, Sarah, and my nephew-in-law, Andre," Lisa begins, "Their ears are still ringing from the thunderstone your man in the church tower hit them with."
Jarvis nods twice, left hand cupping his chin and brow furrowed as he listens intently.
"My husband, Gerrold, said he had heard about some new... business opportunities he wanted to enterprise on here. Given all the fighting that's been going on, we got a bit worried when Ellie's pet there said he got cold-conked and carried off."
She gives 'Ellie' a sidelong glance like daggers and continues, "Mind you, my dear niece is better known for her looks than her brains. She neglected to convey that you and my husband were fighting alongside one another rather than fighting with one another."
Lureene gives a nervous laugh and scratches the back of her head. When her Aunt Lisa gives her an elbow in the side, the two give him slow curtsy that shows off a good bit of cleavage. "Thanks for getting my hubby out of a scrape. I'd have had to kick his rear if he'd gotten his fool self killed..."
Behind Jarvis, Grak is beginning to wheeze and finally lands on the floor.
Jarvis tries to be respectful and avert his eyes, but that's quite a lot to ask. He wipes his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt and exhales hard. "Whew! Well I guess good looks must run in your family, Miss..."
"Lisa," she smiles and makes a point of futzing with Lureene's hair in a matronly fashion. "Dear, you're all disheveled..."
"Miss Lisa. Well I gotta say, that Gerrold is a lucky man. I hope my Trisa looks even half as good as you in– uh– well... damn, where is she?"
Jarvis turns around to look at the hallway behind him and sees little Grak laying on the ground looking, head resting on a rock, tongue lolling out of his mouth and wings splayed out over the ground.
"Oh damn, did yer little buddy get stuck? Real sorry about that..."
He reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a small vial of white liquid, hands it to Lureene, and steps out of her way. "That ought stop it. Might take a few days for him to get back to feelin' right though..."