The sergeant glares at Paldo
"You think this is a joke? I am not "grasping", I am following orders. We have been instructed to bring you to the Jadwiga of the Pale Tower, and we will do so. We can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. up to you.
Linge lets her gaze wander around the room, trying to estimate how many soldiers are around them, and if the group has any chance at all of fighting their way out without being stopped.
the group around you right now is the guard sergeant and 4 soldiers. though your numbers are fairly even, you get the feeling from the age and attitude of this group that the soldiers are likely not battle-hardened. the sergeant looks tougher like he has seen some real combat, but then again so have you.
”Easy way seems best. That is: You surrender. Your boss gave you an impossible job. There’s no dishonor in surrender to save the lives of your men.”
Eladorn looks at Garran pointedly. "Well every journey begins with a walk outside the door." Might as well get that part done, at least.
"Better to fight outside; let's let them lead us that far."
Eladorn follows the lead guard outside, where he locks eyes with Shael with a nod of his head.
Trying her best to remain composed, Linge follows Eladorn outside. Without the guidance of the druidess, Horn busied himself trying to sneak up on Shael and sniff the stag's legs, with little success.
He looks up when Linge steps out, and immediately sits down on his rear, looking guilty, when she all but scowls at him.
With a click of her tongue, she calls for his attention, and he takes an hesitant step towards her, unsure of what his instructions are.
She waits for Eladorn or Garran to give the signal to attack. She hopes that Horn is imposing enough to threaten some of these soldiers into surrendering. They're only doing their job, after all...
Not wanting to be left behind, Paldo quickly looked at the sergeant, shrugged and followed Linge out the door.
the guards start herding everyone out the doors of the town hall. at Garran's words, the sergeant turns and glares at him.
"you had your chance to make this easy. you are in well over your head, southlander. take their weapons and bind them
the guards move to follow that order
bold may act:
paldo, guards, Garran, Linge, Eladorn, Sergeant, Sigrun
Paldo launches a color spray over two of the guards.
one of the guards falls to the ground, stunned and blinded
the closer one shrugs the magical effects off and draws his sword, swinging at Paldo
the others move to restrain the closest party members
Sigrun is held by the guard, but the other can't get his hands on Garran.
the whole party may act
[ooc]I will slot in the sergeant's actions as needed, go ahead and post all your actions for the round, including Paldo's round 2 action[/b]
Linge's hand falls to Horn's back, as she transfers some of her power to him.
As soon as the cub feels the familiar magic course through his veins, he attacks the nearest guard.
Eladorn nods again at Shael, some unspoken command passing between them as he follows Linge's lead and enhances Shael's attacks. He follows that up by drawing his bow, getting ready to fire on any soldiers that remain after this initial surge of attacks.
Shael lowers her head and drives her many-tined antlers at the soldier in front of her.
Garran draws his sword and slashes at the soldier who had tried to grab him.
Horn mauls the closest guard, killing him quickly while his focus was on Paldo.
Shael and Garran both miss their attacks.
the sergeant draws his sword and steps forward, flanking Garran and threatening Eladorn. he swings at Garran, drawing blood.
Sigrun, Paldo, guards, Linge, Garran, Eladorn
Paldo maneuvers to the side as the guard swings at him but misses. As he raises his sword again to strike at Paldo, the big bear smashes in to his side knocking him down and mauling him to death. Giving horn a quick appreciative look he turned around and scampered across the steps landing in front of the guards on the other side. A wind whipped up around him causing his robes to flail around him, brining his hands together and pushing out. Flames erupted from his hands in a line engulfing the two guards in front of him.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sigrun is caught off guard as she follows behind the group, fiddling with her gear. Once she notices the fight start, she rounds on the closest guard to her, bludgeoning him over the head with a mighty two-handed blow from her shield.
Paldo releases a stream of fire. one guard goes down screaming, the other is singed but alive. that is quickly fixed by Sigrun who smashes the injured man with her shield, dropping him.
the last normal guard steps in to attack the bear, trying to avenge his companion who was mauled
the bear cub's tough hide protects him
the whole party may act
Global Condition: None |
Global Condition:
Garran HP: 15/23 - AC: 16/11/15 Status:
Eladorn HP: 21/21 - AC 17/13/14 Status:
Linge: HP: 20/20- AC: 15/13/12 Status:
Horn: HP: 16/23 - AC: 21/19/13 Status:
Paldo HP: 17/17 - AC: 14/14/11 Status:
Sigrun HP: 21/24 - AC: 17/11/16 Status:NPCS:
Guards HP: 12 | AC <19
Sergeant HP: ?? | AC: ??
Eladorn steps back and sends a pair of arrows at the soldier threatening him.
Shael watches Eladorn's arrows fly, then goes where she's needed, delivering a powerful gore attack against whichever guard remains standing.
For a moment, Linge gapes in shock at Horn, whose maw is smeared with blood from his fresh kill. She had expected him to overpower the soldier, not eviscerate him in a matter of seconds, and it makes her uncomfortable. The last time it happened, a bandit had been killed, but now a man who was perhaps simply doing his job had met a horrible death.
She doesn't really have the time to work out her guilt, however, as the sergeant makes a move to attack Horn from behind. She lets out a cry of alarm, but his sword doesn't manage to cut through the bear's armour, and Horn turns to face his new opponent. With a low growl, he moves on the soldier's right side, before attacking.
Feeling quite useless in the battle, Linge grabs her spear, and directs the pointy bit at the blinded and defenseless soldier's chest, in case the effects of Paldo's spell dissipate. She takes the extra precaution of kicking his weapon away.
"Don't move," she says in a tone that is halfway between threat and advice.
Garran turns his attention to the sergeant, swinging his sword in an angled up cut.
;
”You’ve lost your squad.”
Seeing as the fight is basically over, Sigrun moves back around to cut off the sergeant's last way out, blocking the stairway with her body, shield at the ready.
the group attacks with a flurry, almost all of them striking true.
the guard goes down to Eladorn's arrows, and the rest of the party works together to cut down the sergeant.
end of combat
several townsfolk have gathered with the sound of fighting, and are staring with shocked faces at the carnage caused by your group.
what do you do now?
"Looks like it's time to beat a hasty exit. I think we all know where we're going next; should we stop by Nadya's first, maybe invite her along? She seems to know her worth, and her daughter's in that tower too, most likely."
"Her daughter is in the tower yes, but I don't know that she's going to want to be seen with us now if she want to continue to live in this town." Paldo looked around nervously "Yes a hasty retreat is in order!
Which way is the tower?"
Garran calls out to one of the townsfolk. “Excuse me, good man. Are there more of these soldiers about?”
He tries to get a sense of the mood of the fellow he asked.
As fight draws to a close, Sigrun wipes the blood and brains off her shield, looking down at the corpses at her feet. "So much for not being fugitives. Let's get out of here." she mutters to herself.
Looking at the bloody and torn corpses on the ground, Linge feels bile rising in her throat. This is a serious breach of her wish to respect human life, and she can't even look the townsfolk in the eyes.
She puts her spear away, leaving the blinded soldier well alone, and scrubs some blood away from Horn's fur. Her stomach twists unpleasantly as she does so, and she has to fight back the urge to vomit.
"We're not welcome here any longer," she replies to Eladorn, as he suggests bringing Nadya along. "Sigrun and Paldo are right. Let's just leave and head to the tower."
the townsfolk give you plenty of room as you move away from the dead bodies. Garran tries to ask some of them for information, but they shy away, making signs against evil and retreating to their shops or homes.
the witches won't let this go without a blood price being paid. one man comments. You should leave now. you will find no help here now. we cannot risk the anger of the Jadwiga
you know the direction to the Pale Tower, it is the opposite way along the road that brought you from the portal to this town. do you stop to speak to NAdya, or do you leave her out of it and head out now?
”We’d better warn Nadya.” Garran says. ”Our actions have put her at risk.”
"Ok but lets be quick about it. If I can get close enough I can use magic to communicate to her and then she doesn't have to be seen physically talking to us."
as far as you know, Nadya stayed in her home when the guards took you. Paldo heads back to warn her magically
what do the others do? and what does Paldo tell her?
”That’s a good idea, Paldo.” Garran goes along with Paldo.
"I'll come with you, Paldo," Linge says immediately, ready to follow him with Horn.
It's not the stealthiest option and she knows it, but it's way too dangerous to let Paldo go on his own.
"We should all go; splitting up does nobody any good. Quick stop by Nadya--warn her unseen if possible; invite her along with our protection if not."
Sigrun nods with an expression wavering between confidence and nervousness. "Let's go, then we get out of here quick."
the group all heads back to Nadya's house. the street is quiet, you do not see any more guards and people have cleared out of your way, not wanting to get involved.
”Town got awful quiet.” Garran observes. ”If they had reinforcements, I’d expect a racket.”
As they got close to Nadya's house Paldo looked up at his companions and whispered "Ok, just try to look inconspicuous... you know like we didn't just kill any town guards." Paldo closed his eyes focusing on the house in front of him sending a magical message to Nadya.
"Nayda... it's Paldo from the group that you so generously helped. We are out front of your house, but we need to leave town. We had a little altercation with the guards and well... we are here so I'll let you imagine how that went. But, you were seen with us prior and we are worried about your safety. We are headed to the pale tower. If you want to come with us now is the time!"
Linge tries to keep watch as Paldo contacts Nadya, but she seems stressed and fidgety, nearly jumping out of her skin at the slightest sound. Horn, his fur still vaguely pink, sits next to her on his bum, doing his best to appear inconspicuous.
a voice replies, through the magic of Message
"I will come and offer what aid I can. leave now, meet me on the road one mile outside of town. I will gather some supplies and meet you in one hour.
A smile crossed Paldo's face. He whispered to his friends "Wow, she's going to come!" Paldo calmed himself making sure he wasn't too loud not letting his excitement get the better of him. "She'll meet us outside of town, about a mile away, but we need to leave... now. Paldo added as he pushed to the front of the group heading towards the exit from Waldsby towards the tower.
”Good.” Garran steps out beside the halfling In his mind he replays the events leading up to the fight with the soldiers, wondering what he could have done better.
At Paldo's words, Sigrun let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "That's great. Let's get moving, then."
"She's coming?" Linge repeats, trying very hard not to show concern and mostly failing. "Does she know she might not be welcomed back?"
"Perhaps she has the sense to favor her daughter over a town full of sycophants who stand idly by as they watch the abuses of the White Witches without protest or complaint."
Erastil, I know I am too harsh, but these people submit to the yoke too easily. Compassion is hard; so, so hard sometimes.
”I’m afraid it’s not safe for her to stay here anymore anyway.” Garran answers Linge. ”And, I was wondering if we shouldn’t tell her about that doll. I don’t understand the magic of that, but I fear somehow her daughter was used. Same name and all...” Garran’s voice trails off.
Linge's face falls.
"Yes, I... Do believe she should know about that. Which means we have to tell her we lied," she sighs. "If at least it can deter her from putting herself in danger..."