Hey, look! Horseshoe throwing! Let's give that a go first... maybe I'll win with accuracy where I couldn't with strength!
She falls into line behind some townsfolk.
Poppy emerges from her semi-secret location looking rather queezy staggering around a bit dragging her hammer on the ground behind her.
she tries to gather some sort of composure and heaves her hammer onto her shoulder.
not quite ready for the shift in weight she falls backward lying on the ground.
after a second or two, ouch she mutters.
She smiles gratefully as she receives her shoes...
She grins ruefully as her aim seems good only to have it bounce off the peg.
Her next shot flies wide and long... almost bouncing outside the game area.
Her final attempt is spot on.
Gah... it seems that I need to focus on throwing.
Jonathan exits as well, just in time to see Poppy fall down.
"Here, my dear, let me help you up." he says as he rushes over to help her stand.
"Are you alright?"
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Having finished off all the cookies Dart could get his hands on, he decides to take advantage of the festival traffic around the bakery by putting on an impromptu performance along the walkway.
"Come one come all, ladies and gentleman, and enjoy a dramatic recitation of Hulsclar's monologue from Act Three, scene 2 of Hulscar, the Linorm King," and within eye and ear shot of the bakery and adjacent walkway, he begins his performance.
Yes, I am so much better at drama!
"Well well. Don't feel bad about yourself. This does seem a lot more difficult than the trash throwing. Us dwarfs are not the most graceful people, but I'll try my best for the fun of it."
Dolgrin waits until Izumi is finished and then tries it himself.
While the first try almost hit an onlooker, the 2nd one was a bullseye shot and the last one kind of mediocre.
Jonathan exits as well, just in time to see Poppy fall down.
"Here, my dear, let me help you up." he says as he rushes over to help her stand.
"Are you alright?"
Poppy blinks a few times as she stares at Jonathan. I ate too much
she accepts the help and brushes off the dirt.
thanks, I'm Poppy
Dart sees that his success with the cookies allows him to get the gathered people's attention to do whatever he wants. They seem very entertained that he decides to give them a free performance are enthralled by his depiction of Hulscar . At the end, he is warmly applauded, although he isn't sure everyone was able to grasp the emotional depth portrayed. In the end, he notices some tears. Aneka, especially, wipes her eyes and smiles at him warmly.
By evening, everyone in town has had so much fun that one could wonder if they would ever be capable of enjoying the night activities. But the energy has not given the slightest sign of diminishing. Without an explicit command, people start to gather in front of the cathedral again.
The sun is setting and mayor Deverin takes the stage again. A stray dog sleeps relaxed under one of the now empty carts north of the square. She announces the winners of the games. Norah's challenge remains unfortunately undefeated, but it is a long living tradition in the Hagfish and may yet be claimed. The comedy contest was won by Marina Malotru, a halfling who is one of the actresses in the play that Cyrdak put together. Dart recognizes her as she takes many complements and people generally gather around her. She enjoys success at much as him, apparently.
The garbage throwing contest has had a clear winner, a dwarf of legendary strength. Many heads turn towards Dolgrin and he is highly praised for his feats of strength. Afterwards the winners of the horseshoe throwing contests are recognized as the Jinji brothers, two teenage boys from one of the local farms.
The egg hunt is announced as a gnome called Poppy, who managed to gather as much as 38 eggs. Many cheers can be heard and the mayor says she has the eyes of an eagle, and as long as she is in town, she will miss nothing hidden! She is invited up to receive her necklace, estimated at 30 gold pieces.
Then, the two secret contests are revealed to be a cookie eating contest at Sandpoint's Savories and an obscure Lore contest in Brodert's shack near the Lighthouse. The cookie contest was won by a very beautiful man with blue hair, Dart himself. He is also invited up to receive a Sustaining Spoon, a magical item which refills itself and can feed up to four people per day. There is a comment about how the Avertin sisters won't ever need such tasteless food.
The lore contest was won by a tiefling sailor who told a story of an old people who worshipped an older god than Desna herself. Brodert was so amused he gave the prize to him, some drops to be put on one's eyes to give them nightvision.
The winners of the rat race and the racing in the sand were not very exciting since none of the rats reached the end and no one managed to finish the 20 laps on the sand.
The people are excited to congratulate the winners. After a while, the mayor says "Now, let me bring forth Father Zantus, who will start the cathedral consecration. Afterwards we will all enjoy the night lights we've all prepared, some hot wine and... the bonfire!" The people cheer loudly as Father Zantus comes up. Before starting the ritual, he means to say a few words.
He looks at everyone who wait for him to start speaking. There is a deep silence. He finally opens his mouth to speak and a woman's cry is heard. The people look at him confused. He closes his mouth again, and a child's crying is also heard. People start looking to the sides. The people close to the north of the square manage to watch the formerly sleeping stray dog yelp as his throat opens spraying blood on the ground. A percussion based music seems to be forming in the background.
Dolgrin, Dart, Jonathan, Poppy and Izumi, along with all the people, were a little engulfed in the festival spirit and take a while to understand that there is an attack underway, and it's not a surprise musical performance. The undenying evidence comes in the form of a goblin from the top of the house to the west, illuminated by the setting sun, holding a torch as if he is about to stick the torch on the ground like a flag. Instead, he throws the torch towards the people.
Although the torch doesn't hit anyone, the people start screaming and running in all directions. As this happens the tune takes shape and the first strophe can be heard.
"Goblins chew and goblins bite."
"Goblins cut and goblins fight."
"Stab the dog and cut the horse,"
"Goblins eat and take by force!"
After a few moments, the square is mostly clear of people. A few peasants cower in place, afraid to go anywhere and be chased. The 5 wielders of divine magic knew at once what they had to do.
One of the goblins runs towards one of the cowering women nearby, but trips and falls. Three others charge Jonathan. Meanwhile, the goblin on the roof runs towards Jonathan and jumps on him, only to land on a fellow goblin, severely hurting him.
One of the goblins actually catches Jonathan off-guard and slices his leg, drawing blood.
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During the awards ceremony, Dart tries to hide his disappointment at not winning the acting competition. Ah, the Halfling is in his play. Nepotism at work, I see, Dart tells himself to make sense of why he didn't win.
As his name is announced as winner of the cookie eating competition, Dart is pleased to finally be taking a place on a stage in Sandpoint. Not the right stage, but a step in the right direction. After the comment about the Avertin sisters never needing the tasteless gruel the spoon creates, Dart adds, "I imagine I'll be using it far more often to sample the delectable delights of Sandpoint Savories than I will to make magic gruel," which gets some chuckles and draws a smile from the sisters who did, after all, just get some nice free publicity.
The rest of the awards are announced and Father Zantus takes the stage, and shortly thereafter, things go a bit sideways. People scattering, women screaming in fear, and a dog slain. Okay, Dart, it's time to play the hero role. Looking around, Dart realized there were some others around who were also seeming ready to take a stand against the Goblins. This team needs a leader, he thought, and I've played one repeatedly in plays, so who could possibly be more fit to lead them? Of course, we'll also need a name...something to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies. Dart's Daring Doers of Deeds? Team Dart? The Fires of Brindleflame?
Dart moved heroically over to where a local woman looked like she might be in peril and brandished his longspear while calling out to his fellows who were bearing arms against the Goblin horde and saying, "That's the way, lads and lasses, working as a team now! Guard each others' backs and help these locals get to safety. Those of you who are new to the team, welcome to The Brindleflame Brigade!" Yes, that's it. Brindleflame Brigade. I like it!
"Jonathan." he says by way of introduction "and I definitely ate too many cookies." he chuckles as he says that.
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Jonathan is shocked when the goblins landed on him, blade stabbing into him.
Walking around the two goblins near him, Jonathan gets in position and unleashes negative energy on all of the Goblins.
Izumi moves to interject herself between the goblins and the villages, and draws her katana.
The area around her head bursts into a halo of light, automatically and unthinkingly, and an weak eddy of focused aggression is unleashed like a broken dam as she gathered all her training, fear, anger at these creatures into a terrifying shout.
You can use this skill to cause an opponent to become shaken for a number of rounds. This shaken condition doesn’t stack with other shaken conditions to make an affected creature frightened. The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the target’s Hit Dice + the target’s Wisdom modifier.
Success: If you are successful, the target is shaken for one round. This duration increases by 1 round for every 5 by which you beat the DC. You can only threaten an opponent this way if it is within 30 feet and can clearly see and hear you. Using demoralize on the same creature only extends the duration; it does not create a stronger fear condition.
Fail: The opponent is not shaken.
Action Demoralizing an opponent is a standard action.
Being the center of focus made Dolgrin slightly uncomfortable, when he was announced the winner. But being cheered on still felt good, of course.
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He was just thinking that he'll need to get his room at the inn back, because uit was getting late, when these goblins disturbed his thoughts. Being not the fastest to think or move, it took him a while to assess the situation.
Finally he decided to draw his tool of trade, the heavy pick. He also casts a spell on himself.
Izumi performs a warrior shout which, although more timid than her sensei would like to hear, still managed to shake down the goblin. Jonathan takes this opportunity to slip to a vantage position and cause a burst of mysterious void energy to affect all the goblins. As he walks, the goblin who is frightened by Izumi tries to swing at Jonathan but his recent scare made him only scrape at the shield whilst the other goblin only managed to hit Jonathan's breastplate. At the same time, Dolgrin calls forth some protective magic from Torag.
Well hello there Jonathan. I think that those cookies were rigged I know cookies, and there was something funny there..
Poppy accepts her reward with a big smile and is about to give an acceptance speach, but is cut short by Father Zantus knowing that she could be rather long winded.
but suddenly the goblins attack.
Goblins she says with a ting of hatred in her voice.
With her hammer in hand She moves forward and gets up on top of a table. she holds her hammer up and it crackles with a touch of Electricity. I am Poppy Pomegranite By Tor's will you will not take this day, and I will avenge that poor doggie.
the crackle engulfs Poppy shielding her from attacks.
Unfortunately, Poppy fails to climb the table.
The goblin song continues.
"Goblins race and goblins jump"
"Goblins slash and goblins bump."
"Burn the skin and mash the head,"
"Goblins here and you be dead!"
As the fight is being set, the group cast protective magic and attack the goblins. Poppy the gnome climbs a table next to Dolgrin and Dart performs an uplifting act.
At the same time, to the south, a panicked goblin is chased by a dog. To the west, a goblin appears throwing cookies at Jonathan, laughing maniacally.
The cookie flies wild.
The goblin that on the ground stands up and grins menacingly. But as it hears Dart's performance, it gets angry since he prefers the goblin song. After looking about for a second, it finds the weapon it dropped and picks it up.
Meanwhile, the goblin that Izumi frightened tried intimidating her as well...
... but the shout sounds almost cute.
The goblin next to it sees his attempt at being scary and starts laughing at its companion uncontrollably.
The goblin that previously threw the torch on the mob and fell on top of the other goblin runs at Izumi and tries to kick her shin.
The kick hits her armor almost hurting its foot.
Jonathan moved to the north and then unleashed more dark energy.
"They're like vermin. We need to stomp them, before they hurt anyone!"
Dolgrin points his finger at the goblin south and an acid dart flies this direction.
Then he moves the other direction towards the goblin group.
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"That's the way, Brigade, keep them on their heels!" Dart shouts, still playing the role of leader. Brigadier General Brindleflame. Ooo, that sounds good!
"Keep those energy bursts coming, Silk Shirt!" he calls to Jonathon using a nickname since they've never actually been introduced. "Excellent shot, Master Dwarf!" Dart calls out to Dolgrin.
And as he speaks, Dart takes a couple of steps closer to the Goblin who only just recovered his weapon and tells him, "Get on your belly like the snake you are, fiend!"
Turning to see the dog chasing a goblin, Poppy draws her hammer Leave that doggie alone you home wrecker!
she points her hammer at the goblin to the south and an arc of lightning shoots out toward it.
AoO Yellow Goblin
Attack on blue
Surprisingly, the goblin next to Dart resists his magical command word and grins menacingly.
Poppy's lighting is able to hit the goblin in the chest, but it keeps running, albeit clumsily.
Izumi hits the goblin that is attempting to scare her very strongly, and it stands, holding for dear life.
-Inspire Courage definitely adds to touch attacks' damage, because they are real attacks as in they require an attack roll.
-when did I get wounded? I was all alone before I shot and moved
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Dart steps protectively back a step in front of the townswoman saying, "Don't worry, ma'am, Sandpoint is in no peril, not if the Brindleflame Brigade has anything to say about it!"
"Keep it up, troops!" he calls out to the rest of the defenders of Sandpoint. "Hit and run with those ranged attacks. Keep them off balance, then move into melee! That's the way," he says says, giving them orders to have done what they'd already done to make it look like he knows what he's doing and that the strategy being used is his idea. "Stay focused on the one going after the poor doggy, Poppy," he says, using the only name he's caught during this encounter, "let's make sure that pet gets back to its family."
The goblin song goes on...
"Chase the baby, catch the pup."
"Bonk the head to shut it up."
"Bones be cracked, flesh be stewed,"
"We be goblins! You be food!"
The goblin flies towards Dart taking a stab while moving.
Dart heroically takes a cut on his hip.
The goblin that was previously throwing cookies pulls out a kitchen knife and runs towards Jonathan with it.
However, it misses wide.
The goblin next to Izumi looks to its felled comrade and gets down shaking it and trying to revive it.
The last goblin attacks Izumi.
The curved goblin knife can't even connect with her armor.
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"Stay behind me, ma'am," Dart says as he moves a step back and ushers the woman behind him.
"Keep taking to battle right to them, lads and lasses," Dart calls out to his "troops." "Show them the folly of attacking a town defended by the Brindleflame Brigade!" he calls out knowing that the key to establishing a brand name is effective repetition.
"Have at you, beastie," he says to the Goblin with whom he has now exchanged blows.
"Look at these idiots. One wouldn't think they're sentient." Dolgrin lets loose a deep dwarfen laughter, while straping his buckler to his left arm. Next he brings his heavy pick high above the green goblin.
Dart manages to strike at the goblin, but it somehow still stands, very disoriented.
Dolgrin just misses the hurt goblin.
Jonathan takes a step away from the Goblins and then touches Dolgrin's weapon, which has smoking black runes appear along the striking edge.
After Jonathan enchants Dolgrin's weapon, the dwarf sticks the pick into the goblin in front of him, making it go limp.
Poppy glances around, and seeing the doggie doing well tries to spy more of these daddy killers.
the only one that seems to have clear path is right in front of her, near the man yelling at everybody. not that its a bad thing.
In the name of Tor! she yells rather heroically. chraging at the goblin.
and with a semi-spectacular leap she attacks.
"You speak as if silk were something everyone shouldn't wear."
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As the small gal rushes in and does a semi-spectacular leaping attack on the Goblin in front of him, Dart calls out, "Well struck, Poppy! and then, in response to Jonathon's questioning, he says, "Not at all, lad. Simply admiration for your sense of style. Now let's stay focused, Brigade, and finish off these last few beasties!"
for
Crit confirm?
Remembering her training she takes a step sideways, then pivots, cutting down diagonally... and cuts the goblin in half like she would a length of swamp bamboo.
Jonathan chuckled and said "Well, looks like someone took your advice."
After the amazing teamwork by the beautifully dressed man and the dwarf, Izumi does an impressive cut on the diver goblin, which dies dramatically.
The remaining goblin sees that it is vastly outnumbered and thinking itself heroic, charged the scariest defender in the group. Clearly it was the dog. In a frantic charge, it doesn't get past Izumi and Dolgrin.
After the goblins are dealt with, each of the five wielders of divine magic easily identify the other four as capable combatants. After taking a moment to breathe, the peasants around the square finally calm down and get inside.
The sound of battle is happening all around, but this seems like a good time to get ready for what's coming.
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As the last Goblins fall, Dart ushers the townswoman to a safer place and then moves into the midst of the troops.
"Great work, everyone!" he calls out, staying in the role of Brigadier General. "We've definitely shown them the Brindleflame Brigade's might. Sounds like more chaos happening around us, so let's get organized for what's coming next. Silk Shirt, do you have more of your energy blasts ready to go? Master Dwarf and m'lady priestess," he addresses Izumi remembering that she was introduced earlier as a priestess of...some god or goddess whose name escapes him, "Stick together and flank if you can," and then, turning to their tiniest member, "You and I will stick together and try to flank as well. Now, anyone need any healing while we've got a quick break?"
"I can use it a few more times a day, but I need everyone to stay clear as the energy I wield does not discriminate between friend and foe."
Halo still blazing about her head, and her expression fierce Izumi looks around for the closest source of chaos, her head swiveling to better hear the sounds of battle.
Hail and well met, she says with a quick bow. My thanks for aiding us...I don't trust these are the only goblins. Let us make haste to patrol and ensure our town's safety. I am Izumi, priestess of Shizuru... please aid me further.
She then sets off in the direction of the closest potential source of combat.
Poppy calms a bit then suddenly has a look of worry on her face. Spot! Gotta find Spot she says she tries to drag Dart with her. you said stick together, so let's go, spot may be in trouble
She tries to get Dart to go with her to the stables.
"Poppy, who is Spot?"