Futin nods quickly, then looks to Warbal. Thank you Warbal. I just wanted to make sure.. He banishes the thought of his dreams...though he hadn't had them for a while, he still could see the images whenever he closed his eyes.
Standing up quickly, Futin excitedly gets his wooden sword, swishing it this way and that before looking up at Talina. His grin fades as he sees how serious she is. He clears his throat and sets his stance, as she's showed him.
Ready.. I think
Before readying herself 'for battle' Talina walked around Futin looking him up and down. After adjusting his shoulders down and one foot into its proper place, the guardswoman moved in front of the Catfolk, "Now you are."
Spending approximately fifteen minutes recapping the three guards she taught him yesterday, Talina then said, "Alright, I'm going to now show you three more guards that are a bit more on the offensive side." She then held her sword parallel to the ground with the point aimed at Futin, pulling the hilt to her chest while turning her shoulders to the right, "This is called Inside Right," Keeping the sword in its position the woman turned her shoulders to the left, "And this is called Inside Left," Thrusting the blade out as far as she could still pointing at her opponent, "And this is called Long. These are good getting your opponent to halt their advance upon you. The Inside Guards are particularly useful to draw them in for a thrusting counter."
Talina then spends the next forty-five minutes further showing him transitions between guards and counters.
Futin moved from position to position gracefully, but couldn't seem to relate to the distance. Since he was used to fighting with a sickle, his counters were all short and his guard, while effective, had to be consistently adjusted so that it would actually stop someone before they were on top of him. He rolled his shoulders back to stretch out the weary muscles after drilling.
I don't know....seems like this sickle may not be the right tools for the job. It was what we had around the house...Dad probably doesn't even know I borrowed it from him. He will when he gets out in the garden, I guess. What do you think Talina, a sword maybe? I'm just not sure how well I'll do with one that...heavy.
Clasping him on the shoulder Talina responded, "You'll get used to the weight. It was heavy for me as well when I started in the town guard back home. Eventually, it gets lighter."
Futin smiles in spite of his aches. If you say so, Talina. Practice, practice right? So.... His gaze trails over to Alak, seeing him sitting around the fire with the others. What do you make of him? Kind of odd he was in there, right?
Talina looked at the Hellknight, "Not entirely sure. I've only worked with Hellknights only a couple of times as they patrolled through Crescent Hold. They prize order above overall, so I doubt he's lying."
Futin nods, considering. Well, I'll be sure to look out for him too. I may not be able to stand side by side with you guys, but I've still got my real weapons ready.. He pats the healers kit in his bandolier.
"He's not lying but that by no means indicates that he's benevolent. Hellknights 'Order' often helps prop up authoritarian dictatorships. When you can't keep justice with your order your blind pursuit of it becomes wrong."
Futin watches Cicero closely as he speaks, and recalls his reaction from earlier. I saw, you...have dealt with his order before?
"Fair point, but since we have no idea what these cultists are up to, an extra set of hands that won't backstab us is most certainly not a bad thing."
Futin ponders this, chewing on it through the night as they chat around the fire. He rests well, seemingly secure enough in Talina's reassurance and the proximity of his trusted companions.
Villar listened to the discussion that Talin, Futin, and Cicero were having about the hellknight and hellknights in general. He considered what was being said and then finally decided to add, "I dislike and distrust Hellknights as a general rule but even I can agree they are not all bad. Part of my..." he hesitated, "dislike for them is their connections to devils. My own blood says they are the enemy and should be killed." There was a slight pride in his voice as he continued, "That part of me can shut it and I ignore it most of the time. Coming from Chelliax the hellknights we have are often strongly aligned with House Thrune" he made the name of the house a curse and spat on the ground to punctuate it, "and often an enemy to the people even as they enforce the unjust laws."
Villar finished caring for his rapier and resheatfed it before he rose. His tone changed then and said, "Not all of them are bad though, one that used to exist, The Order of the Torrent, was dissolved during the revolt in Kintargo, They tracked down and retrieved those who were taken, who went missing, they were one of the few orders I didn't have a problem with and even worked with one on a case once." There was a slight smile to his voice as Villar said, "She wasn't a bad sort, fun to mess with too since she had a tidiness obsession." Vilar laughed slightly as he remembered something and said, "If the quill was not perfectly aligned and centered along the bottom of the blotter with the inkpot exactly one inch up and to the right of the blotter she'd start to panic."
Villar chuckled again as he said, "I thought she'd died when she saw my office the first time and passed out. Then she kept trying to re-arrange everything and I kept just putting it back, drove her absolutely nuts too." The amusement faded away then as he remembered what happened to her later on and shook his cowled head slightly. "My point is they are people too, I just distrust them on general principles given how strictly by the book they are. True justice sometimes requires thinking outside the box or ignoring unjust laws to reach it and most laws only benefit those in charge and oppress those beneath them."
Warbal's choice of campsites seems to have been well made, as they are uninterrupted throughout the night and everyone manages to sleep soundly. Alak is a polite guest, and occassionaly chats with the group, but mostly seems to keep his thoughts to himself.
The next morning, as planned, the group heads for the back side of the keep to find the secret door that Helba told them about. If you hadn't been told where to look, it would have been very difficult to find. As it is, though, the door way is easily found and opened, leading into a dark set of stairs going down. There is no lighting in here, and it looks like it's only seen minimal use in the years since the Order of the Nail abandoned the keep, and probably not much even during that time. Alak nods his head when the pathway is revealed. "I knew that there had to be a way into the lower level, but was unsure where to find the entrance."
The stairs lead down a short ways before ending at another doorway, which is even easier to open, through which you see a wide, empty tone hallway. To the east, the hall ends at three separate open doorways, while six additional corridors branch off to the north and south. A mass of rubble spills out of a clogged archway in the northeastern portion of the room.
Talina awoke the next morning having had the same nightmare as the night before. The cold sweat had her shivering as she had sat up on her bedroll, one hand holding her forehead. Please Erastil, let him still be alive. Noting that the sun was beginning to rise she got up to perform her morning exercises then donned her armor.
Seeing the stairs leading into darkness, the warrior knelt down and pulled a torch from her pack. Handing it Futin, she lit it and said, "Stay close to us. If you get too far away the light from the torch won't do us much good."
Futin nods quickly, taking the torch. He didn't have the heart to tell Talina...who was quickly becoming his hero, that he had a spell that would do the same. Besides...the torch made him feel more like a real adventurer! He keeps his other hand free, sickle at his side. Until he could get better with it, his place was at the back, keeping his friends alive.
I'm ready Talina! He has trouble keeping the excitement out of his voice.
Cicero follows in closely behind Talina slightly less abashed than the previous day, carrying one dagger drawn with the other two on his belt.
Alak peers into the dark hallway, slowly sliding his massive sword from it's sheath. He turns to Talina, indicating that he will follow her lead.
Futin looks about the hall, anxious to get started. He starts pinging out in the area to seek for magical auras.
When Villar woke the next morning he felt much better than he had at the end of the day before. He moved through a series of stretches that were not dissimilar to what a dancer might practice before he was ready to eat. He wasn't talkative, Villar not being a morning person and all, and focused instead on eating and preparing to continue their explorations.
When everyone was ready he left with them and on arrival at their destination he looked around the dark passageway. Villar felt comfortable down here in the darkness and the feeling was only spoiled by the light from the spell that was cast so the others could see. "I'll stay a short distance ahead of you just outside of the torch light. Try to keep it to one side so I don't get silhouetted by it to anything ahead of us." Since they had several places to look Villar said, "Let's start to the left first, then the right. I'd like to keep all passages behind us clear so we have an escape route if needed."
Feeling more at home in the dark underground, Villar takes the lead to scout ahead. Examining the first northern tunnel reveals that it turns to the left after about 20 feet.
His attention is diverted from this tunnel to the next, though, as he alerted by the sound of shuffling footsteps coming from the next hallway up and across. He doesn't have to wonder at the source for very long, though, as a pair of brightly colored birds reveal themselves.
At the sight of the group, the northern-most bird lets out a high-pitched shrill that echoes off the stone walls of the hallway. At the same time, it billows out it's large, mesmerizing wings and seems to almost be doing a strange kind of bird dance.
◆ Call
◆ Dazzling Display
Always thinking with his sword, Alak is the first to react, charging ahead and driving his greatsword towards the noisemaker.
◆ Stride
◆
It seems that he is not as proficient with the large weapon while in close quarters, and he completely botches the attack.
Initiative:
Red
Alak
Talina
Villar
Futin
Cicero
Blue
Wha...ah! Futin nearly drops his torch in surprise, but hangs on to it just barely. He steps to the side of Talina to get a good shot, and holds his free hand out to fire a lance of divine energy at the creature to the south.
◆ Step
◆◆ Divine Lance - good energy
Having her sword drawn before descending the stairs, Talina was ready for the fight this time. Moving forward she slashed at the bird to Alak's right.
She then moved her shield to a defensive posture.
Cicero darts forward and lifts a hand well murmuring out a chant to cast telekinetic projectile
You hurl a loose, unattended object that is within range and that has 1 Bulk or less at the target. Make a spell attack against the target. If you hit, you deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage—as appropriate for the object you hurled—equal to 1d6 plus your spellcasting ability modifier. No specific traits or magic properties of the hurled item affect the attack or the damage.
Critical Success You deal double damage.
Success You deal full damage.
Villar was not bothered by the dazzling display of dance the bird made. He'd seen far worse in his day, and all it did was serve to piss him off. Villar moved forward and devised his strategy before striking out at the glorified peacock.
Futin casts a spell at one of the flashy birds, sending a lance of energy at it, but the energy splashes harmlessly against the creature .
Talina slashes at one of the birds with her sword, making a solid hit.
Cicero also attacks the creature with a spell, but overcompensates for trying to avoid Talina.
Villar manages to shrug off the effects of the strange lightshow that the bird gives him, but some mild after effects seem to foil his attack.
The blue-feathered bird retaliates against Talina, doing it's own flashy, feathered dance, which seems to cause the light from the torch to reflect brightly off of it's wings. It then strikes out with it's beak.
◆◆ Dazzling Display
◆
Talina manages to deflect the strike with her shield.
The other bird also attacks, aiming for the knight who tried to skew it. It lashes out with it's tail in a broad sweep towards Alak and Villar, followed up with a beak at against Alak.
◆◆
◆
Both Villar and Alak a slashed by the bird's tail.
While the battle rages on, Futin manages to spot movement out of the corner of his eye, moments before everyone hears a deep, loud basso croaking sound, rattling their very being.
Futin and Cicero catch sight of some kind of frog-man coming out of the first northern hallway.
Despite having his resolve shaken slightly, and his eyes blinded, Alak takes a powerful swing at the bird.
◆◆
◆
Unfortunately, the Armiger completely misses both attacks.
More voices/sounds can be heard coming from the hallways.
Your eyes are overstimulated. If vision is your only precise sense, all creatures and objects are concealed from you.
Concealed
While you are concealed from a creature, such as in a thick fog, you are difficult for that creature to see. You can still be observed, but you’re tougher to target. A creature that you’re concealed from must succeed at a DC 5 flat check when targeting you with an attack, spell, or other effect. Area effects aren’t subject to this flat check. If the check fails, the attack, spell, or effect doesn’t affect you.
You’re gripped by fear and struggle to control your nerves. The frightened condition always includes a value. You take a status penalty equal to this value to all your checks and DCs. Unless specified otherwise, at the end of each of your turns, the value of your frightened condition decreases by 1.
Initiative:
Red
Green
Alak; -10
Talina
Villar; -10
Futin
Cicero
Purple
Blue; -9 HP
Brown
Pink
Yellow
Talina's vision was overwhelmed by the brilliant colors of the bird. Hearing the terrifying sound begin to bring forth the fear within her, the guardswoman steeled herself to remain in control.
Focusing through the dancing colors impeding her vision, she attempted to swing her blade at the beast in front of her.
After swinging about, she raised her shield to hopefully keep herself protected.
Gods above, what is that thing! Futin immediately retreats to behind Talina, protectively drawing his weapon and raising a shield.
◆Draw sickle
◆Move (provide flank for Talina...too bad I go after her)
◆Shield spell (AC now 15 (17 minus 2 for frightened) and will shield block w/ hardness 5 if struck)
@Talina
You don’t have your wits about you, and you attack wildly. You are flat-footed, you don’t treat anyone as your ally (though they might still treat you as theirs), and you can’t Delay, Ready, or use reactions.
You use all your actions to Strike or cast offensive cantrips, though the GM can have you use other actions to facilitate attack, such as draw a weapon, move so that a target is in reach, and so forth. Your targets are determined randomly by the GM. If you have no other viable targets, you target yourself, automatically hitting but not scoring a critical hit. If it’s impossible for you to attack or cast spells, you babble incoherently, wasting your actions.
Each time you take damage from an attack or spell, you can attempt a DC 11 flat check to recover from your confusion and end the condition.
"Focus on the ones we've wounded!" Cicero calls out as he casts Telekinetic Projectile again at blue
Critical Success You deal double damage.
Success You deal full damage.
He will then try to recall knowledge on the frog.
Villar's vision cleared as he missed his target just in time for yet another display of dance from the dangerous daffy birds.
He tried to push through the effects of the light playing off of the bird's wings and could only be glad that he had his goggles down. Too bad they didn't seem to help much against the attack. He did his best to devise how to fight this thing and struck when he thought the moment was right.
Talina's senses are assaulted by light and sound, and she feels a sense of confusion as she strikes out, not paying attention to who her target is. Thankfully, her sword connects with the bird that she has been fighting.
Futin's fear drives him to move closer to the group, hoping to keep the enemies at bay.
Cicero manages to force his way through the sensory effects by sheer force of will. He telekinetically launches a projectile at the same target that Talina is fighting, knocking it sensless and dropping it to the ground.
Meanwhile, he scans his reservoir of knowledge to dredge up something on their new enemies. He comes to realize that the humanoid frog is know as a Boggard, aggressive humanoid amphibians that thrive in swamps, marshes, and even some rain forests. What one is doing down here is a mystery. You know that they tend to use their tongues as weapons to grab their foes from a distance.
Villar's sensitive eyes are assaulted again, leaving spots in his vision. However, he barely even seems to notice the disturbing sound from the boggard. Despite it all, he uses his intellect to pinpoint his most likely position. The attack seems to be right on the mark, but apparently the mass amount of feathers makes it more difficult to find the fleshy bits.
Another form appears down the second hallways, this one smaller than the boggard, covered in hair, and appearing to be more like a simian-type creature. With a loud shriek, the creature hurls a rock at Alak.
◆
The projectile connects with the side of the knight's head when he's not paying attention, causing a bloody gash. Alak is not looking very good, but maintains his position.
The boggard eyes Futin hungrily. It opens it's mouth, and a pink-ish projectile shoots out towards the catfolk sorcerer.
The boggard's tongue hits Futin center-mass, sticking to him.
Once the tongue hits, the boggard throws his javelin at Futin.
The fearful Futin avoids the weapon, causing it to strike against the wall behind him and clatter to the floor.
The remaining bird goes toe-to-toe with Alak.
Ever vigilant, Alak retaliates.
He manages to avoid another hit, and deals a major blow against the bird, but it still stands.
Initiative:
Red; -19 HP
Green
Alak; -19
Talina; Confused 1/2 rds.
Villar; -10 HP; Dazzled 1/4 rds.
Futin
Cicero
Purple
Blue
Brown
Pink
Yellow
Futin does his best to ignore his present predicament as he sees his friends taking hits. He knows that his martial prowess is lacking, and the only way through this was through his friends. He calls upon magic and to try and fix them up!
◆◆ 2-action heal on Villar
◆ Lay on hands on Alak
Talina started swinging wildly.
seeing the dire straits the party is in Cicero will attempt to distract the attackers with more targets by casting Summon Fey summoning a Mitflit behind red in a flank with Villar
◆◆◆ Summon Fey
The mitflit will immediately attack red
◆Strike
◆Strike
Villar didn't realize that he had the boggart behind him now due to the second assault on his eyes. He peered and the dmanable bird as best he could, trying to devise a plan of attack before striking out at it.
◆ devise a strat
◆ strat strike
◆ strike
Futin reaches out to his allies, healing both Villar and Alak as best as he can.
Talina's confusion makes it hard to tell friend from foe on the battlefield; something that she had not experienced since being a rookie for the watch. She frantically scans the area for an enemy, attacking with abandonded.
I'm fluffing the rules just a touch on the confusion. There is nothing specifically stating that you have to attack the nearest creature, so I randomized your chances a bit. Giving you guys a reasonably fair fight, considering the circumstances. Because of this, I'm making a small change to your actions.
Seeing a new foe just out of reach, Talina rushes over and frantically chops at it with her sword repeatedly. Finally, she seems to come back to her senses, and she sees the body of a boggard at her feet, not entirely sure that she recalls if that's what she was going after.
Cicero summons up a fey creature to help them in their fight. The little mitflit zips over the the remaining bird and pokes at it with it's little sword.
Oblivious to the goings on around him, Villar keeps trying to take out the bird. While his vision is an impairment, the distraction of Cicero's summoned creature helps him to land a minor blow.
Another of the strange boggards makes it's way out of the north-western tunnel, seeing it's comrad mashed to pieces in front of it, and Talina standing over the body. It let's out an agry croak and steps forward, swinging it's club at the warrior woman.
◆ Stride
◆ Stride
The small-statured monkey-man approaches Villar, pulling a simple sickle off of it's belt, and attempts to attack him.
◆ Step
◆ Draw Weapon
Despite his near blindness, Villar is able to make good use of the hallway corner to avoid the blow.
While not seriously wounded by it, the colorful bird turns to the new target , annoyed at one more nuscance, and lashes out at the fey with it's beak.
It's anger getting the better of it, it only gets a single hit.
Alak takes advantage of the bird's distraction and tries to finish it off.
Slicing it's head off, Alak advances to the new foe.
◆ Step
Initiative:
Red
Green
Alak; -13, +2 AC
Talina; -12 HP
Villar; Dazzled 2/4 rds.
Futin; Grabbed
Cicero
Purple
Blue
Brown
Pink
Yellow
Futin grins. Thanks Talina. Now, stand still! Now released from the grip of the creature, he rips out his kit from his bandolier and tries to slap a bandage on the warrior woman.
Unable to get to the actual wounds as the powerful woman swings her sword about, he instead calls upon his powers once again.
◆Battle medicine - fail
◆◆Heal
Soon after taking the hit Talina felt Futins soothing healing magic infuse her being. Looking at the creature in front of her she slashed at the beast.
Proving itself quick to dodge her blows, she guarded herself with the shield.
Cicero concentrates to maintain his summon hoping to continue to take the heat off of the front line before incanting out a telekinetic projectile to hurl a stone towards yellow
◆◆
Critical Success You deal double damage.
Success You deal full damage.
◆Maintain spell
The mitflit meanwhile will fly over to yellow and stab at him
◆Stride
◆Attack
Villar heard the bird fall and turned his focus on the creature that had just tried to attack him. He tried to determine the timing to strike it with and then lashed out with the point of his rapier before quickly making a follow-up thrust at it.
◆ devise strat
◆ strat strike
◆ strike
Futin continues his healers work, as he tends to Talina's wounds.
Talina takes a couple of swings at the new attacker, but winds up falling back behind her shield for protection.
Cicero starts focusing on longer-range, aiming his attacks at the monkey further down the hall. The nimble creature, though, manages to avoid the spell. Commanding the miflit to attack, the little fey skitters up the wall and around the corner as quickly as walking, but also misses it's target.
Villar moves in to help Alak with the new threat.
The tiefling deftly sticks his target in a squishy spot.
The boggard swings it's club at Talina, trying to over-power her.
After several attempts, it manages to get in a hit.
The miniature baboon-like person pulls a whip off of it's belt and starts to jump around in a strange kind of frenzy, shrieking at the top of it's lungs, then it starts to attack Alak with both weapons, making an attempt at Villar in retaliation.
◇ Shrieking Frenzy
He manages to wrap the whip around Alak's ankle, and pull the foot out from under the knight, causing him to fall onto his back. He attempts to do the same against Villar, but the Investigator was ready for the attack. His attacks were weak and lack-luster in comparison.
The other monkey, with a new opponent in his face, draws it's own sickle and attempts to make short work of the mitflit.
◆ Draw Weapon
The creature makes short work of the frail mitflit, causing it to fade away back to the First World.
Alak quickly gets back to his feet and gives the monkey-man better than he got.
◆ Stand
Dropping the creature, Alak moves ever onward towards the next threat, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
◆ Stride.
Initiative:
Red
Green
Alak; -13 HP
Talina; -11 HP
Villar; Dazzled 3/4 rds.
Futin
Cicero
Purple
Blue
Brown
Pink
Yellow
Futin watches Alak move to the north and curses under his breath. Hold on pal, I got ya! He closes his eyes and grimaces in preparation. This is gonna' hurt... He casts his spell, linking his own health with that of Alak. Immediately, a wound appears on his arm, bleeding, and he yelps.
The then takes a step to the north, so he can provide healing for Villar when needed.
◆◆Spirit Link
◆Step
Talina moved her shield into position to cushion the blow of the club, unfortunately to blow caused the wooden shield to crack and splinter slightly. Thereby making it useless to defend with but not completely destroyed.
Tossing the broken shield aside, she tried to then take the club away from the frogman.
While unable to wrest the club from it's grasp, Talina did manage to get an opening and took a stab.
Unfortunately, she missed the opening and attempted to kick the frog away from her.
Cicero briefly curses the loss of the mitflit before incanting "
lig do na faitíos cinneadh a dhéanamh" to cast another telekinetic projectile at orange then whispering a prayer of vengeance to Grandmother Spider well pricking his own finger to cast needle of vengeance on orange with Talina as the prohibited target
◆◆ Telekenetic Projectile
◆Needle of Vengence
Villar continued to try and see through the sparkles in his eyes from that damnable bird's wings and quickly moved to get around behind the boggart. He attempted to find an opportune time to strike and then lashed out.
◆ stride
◆ devise strat
◆ strat strike