There are, in fact doors into the two buildings, though they don't look very secure at all.
Jessibel can't climb, either. If the Raven chooses to go that route, however, his trusty sidekick would probably try to cover his ascent with some arrows shot from her shortbow.
The Raven reaches across the table and squeezes Vantine's hand, perhaps to show his appreciation for her supporting his point of view, perhaps for some other reason. Then he leans back in his chair. "We could have claimed to be doctors, sent to investigate an illness. Some of us look the part." He says, gesturing towards himself. "We have the silver tongues and the magic to be convincing. I doubt the bootlickers going around harassing helpless families have the knowledge to question us or the guts to stick around once they learn they could get sick and instead of running back to whatever amounts to their superiors crying about how they were attacked, they would quietly slink away, hoping they did not catch 'it'." The Raven shrugs. "It is only a thought."
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"Front door assaults are not my forte." The Raven says, leaning back almost comically to take in the entirety of the tall structures. "And I would prefer swooping down upon our enemies from higher ground. but it looks as though some of our flock have not yet earned their flight feathers." The Raven inclines his head towards Aisling. "If it must be through the front door, it must be. Keep in mind, the ground-floor entrances are no doubt trapped."
The Ravens decide to swiftly proceed towards the church, ready for the crossbow bolts to fire. And indeed, as soon as the group moves in, the two tiefling women unleash their bolts . One bolt sparks off of Aisling's armor, but the other slams hard into the intersection between the Raven's throat and his left collarbone. A blaze of pain sears through his upper left torso, his nerves screaming their agony to him.
[ooc]Nyxra: HP 25/25, AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13, death vow 1/1
Raven: HP 13/24, AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 15, Shielded Gauntlet Style
Aisling: HP 21/21, AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 18, channel 5/5, touch of good 7/7
Jessibel: HP 27/27, AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14, performance 14/14, Possessed Check 1/1
Vantine: HP 20/20, AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11, Cryptic Omens 2/2
As soon as she's inside and under cover so she can stop moving, Vantine casts Mage Armor on herself.
"Oh no! Oh no! This is already going sideways for us! Raven's hurt really badly!"
Vantine seems to lack confidence in the current course of action. She does glance wildly about in search of attackers though.
"I see a ladder over there."
Vantine points in its direction and begins going that way.
The Magpie follows her mentor into the building and casts a healing spell on him.
The Raven does not even grunt as the quarrel finds its (nearly fatal) mark. In the arena, one does not announce that ones opponent has scored a clean hit. He swoops into the protective shelter of the church, elven cloak billowing behind him. Stepping up next to Vantine, he gazes out across the darkened church at absolutely nothing, for he cannot see in the dark. "Dearest Magpie, you are just a darling!" He whispers to her as her magic draws out the bolt, leaving a nasty hole behind. The young woman's bravery was comendable, but overall the start of their siege was a disaster. At least I can move my arm now. "Think that ladder is the only way up?" The Raven unshoulders the coil of silk rope and attached grappling hook. "Maybe someone scales from the outside to distract those above so the rest can get up the ladder? I do not expect we would fare well if we all fought our way up a single ladder."
Aisling glares at the two tieflins on the roof. "This dhould keep them busy while we get to them." She prays for a moment and a shimmering blade of pure force apears in the air between the two archers. It lashes out at them with holy anger.
With that done, she runs inside to join the others.
The Ravens rush into the church, where they discover that a ladder situated at the back leads up to the ceiling, as Jessibel heals the Raven. Before she goes in, Aisling calls upon a pale reflection of her goddess' weapon, urging it to slash the archer nearest to it.
Though it is but a conjuration, the blade cuts deep into the woman's flesh, and she topples off of the roof, crashing hard onto the ground with a horrific crack of bones and spray of blood.
Nyxra sees a black-winged, grey-skinned woman soar out from the bell tower. After a moment's confusion, the elf recognizes this being as one of the strix, avian humanoids who occupy local enclaves in Cheliax. This one seems to be living up to their hostile reputation, as she screeches something incomprehensible. Leveling a finger at Nyxra, the strix fires a ray of fire.
Meanwhile, the remaining Red Jill shouts aloud, firing another shot, this one at Nyxra, which strikes home, smashing squarely into her stomach.
Nyxra fires at the strix!
Then she races into cover with the others!
Nyxra's arrow flies straight and true, hammering into the strix woman's leg. She shrieks again. "Damned invaders! You'll pay!"
Jessibel starts an inspirational war chant. Once she feels that kick in, she asks Vantine if her friend can bring down the flying strix...hopefully in a messy crash landing.
Witha wave of her hand, Aislign redirects the flying sword to attack the strix, as she carries on moving to find the way forward.
Vantine hurries over to the ladder, where she takes a look up to see where it goes. She waits to Raven to ascend first.
Vantine's pretty sure it goes to the roof. There might be a shelter atop, but she can't tell from here.
The Raven follows Vantine again. "Vantine, darling. I am not sure it is appropriate for us to be huddled in a dark corner unchaperoned. What will the Red Jill's think?"
Vantine rushes over to the ladder, peering up at the ceiling that it attaches to - it's... a trapdoor. Presumably, one that leads outside, or into an attic. The Raven leaps after her, a shadow dancing between the shafts of light filtering into the room. From the front door, Aisling commands her spiritual sword to strike the strix. The shadow of Iomedae's sword resounds against an equally mystical force, and the strix woman beats her wings slightly, maintaining her altitude. Finally, Magpie begins her song, uplifting her allies and inspiring them with alacrity and strength.
The strix woman chants, her fingers flicking in arcane patterns, before a white-hot blaze of fire erupts from her fingers. The priestess feels her armor heat rapidly, and even before the pain hits, she can smell her skin scorching, and hear it crackling. Then the agony swells up as the burns sear their way along her nerves.
"Die, human scum!" She screeches, flapping away from the sword that floats nearby.
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Vantine snaps at Raven, not understanding what he's on about. They're in the middle of a fight now and don't have a good way of backing out.
"Don't be a nob! We're going to the roof so we can get to them before they shoot us all! Are going up or do I have to go first?"
Nyxra fires at the strix again!
Darting back to the front door in order to get an angle on the strix, Nyxra looses an arrow which blurs towards the flying sorceress. Unfortunately, her arcane armor proves strong, and the shot deflects off of her, though she does need to take a moment of frenzied flapping to keep herself in the air.
The Raven metaphorically takes to the skies while the gangsters are distracted by the flying sword.
Vantine goes up after him.
After pushing the trapdoor open and climbing fully up, the pair find themselves in a small shed - an attic, perhaps - that has a door out to the roof. Presumably, this is how the Jills get up to their rooftop base.
Jessibel looks to Aisling for direction for where to go--up the ladder with the Raven and Vantine or to stay and help in the battle against the flying strix. As she awaits Aisling's order, the teen keeps her war chant active.
Aisling gives up on the sword as it faides back into nothingness. Wincing, she calls on her goddes magic to heal herself.
She looks at Jessibel. "Let's follow the others. If she tries to follow, her wings won't be as much help if we stay indoors."
Raven and Vantine ascend the ladder into a small loft, where sunlight shines through cracks in an antiquated door. Jessibel continues her song as Aisling invokes a prayer of healing, her skin regenerating and leaving only the faint smell of scorched flesh as a reminder of her injury. The sword-echo fades into full nonexistence, leaving the pair to retreat back towards the ladder.
Meanwhile, the strix launches another ray of fire at Nyxra, which scorches the doorframe but does little else of note. Instead of worrying further, she flaps her dark wings and soars back over the roof of the church, leaving the elf ranger without a target - save for the dying tiefling on the cobbles in front of the church.
Nyxra holsters her bow and starts scrambling after the others.
The Raven pushes open the door, stepping out into the sunlight, only to find himself flanked by a pair of Red Jills, both of whom stab at him. The blows catch him totally by surprise, and he cannot manage to get his gauntlets up to block either of them. Fortunately, his armor protects him against both blows, which startle him rather than hurt him. A bit further down the roof, he sees the strix sorceress has ascended to hover above the roof, her eyes burning with rage.
Meanwhile, below, Nyxra rushes towards the ladder, where Jessibel waits.
Vantine stops where she is, out of arm's reach, but catches the tiefling on Raven's left with an nasty glare.
Jessibel climbs the ladder to assist the Raven and Vantine while at the same time getting out of Aisling's way.
The Raven cannot see so well in the darkened attic and the tieflings get the jump on him. But what is armor for if not for such eventualities? Alexius did not wear armor in the arena and the Raven was usually the one doing the ambushing; he would have to get used to this kind of non-stealthy approach if he was going to continue to work with heavily armored clerics. The Raven spins lithely on his feet as the swords bounce off his armor, ducking away from the ladder to allow his allies to follow him and socking one of the mean devil ladies with his spiked gauntlet.
Aisling runs towards the sound of the fight.
Vantine steps forwards, unleashing a curse upon the tiefling woman that harassed the Raven just heartbeats prior. The witch sees the Red Jill shudder and step back slightly in alarm.
The Raven's reflexes quickly kick in and he swings a swift series of blows at the very same Jill, whose parries and ripostes are no match for his cunning and skill. One sharp blow slams into her sternum, and the vigilante feels a crack as bone snaps beneath his gauntlet. As he pulls away, his spiked gauntlet shines dimly with blood.
"Vestia!" The other woman cries out, alarmed.
Meanwhile, Jessibel sheathes her rapier to ascend the ladder, arriving just behind her mentor as she continues her song.
Aisling rushes over to the bottom of the ladder, her armor pulling at her limbs and weighing her down compared to her companions.
Above, the sorceress swoops closer to the Ravens, chanting and gesturing as she does so. Pointing downwards, she unleashes another white-hot ray - this time at the Raven. She shrieks a curse in her native tongue as he dodges effortlessly. A pile of ash lies where it struck uselessly on the tiles of the roof.
The tiefling circles wide around the Raven until she rushes in to flank him with her comrade. The Raven doesn't even need to dodge as her reckless strikes swing wide and high, proving no threat to him, even as Vestia continues to menace him from the other side - just as ineffectively, though he does need to use his off-handed gauntlet to deflect a few of her thrusts, for she seems calmer than her friend.
Jessibel clicks the heels of her magical boots and attempts to scoot past the tiefling nearest the door to engage the farther opponent, drawing her rapier as she goes. Still chanting, she tries to stab her target .
for
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Nyxra starts scrambling up the ladder after the others!