"That sounds like a good plan. If, of course, you are sure you can distract her well enough for us to get close." Arakar nods at Diogenes, feeling a measure of respect for someone willingly offering to be put on the other side of fireballs. "Is everyone on agreement with this? Perhaps you could form a distraction of your own, Gillfroy? that seems to be your specialty."
Gilfroy shakes his head. "Distracting rank and file soldiers who don't understand how magic works or what it's actually capable of are one thing. Fooling someone trained in spellcraft is quite another. But I'll see what I can do."
"I'm sure something will come to us" Arakar responds, hoping that was true as he was too busy worrying if he could hit hard enough to down her in a single blow - and without killing her, at that. "That leaves the question of where to ambush her - at the dueling grounds, or somewhere en-route. Diogenes, how good is the visibility on these grounds, and how varied the terrain? Would it be easy for her to escape?"
"If it is enroute, then we run the risk of missing her completely. It would require guessing the route she will take."
"The courtyard has clear sight lines, but would give her the greatest chance of escape. With the open air above her, she could just fly away. The dueling ring is on the third floor of the tower. There are study rooms on the first two floors, which you could wait in and cut off escape. With her distracted by me, you may be able to take her by surprise."
"The student dormitory has the most restricted confines, but she could just barricade herself in her room. The rooms do have windows though, so I guess you could try to come at her from both sides if you wanted."
"Khardon makes a good point. It is decided then - we will wait in these study rooms. Hopefully we will find them unoccupied, though with the invasion of the city going on, I assume many will have different priorities than reading books," Arakar responds, grimacing. "Lead on. What sort of signal will we receive that the duel has started? We could just listen for passers-by, of course..."
Destin nods, the best potential plan. Though still a lot of moving parts.
He will try to size up their new compatriot, make sure he is actually on their side.
”If we get inside a study room, I can make an illusion of the door that we would be able to see through, but she would have no reason to suspect, unless she decided to open it for some reason.”
"That might have to do. We shall see what happens," The former soldier replies, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Diogenes nods, "That seems as sound a plan as any. There's no reason that Shealis should be wary of there being any illusions."
If there is no more discussion, he takes you to the tower, to show you the lay of the land.
Once everyone is situated in place, Diogenes cracks his knuckles. "Alright, I'm off to pick a fight. If all goes well, I shouldn't be too long." With that, he leaves and you find yourselves huddled in a cramped study alcove waiting for your quarry.
Gilfroy takes a moment to really study the door, then once everybody is in the room, and leaving the door open, casts a silent image of the door closed and maintains concentration on it (which for him is a swift action).
The Will save to disbelieve is 16. The party gets a +4 bonus since they know it’s an illusion, and their quarry shouldn’t even get a save unless she interacts with it in some way (or is purposely looking at all the doors in case they’re illusions).
Khardon stood by the open door, ready to charge through. ”We need this fooker alive?” He asked, as he readied himself.
During the duel she’ll be distracted. They should be able to make it up the stairs behind her.
Destin readies himself to move when their target is in range. This brought back memories. Odd, how one finds oneself often doing the same.
Khardon rolled his shoulders and stretched in anticipation for the coming conflict...
Huddled in the study room, your keep you eyes peeled on the stairwell waiting for your quarry.
A short time later Diogenes reappears along with a blond elf woman. Her blue eyes flicker like shining sapphires, and her pale skin glows like snow. She wears concealing red robes, but the metallic gleam of chainmail peeks out from her collar. Her hands are covered by metallic gloves that shine like silver.
As they pass up the stairs you overhear their conversation. "This is a complete waste of time," the woman says with a sneer. "The city is about to fall."
Diogenes laughs, "Well then, we better hurry. This might be our last chance to settle things, and I demand satisfaction."
The pair reach the top of the stairs and move out of sight.
Combat Order
20 Khardon
15 Destin
9 Baddies and NPCs
2 Gilfroy
2 Arakar
Khardon was by no means a scout. The idea of moving quietly was never something that would naturally occur to him. As such, he dared not risk attacking now.
As quietly as he could he motioned to his companions. "Wait until they start casting." He whispered. "Once they're attention be put purely into the arcane, it'll make our surprise all the better, aye?"
"Wait. I would wait until they've casted at least a few spells. The more tricks she has expended, they weaker she is. I'd say we wait as long as possible. Unless there is outside interference, or it looks like Diogenes loses." Arakar ponders, holding his huge bardiche in one hand. "Can any of you sneak closer and observe? Hiding around is not my style, nor is it a talent of mine."
We will be a floor below them if we let them pass. A wizard can't cast well when under duress.
When it’s his turn, Gilfroy will cast bless on the group and start moving
