"That's actually a good idea Ysami ..."
Uses Yas' cold oil on Alak
"That really should help."
"Yeah let's look at those bruises."
Yasamina pulls out her medicine kit, and starts looking at the injuries.
The usual, she offers a piece of wood to bite on while she cleans up the open wounds with some alcohol, and starts stitching up Oren and Joran. Then looks at her own gunshot wound, and shrugs. "No idea how to treat this. But I think I'll live. For now. We'll look into that later."
Then she gets to Dario, and lifts up his chin with her hand to look at his cheek. "Well, you're not really hurt anymore. Just from the slap, I guess? But you deserved that.", she looks at her left arm with the bullet wound. "Lucky for you - we have dead, overgrown birds that tried to have us for lunch here - they do wonders for anger management."
She gives him a piece of cloth with some herb-smelling grease on it. "Apply to swollen parts for a few minutes.", she pats him on the shoulder, and looks at Alak. "How about you, Hellknight-to-be? How are you holding up?"
Holding up a hand, "Hold on there, darling. I'm fine. Don't you worry about me. You just concentrate on patching yourself up; or at the very least one of the others. And if one of you need the healing vial, let me know and I'll dig it out of my pack and get it for you. Even you, Alak," he tells him, nodding. "Unless, of course, that cold oil business covered it."
Lisi arches a brow and pulls out a snowberry. "Er, who needs one of these? And I have more; I'll just need to 'magick' them up, not that druids say that. We're much more lofty," he says with a wink.
Still holding the berry out, Lisi wanders over to look at the birds.
"Rocco, Shadow. Do you need a bite to eat? Let me just make sure these aren't diseased or toxic..."
He kneels by a bird, still holding out a berry with one hand.
Alak grinned at the outpouring of good will. "Tempted as I am to take you up on the offer," he said to Yasami with a wink, "I think the oil will do nicely."
He graciously waved away Joran's offer of a healing vial. "Those things aren't cheap, and are best saved for dire circumstances, which this is not. My thanks, though. You're all quite generous with someone you've just met."
He unbuckled his chest plate and set it aside, then peeled off the cotton tunic he wore beneath the armor to allow Cev to administer some first aid. His back bore more than a few scars, the distinctive stripes one received when being lashed as some form of punishment.
Rocco, tail wagging excitedly, scampers up once Lisi gives the 'all clear' and starts sniffing the dead bird. The pups were young enough that their mother had brought back smaller hunks of meat for them, typically, and Shadow tentatively started prodding at one of the bird's more grisly wounds, beginning a tug-of-war as she tried and eventually succeeded at tearing a piece loose. Soon, both sisters were tearing into the corpse, in a display that was somehow both adorable and a reminder of how vicious the creatures would become when they grew up.
"I would accept a berry, Lisi. Thank you. Joran, since we have enough time, you might get a berry too."
Yasamina takes Lisi up on the offer. "Don't mind if I do. I owe you one, pal."
She takes the goodberry and puts it on her thumb. She flicks it into the air, and lets it fall into her mouth.
"Yummy, as usual. Cheers.", she gives Lisi a thumbs up.
Alak grinned at the outpouring of good will. "Tempted as I am to take you up on the offer," he said to Yasami with a wink, "I think the oil will do nicely."
He graciously waved away Joran's offer of a healing vial. "Those things aren't cheap, and are best saved for dire circumstances, which this is not. My thanks, though. You're all quite generous with someone you've just met."
He unbuckled his chest plate and set it aside, then peeled off the cotton tunic he wore beneath the armor to allow Cev to administer some first aid. His back bore more than a few scars, the distinctive stripes one received when being lashed as some form of punishment.
** spoiler omitted **
Rocco, tail wagging excitedly, scampers up once Lisi gives the 'all clear' and starts sniffing the dead bird. The pups were young enough that their mother had brought back smaller hunks of meat for them, typically, and Shadow tentatively started prodding at one of the bird's more grisly wounds, beginning a tug-of-war as she tried and eventually succeeded at tearing a piece loose. Soon, both sisters were tearing into the corpse, in a display that was somehow both adorable and a reminder of how vicious the creatures would become when they grew up.
"Hold still friend, but I do think we've got this. Heavy armor seems to protect for sure, but it charges its own price; you can get a little battered in there."
Cev makes sure the first aid is secure before giving the knight the all-clearAlak's HP recovery
"A berry sounds good. It'll help wash away the taste of incompetency." Dario mumbles, still flustered that he let his mind be swayed so easily. He quietly promises to make the next bad guy he saw have a canoe for a head with his pistol. Taking an offered berry, he chews it happily and tips his head in thanks.
"Don't mention it Alak, we're real nice folk up to the point where we ain't." Dario says with a wink, shaking off his failings while the crisp, juicy berry soothes his dry throat.
Yasamina walks up to Dario. "Dario... Stuff happens. Even if you shot me... Kind of... I forgive you, man. It's time for you to forgive yourself, too."
She raises her hands in a grand gesture, offering a hug "Now bring it in."
Lisi hands Caiten the first berry.
Lisi then hands Yasamina the next one.
"Dario, give me a few turns of the glass to refill my focus..."
Lisitsei spends some time in quiet contemplation of the dead birds, of all things. He occasionally speaks quiet words in what you assume is Druidic.
Eventually he rises from his kneeling position and pulls out another berry.
He then returns to sitting again.
Eventually his voice rises up, somewhat distant, as he continues to gaze at the birds.
"These are Emperor Birds--not an endonym; they are from the Mwangi Expanse. A few can be found in the Verduran Forest, in the Taldan region--it's warm enough there for them to survive. It's practically Qadira in terms of climate, for a forest. But here? They are far out of their element. They would perish in colder weather, and their eggs would not be viable."
He glances at Sulee.
"Those feathers are prized by Mwangi alchemists and arcanists. I don't know a lot about their specific properties, but they are inherently magical. Perhaps for charms or illusions, is my guess."
He stands up again. "I'm glad you are doing better, Dario." He smiles and pats the gunslinger's shoulder. "There's no way you could have known the danger of these birds. At least you weren't coughing with goblin pox for an entire day."
He glances at Sulee.
"Those feathers are prized by Mwangi alchemists and arcanists. I don't know a lot about their specific properties, but they are inherently magical. Perhaps for charms or illusions, is my guess."
"Nice. I just like them because they are pretty. Maybe Caiten could make me a dress or a fan or something that would magically help with performances."
"I would accept a berry, Lisi. Thank you. Joran, since we have enough time, you might get a berry too."
With his arms crossed, the barbarian simply shakes his head. "Yeah I'm good. Save it for when it's really needed. If everyone is ready to move on I say let's move. There are some frog buddies waiting for us," he says with a wink.
Caiten checks over his equipment again. "I am ready to go. What is the plan? Do we all try to go single file through the door that they have barricaded? I'm not seeing much else as an option." He checks his map again. "There is the possibility that we could go through the antechamber, but there is no guarantee that the room is empty. And it will be just as narrow of an entryway into the Master of Blade's chambers anyway."
"It feels almost insulting to ask this Joran, but do you think you are able to break through their barricade on that door?"
Raising an eyebrow and sporting a wry grin, the barbarian proceeds to crack his knuckles, pop his neck from one side to the other and then rotates his arms in circles to loosen them up. "Only one way to find out, buddy. Middle door it is. Gonna need the glowing sword of yours, poppet, if you would please. Either that or you can ride in my pack with it. Whichever works for me." Regardless of what the poppet chooses, "Okay, here goes nothing."
With his flail in hand, the warrior takes a deep breath and takes off, building a full head of steam as he heads straight for the door like a battering ram.
Sulee gives Caiten a questioning and impish grin.
"You might forgo the war whoops. But yes, go ahead and follow along behind. Stay in the hallway though. You will also probably need to stay along the wall so that people don't trip over you as they run past."
The party takes some time to recover, all the while hearing the sounds of movement and voices from beyond all three northern doors. The initial sounds of moving furniture quiet, but you remain wary as you see to your wounds.
Once folks have recuperated a bit, Joran finds himself unable to wait any longer, knowing your enemies have had ample time to prepare for your arrival. Doing what he does best, Joran removes one of the barricaded doors from its hinges, the neglected, moldy wood easily giving way under his sudden charge.
Moving past the broken door, Joran finds himself in a narrow chamber, facing down another frog man, as well as a strange, ape-like humanoid with a baboon's face. They've tipped over furniture to provide themselves with cover, and have their weapons trained on the door he just crashed through. Two doors open into short hallways to his left and his right, and he can see more frog and ape people arrayed similarly in the rooms they lead to.
This was going to be a fight.
Loud shrieking sounds come from the western room as the two ape people sound the alarm and prepare to engage.
The two primates run into the room towards Joran with surprising speed , both bearing hatchets, which they begin slashing at him with.
Despite the frenzy, Joran was ready for a fight, and only one of the strikes hits its mark, the second ape's hatchet biting into Joran's upper leg.
The two frog men in the western room flank the doorway, javelins at the ready, waiting for an opportune moment to strike.
Caiten also follows along behind Joran , but stops when he can see into the room. He sees several enemies and can hear others. Looking around, he finds that Oren is standing next to him. "This seems like a good time to use this." He casts Magic Weapon on Oren's maul.
He stands aside as best as he can in the narrow hallway to allow anyone else to pass. "It looks like this is going to be a rather cramped battle."
Hexes
Stoke the Heart
Phase Familiar
Needle of Vengeance
Cantrips
Shield
Forbidding Ward
Daze
Light
Detect Magic
1st
Phantom Pain
Magic Weapon
Fear
Oren accepts the spell from Caiten and charges forth to assault one of the ape men!
Lisi heads up the other corridor. "We have to flank them. Yasami, can you use your lock picks to de-barricade a door? Otherwise we have to push on it together..."
Lisi taps himself for Guidance and heads up the right hallway, Guba on his shoulder.
Grimacing in pain, "Man there are a lot of you buggers. And every last one of you is about to die," he vows, allowing his anger to take over before swinging hard at the ape-like creature.
Just as it seems Joran appears to have missed his target wide, he just manages to adjust at the last minute and finds himself connecting solidly. He then turns and swings at the one standing in his way.
Grimacing in pain, "Man there are a lot of you buggers. And every last one of you is about to die," he vows, allowing his anger to take over before swinging hard at the ape-like creature.
[dice=Large War flail(bludgeoning)]1d20+8
[dice=Damage]1d10+10
[dice=Large War flail(bludgeoning)]1d20+8Just as it seems Joran appears to have missed his target wide, he just manages to adjust at the last minute and finds himself connecting solidly. He then turns and swings at the one standing in his way.
[dice=Large War flail(bludgeoning)]1d20+3+1
[dice=Damage]1d10+10
Cev figures there is going to be trouble down the hallway, not trouble the barbarians couldn't handle, just trouble that might scrape them up a bit. He races down the hallway until he is standing to the left of the little poppet, raises his holy symbol, and fires his last Admonishing Ray into what he hopes is the face of ape-man in front of Joran.
A-RAY @ the Ape-man
When offered a hug, Dario's face immediately flushed three different kinds of red before he tipped his hat down real low.
"Oh. Uh...heh...I-I think I'll be fine. Thank you all for the...umm...vote of confidence. I'll get in there now, help the front." Dario murmured, evading the hug with the same kind of grace he dodged fists, grapples, and blades before making his way to the front. Combat was much easier than women; clear cut and focused. Dwarves didn't have compulsions of nudity really with how costly space was. Closeness though? A handshake was about as close as you got in public, maybe a hug and a kiss amidst family. This was straight out of his wheelhouse. Just then, the door up the way was shattered by sheer might and combat began!
Oren, ready for battle, charges in and batters one of the mammalian foes, crunching the thing's should with an audible cracking of bone and eliciting more shrieking sounds, this time tinged with pain.
Joran's strike is even more effective, as he caves in the skull of the other ape that ran in to attack him, dropping it instantly.
Cev casts his spell and a beam of energy lances out, pummeling the one Oren had injured and knocking it unconscious so hard, you could almost see the little birds flying around its head as it fell.
The ape that had already been standing in the room when Joran burst in begins chucking bits of debris at the pair of beefy barbarians.
The ape the ducks down to behind the broken furnishings they are using as barricades.
The frog person in the room steps forward and his tongue darts out at Joran.
Joran can feel the sticky, warm tongue gluing itself to him, and the frog tries mightily to step backwards and pull Joran into a spot where its allies could fire upon him, but the big man is like a boulder and won't budge. The frog looks suddenly worried about its vulnerable tongue.
The frog looks suddenly worried about its vulnerable tongue.
"Yasami, I heard Lisi say something about flanking. That sounds like a good idea since this hallway is getting a bit full. And Lisi is likely going to need light. And probably backup if there are more enemies in that direction. Can you help him out?"
Dario bursts off like one of his own bullets, careening up the corridor and behind his comrades holding the front line, stepping behind Joren with his pistol in hand, he aims down the right hand side at the enemies that were late getting up onto their feet.
"Clear sights!" He shouts, giving a moment before he takes aim at the frogman across the way and taking his shot. He quickly spin the pistol in hand, reloading it, before taking aim again.
He still had it.
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Dario's shot was aimed true, and one of the frog's eyes exploded, the creature awkwardly croak-screaming with its tongue still firmly glued to Joran. Its eyes protruded above its head, so the shot did not kill it, but the wound was grievous indeed. Dario did, indeed, still have it.
Alak heard the calls to flank, and chased after Lisi to help batter down the door and to give the elf a bit of protection if they did make it through. "Stand aside a moment," he urged, "I've got this." and he rammed into the door with his shoulder.
In a move that looks a lot like this, Alak's footing failed him and the door remained intact, though the Hellknight's pride did not. He quickly picked himself up, and would not meet Lisi's gaze.
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"Ah, er, the Hellknights truly constructed a strong Citadel," says Lisi, to the door, and only to the door.
Yasamina walks to the door, as urged by Lisi. "I have the proper tools right here.", she lifts her leg, wiggles her ankle while flashing a little smile, and attempts to kick the door down.
Yasami's kick cracks something in the door -- it doesn't fly open immediately, but another solid shove or kick should do it.
The enemies in the eastern room hear the fighting in the middle one, and the banging on the door, and they each ready a shot for the first person to come within their sights.
Those in the western room found it impossible to get a shot at any of you thus far, so they try a different tactic...both begin hurriedly removing the barricading furniture, hoping to flank you from behind in a mirror of what Lisi, Alak, and Yasami are attempting.
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"I need to move closer so that I can reach both enemies and allies with my spells." Caiten moves up into the corner of the room behind Oren.
He also mentally runs through his list of spells prepared. "It is a bit unfortunate that I don't have Guidance prepared. But there are always too many needed spells and not enough space to prepare them in." He instead casts Stoke the Heart on Dario and draws his shortsword.
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Watching the tongue attach itself to him, Joran looks up at the frog and raises his eyebrows in an incredulous manner. "Seriously, frog boy? What, you want a hug or something? Well okay, no hugs but I got something for you." The barbarian then helps the grappling frog and heads straight for it, bringing his flail up high before bringing it down hard upon the toad.
Caving in the frog's skull as brain matter flies everywhere, Joran turns to the ape like humanoid with a maniacal grin. "You're next, ape boy!" he vows, bringing his flail back across his body and aiming for the ape man's face.
Absolutely CAVING IN the ape creature's face, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Joran yells in triumphant fury. "BRING IT ON, BEASTS! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU YOU'RE ALL DYING TODAY!"
"Well, I'm not going to complain. But it looks like I will have to move again in order to target any enemies."
Cev moves up next to Oren so that he can get a clear shot at the frog in front of Joran. He will go with Divine Lance vs TKP.
Damage type = GOOD
Lisi taps himself for Guidance and has a go at the door.
Lisi pokes his head in through the wrecked door and lets Guba hop through. Guba watches him draw a big breath and prepares its little threat-display flowers as Lisi utters a wordless howl at the monkey-man directly north of him.
Joran, more often than not, has the energy of a golden retriever. He's eager, friendly, and irrepressible. In this moment, however, those who witness his enraged massacre of your enemies count yourselves very lucky not to be among them. Two more of the strange invaders are ushered out of this life by a very large flail.
Lisi manages to finish what Yasami started, and with a shove, the door opens... And two of the enemies within unleash their attacks on the elf, Guba's display unfortunately not having any effect.
A thrown piece of pottery smashes into Lisi's head, and the javelin streaks towards him and deals a glancing blow to his shoulder, slicing a line of red there.
Calling upon Yuelral,Cev unleashed a lance of light towards a frog man in the western room, punishing it for its wickedness. The frog croaked loudly in pain and paused momentarily in its attempts to move furniture aside.
Seeing as there's no opponents remaining in the room, Oren moves into the Western room to attack the frogmen as his maul catches fire!
Action: Stride, Rage, Strike
Oren runs in past Cev, taking a mighty swing with his flaming maul, but the boggard's long legs suddenly extend, launching him back from the blow so it misses him entirely.
Alak, seeing Lisi come under fire, charges into the room as quickly as his heavy armor allows to face his attackers. As soon as he comes into view, the second ape man, who hadn't had line of sight on Lisi, chucks a loose brick at Alak's head.
The brick hit's Alak in the forehead, opening a gash that leaves his face bloodied. Alak sneers at the creature. "You'll pay for that." He swings his massive blade towards the ape man that struck him.
Alak's blade scores a gash across the baboon-faced humanoid's side.
Caiten watches Cevendyll cast a spell that he hasn't seen before and takes a moment to analyze it.
"That is another interesting spell, Cevendyll. It seems to be sufficiently effective against these creatures."
"It appears that we have battles happening on two fronts. Shall we also split up so that we have some health recovery options available in both locations? How many Heal spells do you still have available?"
"Also, we may need more light. I can see fine, but I know the rest of you have more difficulty with that. I can bring Sulee closer though."
Caiten watches Cevendyll cast a spell that he hasn't seen before and takes a moment to analyze it. [dice=Religion]1d20 + 5
"That is another interesting spell, Cevendyll. It seems to be sufficiently effective against these creatures."
"It appears that we have battles happening on two fronts. Shall we also split up so that we have some health recovery options available in both locations? How many Heal spells do you still have available?"
"Also, we may need more light. I can see fine, but I know the rest of you have more difficulty with that. I can bring Sulee closer though."
"I swear we talked about Light when we talked about detecting magic K10, but I always pray for that spell. You can take Sulee, and I can cast another instance of it, absolutely."
"Mostly that we just need to do something about it. Yasami likely still has her torch, so that side of the battle is probably fine. But Sulee is still back in the hallway."
After Lisitsei pushes the door open, Yasamina rushes into the room, attempting to flank with the armiger. "Gentmelem, throwing porcelain at your guests, that is just bad etiquette. However, if you want to be like that, I will not be a good guest either. En garde!"
Dario follows after Oren into the other room where two more of the frog-men were trying to escape or flank his compatriots. Twirling the firearm in hand, he would close in towards the nearest one after leaving the carnage of the other room behind. Caiten's magic leaves steam coming from his weapon's points as they glow red with righteous fury.
"Alright, you toad bastards, lets dance." Dario mutters as he gets into close range of the closest one. His pistol fires off, aiming to catch the enemy by surprise before he strikes in close with his sword in hand.
The warrior is skilled and, after hearing the death rattles of its comrades, takes every attack seriously and dodges out of the way. It does give Dario the chance to reload though, another bullet loaded.
Yasami moved in to assist Alak, scoring a small hit on the creature as she tried to maneuver past it, but the nimble simian was too quick to bypass so easily.
Dario hits the frog with his fired shot, but the melee strike is deflected as he reloads his gun.
Lisi hears Rocco and Shadow begin to bark excitedly. Shadow calls out, "Prey is waking!" The frog man you had subdued and tied up is beginning to come to, the sounds of battle slowly rousing him from his stupor.
The frogs that Oren and Darioare facing pull out their clubs and begin swinging at the closer of the two men, the uninjured one moving around to flank Dario as they gang up on him.
The clubs find their target, and Dario will have two massive bruises to show for it, if not a cracked rib.
Meanwhile, in the eastern room, the enemies try a similar tactic, trying to pick off one of you -- in this case, Alak presenting the biggest target. They draw melee weapons surround him and attack relentlessly.
Alak's armor is does not prove enough to fend off the blows. As he flinches from one wound from a hatchet, the club hits him in the head, sending him teetering. The next blow of the hatchet bites deeply into his should, the blood loss combining with the head wound sending him toppling to the ground with a metallic clatter, unconscious and badly wounded. The three foes, encouraged by their victory, turn their bloodthirsty gazes upon Yasami.
"Cevendyll, we may need to double up again. If my ears are not mistaken, that was the sound of our metal clad ally clattering to the ground. Since you are already there, do you want to handle that room while I see what I can do in this other one?"
Caiten shouts back to Shadow, "Well, if he starts escaping from those ropes, bite him until he stops."