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I think that I am going to bow out of this game. I am not really feeling Cromwin, and would like to focus on several other games I have going. Thank you for taking over and running things, Deevor, and for the fun times everyone. It has been a pleasure playing with you all.
"I almost pity the poor bastard who tries for this gap. Anyone fighting against you here will find out why Anvil has his name as they're crushed between us." Cromwin heels Anvil out towards Grok and Norrik, keeping a wary eye in as many directions as possible in case attackers come running for the barricade from one of the side streets.
"Anvil!" Cromwin nuzzles the side of his companion's neck as the horse makes his final push through the rubble. Quick as a flash, he swings up onto his companion's back, pulling out his shield and strapping it to his arm. He whistles sharply as he does so, kicking slightly against Anvil's side nearest to Grok. "Defend Grok, Anvil, 'til I get this on. Then, let's show these invaders what it means to face an inhabitant to Trunau! Hiyah!"
"Yes! Anvil's a combat trained heavy warhorse! We need to get him to the fighting." Cromwin gives out a piercing whistle to signal Anvil to approach the far side of the barricade. "But you're right, if they get this far, the fortifications will be needed. Quick, find something he could use as a ramp to get up your side of the barricade; I practiced climbing and jumping drills with Anvil every day, I know I can get him over if we can just get him some crates or a pair of boards!"
Cromwin lets out a sigh of relief and follows along behind Grok. "If we can get him over...once we start moving outside, Anvil's mobility will help, and he's probably more dangerous with those hooves than I am with my hammer. Come on, let's go!"
"Yeah. Ok. But...Grok, can we really make a difference out there? I've nearly died twice today, I'm cut off from Anvil and on foot, and who knows what's waiting out past the wall. Maybe we should fall back, get Cranston to safety and try and get Anvil over the barricade. I...just feel lost without him." Cromwin flushes in embarrassment at suggesting they fall back, lowering his head. It's clear he's shaken from his wounds and the trials of the day. "I, uh...I'll follow wherever we go. But...."
Cromwin weakly coughs as the world swims back into view, sitting up and looking around the burning town. "Ah. Davian. What...what hit me? Is everyone alive? I feel like I've been trampled by a horse." Cromwin pulls himself to his feet, slowly limping into the building. "Did we win...and do we have a plan for what to do next?"
Cromwin stumbles backwards, shielding himself as best he can as he retreats. Must...get...Davian... He trips, falling to the ground as the darkness claims him, his life's blood oozing out of the gash in his neck.
That is not a bad plan, but Cromwin will drop to 0 on his turn. Unless healed, he can't really effectively retreat.
18th works for me as well, I'm glad you kept your home!
"I'll hold the door, look into that fire!" Cromwin steps forward into the entrance, keeping his shield up to focus on blocking incoming attacks. "Are you Trunau, or invader?"
"Hmph. Anvil's great at dodging. We would get around it." Cromwin mutters to himself as he falls back with Brin and Maurie. "I'm not sure such a deception will hold, but I'm willing to give it a chance. Lead on, Grok."
Cromwin shuffles to the corner of the room, putting some distance between himself and the magical shard as Norrik examines the mirror. "I would be just as happy leaving the...thing here. What if it decides to burn us from the inside out next, like poor Zove?" Weep for her later, after the work is done. Too much remains to do now. "I don't like going up against a giant without Anvil. They've got too long a reach to fight well without a good lance or polearm, and its tough to get enough of an impact to take one out without a good, solid cavalry charge behind it. Let's get moving and try to clear this section of the town. If we're able to clear it out before the rest of the fighting moves here there might be a chance for me to get Anvil into the fight. Come on, lets go." Cromwin trudges down the stairs, pausing very briefly to look back at the shattered remains of the orcs left behind before continuing his way down.
I would prefer to stick through the combat, although Cromwin is going to be very happy once he can get Anvil back. I think running a number of fights helps flesh out the feeling of the invasion pretty well though, so would prefer not to skip anything.
Cromwin stands silently in the corner as the interrogation proceeds, glaring balefully at the captive orc and rubbing his neck and scraping at the flecks on congealed blood spattered on his armor. Cromwin gives a dark chuckle as the orc spits his defiant words. "Ha. So. An Ogre, or a Giant of some sort leads them. Something that would try to crush us underfoot, at any rate. We already guessed as much from those pictures, but its worth it to hear from his lips. If we're lucky, it will just be the one." Cromwin glares at the orc. "Just finish up quickly, Brin."
"Ungh..." Cromwin blinks away the blood and sweat staining his eyes as he returns to consciousness, Davian standing over him with a wand. "I take it this means we won?" Cromwin levers himself to his feet, rubbing his hand on his neck where the sword struck. "That was a nasty fight. I didn't even see the blow that took me. Did everyone make it through alive? Where is Maurie?" He looks encouragingly curious as he asks the now risen Cromwin, as well as to others "Should we go see if we can tip the scales against the rest of them?" "We will. We'll keep fighting until they're drive off, or we all fall. I'm not giving up while there is breath in me."
I'm still watching! Go team!
I-- Cromwin doesn't have time to think as the blade takes him, a white hot flash of pain shooting through his mind before unconsciousness.
Cromwin pushes his way up the stairs to Norrik, swinging his hammer at the nearest orc.
Cromwin pushes up the stairs, laboring to breath through his cracked and bruised ribs as he struggles to make his way back into action. He is silent, saving what breath he has in grim determination as he makes he way up step by step, pushing past Davian and Norrik to interpose himself.
"AAAAAHHHH!" Cromwin swings, falling off balance as the orc shoves him out into empty space. He plummets to the ground, trying to reach out to grap ahold of Brin but missing and falling to land heavily on his back, his scream cut off abruptly by a bone crunching impact as the breath is blasted from his body. Ow... Cromwin struggles to his feet, working to draw breath back into his body as he staggers over near to the foot of the stairs.
Ouch! Just wanted to check, did you include the +3 to Cromwin's CMD from the dodge bonus from fighting defensively/combat expertise? I didn't mention the CMD change since I wasn't expecting to get combat maneuvered, and just wanted to check and make sure it was taken into account. Also, where are the current light sources? Is Brin's light on Brin, and I'm too far so it is dim light, or is it down in the lower floor somewhere?
"Everyone be careful; this one looks like a handful. I'll hold him here, shoot any of them you get a shot at!" Cromwin edges cautiously up the stairs, shield up and warhammer cocked back, lashing out with it to probe his opponent's defenses and parry any counterattack.
I will also be away until Monday, on a skiing trip.
Cromwin smiles in surprise and happiness as the raven flies to Norrik's shoulder. "Oh! Is he trained? What is his name?" Cromwin studies the bird closely. "My family trained hunting falcons. I've always been impressed with how smart they are. Ravens don't domesticate as well usually, but they are, if anything, even smarter." Anyone who likes animals can't be too bad. Now to make sure we both make it out of here...and find Zove. Cromwin steps over towards the door as Grok yells up in orcish. "We need to finish this quickly. Zove has been gone too long, and we need to search for her, but we can't leave this tower held by the enemy." Cromwin will wait a few seconds to see if the orcs come down, before heading up. "Let's go!"
Welcome Norrik! Got to posting a bit later than usual today, but I'll take a look and see what Cromwin's reaction to you might be tomorrow. We may know each other to some extent; Cromwin is also a Trunau native, although he is usually on his family's farm outside the walls unless there is a raid, so he might just not have interacted with you much before now.
Cromwin opens the book, briefly looking at the largely incomprehensible magical text before closing it and handing it back to Norrik. "Don't worry, Norrik. We'll get through this and get all of us out of here alive. Once we've dealt with the orcs in this tower, we're going to need to get to the signal fires and light them. Um..." Cromwin hesitates for a second, before continuing. "...you said you can cast spells, right? Can you fight with them? What do they do?"
"I'm worried about Zove. She's been gone too long, and who knows what she might have run into." Cromwin nods at the brutalized captive. "This might actually be the safest place for him, at least for now. We've cleared the orcs out from below and around this area, but the fact that Zove isn't back yet...its not safe out there right now." Cromwin walks over to the sack and takes out the book, briefly skimming it to get an idea of what it might be.
Cromwin touches the hole in his arm at the chink in his armor where the orc's javelin struck true with a grimace of pain. "Be careful Davian. These orcs are strong enough to cut through metal on a solid strike, I would hate to see us lose you. We'll try to form a line to protect you. Brin, if you or Davian could heal me, I will take the lead and see who has been captured."
Cromwin feels the rage flow out of him as the last orc hits the floor. He gives one of the bodies a light kick in its lightly armored, smashed chest in response to Grok's words. "I'm just glad they don't have decent armor. This would have been a much harder fight if they were wearing good steel." Cromwin bends down stiffly, picking up the orc's battle axe and using it to scrape against the black goo gumming up the joints in his armor. "Although, I wish they didn't have the resources to get their hands on whatever gods forsaken mess this is. It's like when I got my hands in ma's molasses when I was a child, but somehow even stickier."
Cromwin feels the fury pounding in his ears, and he lets out a scream as he swings his hammer wildly in the direction of the nearby orc, a ghostly image of a sword held in a mailed fist arcing out of his arm with no better accuracy.
Cromwin feels Brin's song coursing through him, unleashing his inner fury at the ruin being dealt to his home. With a wordless scream of anger, he swings, driving his warhammer into the nearest orc with all his strength.
"Urph!" Cromwin lets out a gasp of pain as he gets hit in the shoulder with a spear. More by luck than any skill, his flinch causes the tanglefoot bag to explode mostly against his shield, leaving his movements encumbered but his feet free to move. "What is this stuff! Argh!" Seeing his companions rush forward, Cromwin pushes forward himself, nearly tripping as his leg tries to stick to the doorway.
Cromwin sighs as his wounds close over, rubbing his newly healed chest. "Thank you once more, Davian." He readies his warhammer and shield. "I'm ready at your signal, Maurie. Let's do this."
I believe the range listed for the weapon is the range increment, so a longbow would be able to attempt a shot out to 1000 feet. The example of a dagger being penalized for every 10 feet beyond its range was set because it has a 10 foot range.
Back from vacation everyone, feeling rejuvenated and getting forward to rolling on again! I agree on taking the lower tower. If Cromwin can chokepoint them at the door, everyone except Davian should be able to ranged attack in pretty well. Cromwin has a 23 AC fighting defensively so can likely fend off attacks for some time. One thing I noticed about the top of the tower is that it is in the third range increment on a longbow from the tower to the south that is on the higher part of town we came from. It would take a few minutes to get there, but from there Grok could shoot at anyone on top of the tower we're looking to attack. Could be an option if it turns out they're heavily fortified around a narrow trap door entrance up there.
Cromwin broods silently in the corner as Maurie and Davian discuss religion, his voice silenced by the worries for his town and family, although he gives Maurie a warm smile and a nod when she recovers. What is this man? Who would want to become a devil? But he's helping us defend Trunau, and we would never have gotten this far without his healing. I just hope he knows what he is doing, for all our sakes. As the others gather to move out and Maurie returns
Cromwin touches his side and winces. The cut was deep, and still hurts despite having scabbed over. "Davian, before we move out, could you heal me? The cut I took before has scabbed, but I am afraid it might reopen if we continue to fight. As for the tower, I have no chance of sneaking anywhere, and if the drumbeat is coming from up there..." Cromwin thinks back to the design of the town's defenses, and the spacing in town. He doesn't remember much, but Brin's observation sparks an idea. "We need to take the lower parts of the tower. They might be too entrenched up top for us to follow up through the trap doors, but I have some ideas that might help with that. I think we need to get a torch or some light in there; Zove or Brin, can you handle that? I'll hold the doorway while Grok and Maurie hug the edges and use it for cover while they shoot at anyone inside. If we have the advantage of numbers, we can all run in and surround them, but even if we're outnumbered, we have a good chance to hold them at the door. Also, watch out for attacks from above; if they've got a force up there that starts throwing things down at us, we're going to need to retreat in or out quickly."
Cromwin touches his side and winces again, then sighs. "I could use the help, Davian. I think Maurie needs it first though." Cromwin moves to take up a position by the door. "I don't think there is a real evacuation plan for the town. We're up on a hill, which might get us through this...but if the defenses can't hold...." He peers out the door, keeping an eye out for approaching orcs.
That sounds good to me.
Cromwin pants in the sudden stillness, air straining against his lungs as the orcs fall beneath his hammer and his companion's onslaught. He touches his side where his wound is still scabbed over, wincing as pain bone tired weariness flood into him as the adrenaline of battle fades. Ma, Pa...I hope you're safe. Pa, I hope you got the horses out of the farm. Jac... "This...this is going to be a bad one for Trunau, isn't it." Cromwin says softly, and the muted drums of war beat in the background, muffled by the walls. The realization sinks in as he looks around at the burning, looted buildings. "I've seen raids before, even been forced out of my home once or twice, but I've never feared for Trunau's survival until now. Zove...we're going to make it through this, aren't we? The town, I mean. Our families." He looks around the group, every one of them showing wounds big and small from their trials. "And us as well?" He adds quietly, worry and strain starting to show in his face and voice.
Everything is dark and chaotic, with screams and blood everywhere. Cromwin desperately cracks his warhammer down on the orc between him and Davian, smashing it down as hard as he can to try and put it down before it can finish disemboweling Cromwin's companion. Come on, come on, we can take these two, whatever god he prays to don't fail him now...
I am also good with 4 responses. I should be able to get the actions broken out by type as well.
Cromwin smashes the orc in the face as soon as he walks through the door, preparing to keep swinging as much as he needs to put the creatures down.
Is that...Maurie?! Oh gods, I hope she's ok. Cromwin feels a surge of relief as Maurie awakens and stands to fight. Good, she's not out of it yet. Now, we have some orcs to deal with... Cromwin slides up next to the door and gives Maurie a nod and a fierce smile as he raises his warhammer and shield in preparation to smash the first orc that Grok might lure through the door.
Cromwin moves up and kicks open the door, taking a defensive position with his hammer and shield out, holding the door as a bottleneck and getting some additional light into the building.
"That's Sergeant Lorrimor's home. If there's something going on...we should check and see if he made it out. Come on!" Cromwin starts towards Sergeant's house, shield and warhammer out.
I think we probably want to go to the house first, and investigate. It is owned by a Sergeant of the watch, and he could still be putting up a fight inside. Cromwin recognizes the building, but doesn't hear anything, so Grok will need to pull his attention to it.
Cromwin is standing outside the mist when Grok emerges, looking around warily. He doesn't seem to have noticed anything beyond the beating of the drums. "Grok, Zove, thank the gods you're safe. What do we do now? Push forward to the beacon?"
"I won't leave anyone behind, Davian. Not while I still draw breath. We'll get that beacon lit or fall together. Help Grok and Zove, if you can, and I will stand guard." Cromwin strides out of the mists, shield and hammer raised.
Cromwin hammers away the orc in front of him, smashing through its defenses to try to fell the bruised and battered creature, seeking to drive the creature towards his friends, lost somewhere in the mist.
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