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We are, if you scroll up some, I Posted that I'd be gone on vacation. I'll be getting back into town tomorrow, this is really the first time I've had to check my phone since Friday.
Kn: History 35:
King Markadian had a contingency set up to teleport Leon to Branderscar in the event Karactus awoke, left on the keyword of the Warden. COMBAT INITIATIVE (I'll put this in the campaign info since this is such a massive fight) Matthias Richter
"None have ever escaped Branderscar!" The Warden retorts, "YOU will not be the first!. The Warden begins chanting in the arcane language. Spellcraft 20: Wall of Force
The doors swing open, leaving the unprepared villains standing before a miniature army. A small retinue of Knights of Alerion, over a dozen soldiers, and a grizzled old man in the back of it all who calls out to them, "Foolish criminals, did you not think I would keep status of my men?? The time to tell you to return to your cells has past. It's time now to feel the might of Mitra! Prepare yourselves, evildoers, your last breath is near!
Indeed hard to find, but Bobbity does manage to catch a track of bat guano almost lining the bottom of the door leading in to the second floor. With a few moments of handiwork, he manages to render the ward useless. Meanwhile, three Skeletons rush in, baring swords down upon the terrified men. They wrestle back and forth, the missiles leaving their defenses exposed. In reply, the experienced men cut down the skeletons, but are exposed to the explosions of their bones as they are destroyed, leaving Veldrin alone before them.
On the top floor of the gatehouse, Leon is caught completely unaware by Kessa, finding his backside on the floor just as quickly as he noticed she was in the room. Deciding better to stay on the ground, he begins swinging at her in retaliation.
Seeing the grim circumstances, the other guards begin to flee, going as far as jumping into the widened murder holes to get down to the next level.
It probably took Bognus all of twelve to eighteen seconds to kill those two
With a heavy sigh, Thomas departs, rounding right to find a weapon he was more comfortable with to carry out his morbid task, silently praying in his head for salvation from Mitra. Those waiting in the room see him pass back through the hallway on the way to the barracks, bloodied sword in hand. Those who follow him get to bear witness to a surprisingly efficient slaughter. Thomas takes great care to muffle his soldiers before slicing their throats or driving his blade through their hearts; though under command, he endeavors to make their ends as quick and painless as possible. Only as he begins the ritualistic killing of the second to last man does he rouse them, and unarmed and unarmored, they quickly fall to a few expert strokes of his blade.
After a few brief moments, the screaming ends; more than likely from two skulls caving each other in. The Sargeant looks sickened by Karactus's order, turning to Nuandis as almost if to beg her for another task.
GM: I started these attacks rolls before realizing Kessa will still have a standard action before the guards go again. It's a pain in the butt to get all these rolls out, so I'm keeping them here until she posts
Two towers, two confrontations: In the north, Rashk continues his dance of death, dropping two more of the guards. The death of their comrades do little to deter their efforts though; they continue to swarm around him.
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Kessa is through the window of the third floor of the tower, Bobbity standing over the corpse of a slain guard, and VEldrin finds himself face-to-face with two startled guards.
Completely caught off guard, one of the two men quickly found themselves in Bognus's clutches, both screaming for the aid of their beloved Sargeant.
The poor guards follow Karactus around the hall, unaware of whatever horrid fate he has in plan for them, chuckling to each other about how their coinpurses will be heavier by the end of the day
"Losin coin? Not with me at the table", the middle-aged, black haired man referred to as "Mitch" boasted. "You want to play over in the gatehouse? At least they have tables there Sarge."
Initiative Order: Bobbity
We are currently on the Guards init now, Bobbity may post immediately, since he was technically skipped over. From on top of the wall, he is close enough to get a full attack off on a single patrolling guard. Another whirlwind leaves two of the guards dead, the others spring into action, drawing their weapons with lightning speed and roaring with anger about avenging their fallen brothers.
Won't be posting the 3rd through 6th of July; taking the family on vacation.
The barracks is a large, rectangular chamber with two rows of bunkbeds lined against each wall and lockers at the feet. There are a few tables closer to the entrance, with chess tables and cards throw about on each. Close to a dozen guards sleep on the beds at the far end of the room, but two were awake playing chess at one of the tables. They move to the door to greet the Sargeant, neither offering a salute, perhaps since living at the keep, they keep things less formal. "Evenin' Blackerly! Come for a game of cards? Mitch and I couldn't seem to sleep, so we're just killin time till shift starts"
Rashk's assault seems effective, connecting with all six guards and severely bloodying two of them. The guards begin standing, knocking back their chairs and reaching for holstered weapons... Guards Weapons:
Severely Bloodied- 8 and 1
"Blackerly. Thomas Blackerly. What are you?" he asked in mutual awe and disgust.
Checked out that translator, it seems more like pirate speak than Dwarf speak. Interesting though. Thoughts on Seth. I'll decide by the end of the week if I am to shut down the second group. If I do, I would like to transfer Kessa over here. If not, someone can take over Seth.
The northmost tower is the gatehouse, leading out of Branderscar. The tower Bobbity scouted earlier is the mages tower, on the far south. Was the intention to go North or South with Rashk?
LOOT: +2 Adaptive Longbow
"No, there is only one door leading to and from. From my quarters, two lefts, the only only door" the Sargeant states plainly.
Since he was there for so little time, I'm just going to write him out.
Rashk swiftly runs up the walls of the gatehouse, there are no actual guards on the top of the structure. Those on patrol use the watchwalls connected a story below. However, on his way up, through a window on the third (and top) story, Rashk sees a group of guards sitting around a large rectangular dining table playing cards. There look to be a dozen of them.
Leaving the group unable to discern whether he is happy or not, the Sargeant removes his gear as quickly as Nuandis's hands assist him, setting it all on the bed for examination.
The Sergeant hesitates, looking over to Nuandis for orders. GM:
"You intend to slaughter my men in their sleep like cowards?", the Sergeant glares at Ulmah.
Indeed. I lost one and another can barely post over on two. School is out now, so I'm stuck with the kids a lot more than before. My oldest is off at a summer leadership camp, but should be home next week. Hopefully will alleviate some of my busy schedule. I'll still check in at least once a day for now. I'm tempted to give out my Skype to someone to text me when posts are made :) Would help me move things along for sure.
"You have several hours until the boys rotate. The interior guards live here biweekly. The off-shifters are probably still sleeping in the makeshift barracks down the west hall.", the Sargeant emotionlessly replied.
The Sergeant speaks monotonous, almost as if he were reciting accolades from a book. [b]"The Warden of Branderscar is the most honorable Mathias Richter of the Noble Richter family. He is an alchemical wizard of the highest caliber, and an ingenious engineer and tactician. He spends much of the day within the hind tower, researching new magics for his Royal Highness King Markadian. He delegates upkeep and operations of the keep to myself, and the perimeter wall and gatehouse to Sir Thomas Balin, Paladin of the Knights of Alerion."[b]
GM:
It only takes Bognus a brief moment to realize his new friend is offering little resistance to the grapple.
Rashk moves unseen through the courtyard, making it nearly two thirds of the way to the top.
The kitchen is an orgy of blood, food and body parts, though none of them appear to be goblin. Squeeze is nowhere in sight. A fresh batch of stew sits on the oven, slightly boiling over. Barrels of rations are stacked in a corner. On the east wall, there is an open door leading back out into the courtyard.
The Sergeants response is more irate than helpful. "Son, I got better things to do with my time than listen to the prattle of some miscreants who think they're actually capable of breakin out under my watch. Get back to your post, if there's anything worth tellin, come to me then." With that, he turns to the other four guards and commands them back to the gatehouse, then turns to head towards his quarters.
Does Paizo have a system that I can set up to notify me when someone posts? It'd make this so much easier for me.
GM:
Turning his attention away from the other men, the Sergeant looks at Karactus with scrutiny, perhaps making sure his uniform was in proper order. "Escape!?," the sergeant laughs, "Unlikely. No one has, nor ever will escape from Branderscar. What did you overhear?"
Sometimes, I will give characters with exceptionally high Intelligence or Wisdom scores a bit of warning if they are about to do something monumentally stupid and self-destructive. It's easy to imagine being super strong, super agile, super healthy, or super likable. Not so much to fathom the amount of mental prowess that comes with a 20 Int. Another approach is to possibly become more descriptive about the dangers they face. If the tone of the entire campaign, even combat is happy-go-lucky, they will be more prone to foolish behavior.
The insignia on his armor signifies the lead as a Sargent, but his golden pauldrons and embroidered blue cloak suggest one with great merit.
The first corner reveals a long, empty hallway: moving to the next corner, Karactus see five men, one clearly more decorated than the others. Close enough to hear the conversation now, the higher ranking soldier berates the other four for playing cards while they were on duty. One of the four being courageous enough to argue with his superior that the it was harmless.
I'd say it's up in the air between Karactus and Nuandis. Karactus has this 'straight out of a horror movie' vibe, a literal monster of sorts; Nuandis is, as I've said before, a mentally unstable sadist: reminds of this new Suicide Squads take on Harley Quinn.
One by one each guard meets a silent and grizzly fate, their throats tasting Kessa's eager blade.
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