Stheno the Red Shadow's page

Stheno glances around at the other. "As long as it gives us another able body to bring to bear against our enemies then I am all for it. If it's not going to take too long that is, we need to be moving soon."

Stheno looks back towards Ekuur and Justin. "There is no spirit left within the bodies, they are now but an empty shell. The Guard will take care of the commoners for us and what is left of my brethren will take care of their own."
"Come, time is wasting and I wish to be on the trail of these monster's masters before too long has passed."

"Whoever did this to my brethren shall pay dearly. To the Temple then, to plan how best to deal with these abominations."

Stheno starts moving in the direction of the Temple, fire in her eyes and her snakes hissing as they pan their heads around the devestation.

Stheno sees The Barrowman fall and pulls up short, her blade on its way towards the creature that took her comrades from her. "You filthy bastard," she spits on the corpse of their opponent. "You may have taken the lives of many of my Order today, but from this vicious blow, we will rise like the Phoenix to bring your master to heel."
She looks around at the carnage and calls to Isaac, "regardless of The Lady's wishes, if you are fighting against this foe then I pledge my blade to your cause for as long as it takes to take him and his foul minions down." Isaac nods at her and then suddenly puts and arrow into one of the serving girls. Stheno looks aghast at him until the elf begins to rise, a red glow to her eyes, and then her face hardens and she begins to look towards the nearest rising corpse.

Move towards the nearest rising Wight and attack it if possible.
Attack Wight with +1 Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 12 + 1 = 28
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Stheno moves forward to engae the foe that killed her friends with the calm of death on her face.

Move to n29
Attack The Barrowman with +1 Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (15) + 12 = 27
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
Sneak Attack Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

>Top Rd 2 map<

Stheno should actually be in r25 as per my last Post. :)

And I've sort of lost track... are we up to Round 3 yet?

Stheno's snakes hiss loudly at their enemy's berrating of Nari.
"You can always die again for what you've done this day you murderous bastard!" she says as she once more moves toward him, scimitar raised before her with deadly intent.

Double Move Action to r25

Sorry, been uber swamped and didn't realise we were back from Pat's mini-hiatus... :/

Swift Action: Spend a ki point to increase her base speed by 20' for the round.
Full Round Action: Double move to u14, drawing her scimitar along the way.

Stheno enters the common room, striding forward with a look of cold determination on her face. Her eyes alight on the leader and she begins to skirt the walls, trying to move into a position to be able to pay him back for all the pain and suffering he's caused today.

Stheno will remain where she is for the moment, Scimitar at the ready, waiting for the enemies to enter the room.

Readied action to attack the first enemy to enter her threatened area.
Readied Attack: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 24
Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

A Stheno shaped blur hugs the wall around to stand close by the door, waiting for the behemoth to fully enter the room before she attempts to engae it in melee.

Move around the wall to j26

>NEW MAP<

Positions are vague approximates. Call a location out and I will place you there. You have ample warning that something is going down.

Stheno probably would have been coming out of the top Right Room, so maybe put her in i23.

Stheno emerges from her room, Scimitar in hand and her inky black cloak swirling around her. Curiously, her black dress looks immaculate, although you could have sworn she was wearing a red dress and cloak when you came in last nightand.
Menace in her eyes, she glances up and then towards the booming door. "What is this. This assault must have been uncannily staged to have not given my sisters above any chance of not warning us. Whoever this is must be a powerful foe, but I promise my sister's will not have died in vain."
Sudenly, her form wavers before your eyes as her body begins to blur.
Activates the blur ability of her cloak. 3 minutes (30 rounds) of 20% miss chance.

"I'll let you cutters pick your preference- spellslingers should have first or last, though. Rhiannon, Stheno, Phaumee and me, we can alternate the middle stretch."

"A watch down here will not be needed. My people will alert us to any intrusions long before one of us could detect it. It would be best if we all got a full night's rest, since tomorrow will be a busy day."

She has been trying to follow the train of the conversation the others have been having on their journey and she thinks she has pieced most of it together. She is not however quite sure what to make of the shy Elf and the condition the others keep taking about.

Justin looks around, nodding thoughtfully.

"Well, It's not the Sigil Ritz-Gryphonton, but it's better than camping. Right? Thanks Stethno." He smiles politely at the Medusa. (Ever since Justin discovered that their new friend cannot stone them with her gaze, he seems to have developed a sudden interest in Medusae physiology.)

Stheno tips her head at the mage. "I do not know of this Ritz-Gryphonton you speak of as I have never had the opportunity to travel to the City of Doors. Is it as wondrous as the stories make it out to be, full of anything that one could ever want or need?"

She watches Justin's gaze linger on her curves as he turns to address Isaac and she smirks. "Being stuck down here may not be so bad after all," she thinks to herself. "He's not the best looking, but he does have a certain charm to him."

"Say, Stheno- does yer Order have a safe house we'd be allowed teh use or somethin' like that? Maybe in the goblin district?"

She thinks about it for a moment, before replying. "Yes, there is one place. It's not what you'd find with the Lady Meralindiel, but at least you'll be safe down there and you'll be off the streets and away from prying eyes. Follow me."

They re-enter the city, Stheno leading them to a section with much more stolid and small-scaled architecture and angular runic-lettered signs over the oval doorways. The grey-green Koska goblins line the streets here, living, working and such. There are also several other races: The medusa like Stheno, centaurs, and a even a satyr carving wooden masks at a small shop.

Stheno leads them to a small tavern. It looks to cater to medusae primarily, but there are Koska inside as well. Stheno has a quick word with the barkeep, and then leads them down a hallway.

Looking about, she presses a cupboard at the dark end of the hallway. It opens to a darkened stairway. She hurries them in and shuts the door. Lighting a few candles, the group descends about 20 feet and reaches a plain door, stoutly bound in iron. After opening the door, they see a large common room with a long table and chairs in the middle. A large fireplace equipped with a stack of logs heads the room. There seems to be several small offshoot rooms with bunk-style cots. The walls are lined with various weapons, all looking very sharp and oiled.

"We should be safe here. The owner is a member of my Order and practically every Koska that is part of our organization lives or works within spitting distance, so we will have protection and early warning of anything amiss."

Okay I'm thinking that flash might not be able to meet the once per day posting that some of us can usually handle. Do you suppose we could glaze over this section a bit and assume we all become friends, Stheno intrigued by Karrin's friendly live and let live attitude, and Karrin enamored by the Medusa's strangeness and dedication to her martial arts? Then we can jump straight into everyone meeting up again!

Yeah, sorry about that. Tuesday/Wednesdays are always bad for me, then when Isaac asked about Stheno's Order, I had to come up with some info on it. Then I had a busy weekend and it's just been hectic. :/

Isaac lets the silence stretch a bit until finally venturing into small talk.

"So, Stheno... What's this Order of yours all about, in addition to fighting these Cobalt Shadows?"

Stheno sits cross legged on a nearby bench and explains the nature of her Order to her new companions. "The Order of the Crimson Vigilance are sworn to protect the Vale from the advances of the Winter Queen and her minions. We are... somewhat secretive in how we do this, but suffice to say that we make sure that we are available to use portions of the Winter Queens own tactics against her. Were the general populace of the Vale to know of the extent of what we are capable of, there would be a good many of them clamouring to have us disbanded. Therefore we operate in the shadows, with only a select group of highly placed individuals knowing the full extent of our capabilities. Of course the Lady Meralindiel is one such person, as well she should be. She does not always agree with our methods, but she cannot look past the results we bring, nor our loyalty to defending the Vale."

She stands to follow the others, making sure this time that all her weapons are close at hand.

Rhiannon walks along with thee others, somewhat pensive after what she considered a poor performance in battle.

"Well Stheno you certainly were impressive in battle. Have you had much experience with these opponents?"

She nods her head at the compliment. "The Cobalt Shadows are one of the main reasons that the Order of Crimson Vigilance exists. There are quite a number of us who are trained to use their own methods against them. While not as numerous as them, even though they themselves are only a small band themselves, our training and devotion to the Vale means that we are usually more adept than them in battle."

"Boy I hope we get to eat soon," a crumb covered Karrin says to the group, "I'm getting peckish. I think we missed lunch or something. What do Medusa eat by the way? I know some snakes eat mice because we used to have a few snakes back at the monastery and I was gonna squash 'em, but then father said that they eat mice, which I don't mind except for the fact that they get into everything and can spoil food, so as cute as they are, we got to get rid of them, and father said that snakes ate mice. We also had cats which also ate mice but I've never heard of a creature that had cats for hairs! That would be funny! Could you imagine?

"Anyways what sort of things to do you eat Stheno? I hope it's not mice . . . or cats, nice normal food I'd imagine."

A strange smile creases Stheno's lips at the apparent simpleness of the Tiefling. "I am afraid that my tastes are not much different than your own, although I do prefer my meat to be a little more undercooked than some would deem tasteful and I only eat sparingly of fruits and vegetables. You yourself seem to have quite a hearty appetite..." their conversation continues as they journey, Stheno getting to know a little about her new companions, while only giving out snippets of information about herself, just enough to be accepted as a comrade in arms.

She turns to Stheno

"You have my eternal gratitude for assisting my friends and kin. Ask what you may of me, and I will try to grant it."

Stheno bows gracefully to the Lady. "I thank you for your notice Great Lady. I shal think on your offer and be ready upon your return."

She turns to the others. "So what have you people done to earn the ire of the Winter Queen?"

Ugh, sorry. Another busy week and I have been a bit run down.

"We're trans-Planar security contractors specializing in asset acquisition, troubleshooting and the securing of mission-based objectives. Primarily in the private sector.", Isaac replies.

Stheno gives him a quizzical look and shrugs her shoulders. "I take it that means you are important people where you come from."

"You don't say," Karrin says to Stheno's feet, "I've never met a medusa before, so um, some quick obvious questions: number one, and this is the big one, could you turn us to stone by accident? and two, how do you turn people to stone, because I heard it was the eyes, but if it's something else like a touch or something I'd rather not have any mistaken handshakes and stuff. And three is that sort of thing really permanent or is it something that you can walk off?"

"Unlike many of my sisters, I have yet to learn the art of turning people to stone, so you are safe from that aspect of my gaze. There are ways for people to be returned to their former state after being turned, but all involve powerful magics."

Isaac tosses a black vial to Stheno.

"Reckon that's what you're lookin' for, eh?"

Stheno catches the vial and holds it up to the light. "Yes, that will do quite nicely. If you happen to find any more I will be most appreciative."

Maelrin turns to the group after assisting Jena to her feet

"Indeed the appearance of these little blue demons means that the Recluse has entered the game. The Morkarthau must be very interested in you, usually the Recluse spins her own web. Lady Hel and her have been rivals for years. We are returning to the temple. "

She turns to Maelrin after he alerts the guards to the presence of the Xvart in the city. "If I may be so bold as to ask. If the Cobalt Shadows are involved in your business, my Order would be most interested in assisting you in dealing with the threat they pose. If I may be permitted to return to my abode and equp myself more fully, I would very much like to join you at the Temple to discuss this problem with you further."

"We fought the Lady Hel on the road to the city- though I reckon "Handmaiden" Hel was a more proper moniker, eh? She gave us the laugh, more's the pity, 'fore we could pen her in the deadbook."

He starts checking the goblin corpses for any clues or correspondence.

"I see. It seems you have found yourself at the mercy of a powerful enemy then. If I may ask... what is the nature of this Silver Rose Company?"

"S'ok," Karrin says, a friendly smile settling on her face, "what sort of creature are you, if you don't mind my asking? I don't think I've seen anything like you before."

She turns from her address of Isaac to regard Karrin. "Why I am a Medusa of course. You have truly never seen one of my kind before? While not overly populous, we are a commited member of the Vale and it's resistance of the Winter Queen's advances."

"I'm not a devil," Karrin snaps with a bit more intensity then she intended, "I mean call me demon blooded if you want, that doesn't bother me or anything, but please don't call me the other. I hate devils."

Stheno nods at Karrin's assertion. "I... apologise for my mistake."

"It was a surprise attack with no provocation.It does beg the question if the enemies from earlier today are making use of other allies."

Rhiannon strides forward and extends a forearm to Stheno.

"Well fought, my name is Rhiannon."

She takes Rhiannon's offered arm in an easy shake. "What enemies are these that you speak of? Have you already been attacked today? You mentioned the Ice Spider, which I assumed to be a reference to the Winter Queen, but if this is some other enemy then they may have employed the use of the Cobalt SHadows after their first attempt failed."

"Hey," Karrin says as she gets her barrings, "My name's Karrin, whazzup. I never had assassins chasing after me so I have no idea. I know Isaac our leader said something to them before they attacked, maybe he got them angry by calling them goblins or something? I mean you called them Xvarts, maybe goblin is an insult to them? Or maybe it's a case of mistaken identity, like maybe Rhiannon looks like some princess or something. That would be neat! Who are you by the way?"

Stheno nods her head in greeting to the Tiefling. "My name is Stheno and you are correct in your labelling of the Xvart as Goblins. They are a deegenerate offshoot of the nobler Koska that live in the Vale. My order is the hated enemy of these particular ones." She nods in the direction of the dead.

He bows to the medusa, speaking in Elvish with a few choice Cager terms thrown in for good measure.

"Names' Isaac Finch of the Silver Rose Company, out of Sigil. My thanks, Lady Ssethmar. Do these Cobalt Shadow berks have some dealings with the Ice Spider? We may have stepped on some toes getting here, if ye kennit."

Stheno turns and bows curtly to Isaac. " I am no lady, so simply Stheno will do. But the answer to your question is not a simple one. In essence the Cobalt Shadows serve the Winter Queen, although their lack of honour means that they will hire themselves out as Assassins to whoever will pay them enough. They do not come cheaply however, so whoever you have angered must want you dead very badly. I do not simply think it was a case of mistaken identity as your devilish friend assumes."

Edit: Whoah! Major Cross Post... :)

Stheno watches the Xvart she missed scamper away across the roof and snorts derisively when she hears the clatter made by it's departure. She turns just in time to see the other one disappear across the roof top and glances quickly around to make sure no other enemies are nearby. Satisfied she watches the others beginning to stir as she walks over to Maelrin. She bows politely at the thanks and addresses the group.
"What business did those Xvart have with you. It isn't customary for them to be in the city, especially those Cobolt Shadows. You must have really pisssed someone off for them to have sent Assassins after you, even second rate ones like the Shadows."

Hearing her enemy fall behind her, Stheno spins around, her scimitar leading in a dance of death as she slashes down at her diminuative opponent.

First Attack with Scimitar on Cobolt Shadow: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20
Second Attack with Scimitar on Cobolt Shadow: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Confirm Critical Hit: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16

First Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Second Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

The R14 and R19 gobbos are balancing on light wicker rattan structures with silk roof tenting. 10 feet from ground level.

OK, so I am going to try something here and see how well it pans out.

Finishing off her opponent, she glances around quickly at the fallen strangers. Her snakes hiss menacingly as they take stock of the remaining enemies above her. Spotting the unstable nature of the perches of the Cobalt Shadows to her left and right, a smile twists her features. Twirling her scimitar before her, she moves swiftly to her right, jumping as she comes under the awning and swinging in a long slash as she comes to the apex of her jump.

Move Action: Move to q19.
Standard Action: Jump up and attempt to slash through the silk roof underneath the Cobalt Shadow in r19.
Acrobatics Skill Check (DC20): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (20) + 13 = 33
My intent is that he will fall through the tear (taking 1d6 falling damage in the process unless he can land on something soft or make his Acrobatics Skill Check vs. Falling) and now be on my level. I would think that he could possibly get an Acrobatics Skill Check to avoid falling and stay up there although with his weight, the tear should widen as he moves around.

The other two, O16-17, are about 15 feet up on a permanent structure roof of slate.

Hopefully Rhiannon can keep at these two for the moment.

The ground ones are all dead thanks to Stheno. If anything seems amiss, or I missed something, let me know ..

hmmm... That's gonna be a tough one. I already established (for Roleplaying reasons) that Stheno had left her bow at home (going shopping in the market, who knew she'd need her bow right... ;) ) as I figured that the others could deal with them effectively.

Right now I'm off to bed, but tomorrow morning after work I want to read up on the Acrobatics Skill in regards to jumping (and it's bonuses from the Ninja Class) in case I have to attempt to get up there that way. I'll post up after that.

Can I get another Map Update Pat, so I can see which ones are left on the ground to attack (so I know whether I get 5' Step Full Attack or Move Single Attack).

Smiling as her flashing blade takes down the small creature before her, she eagerly moves forward to follow up on the next opponent. Once more, her blades spin in an intricant dance to slice at the Goblin before her.

Swift Action: Spend a ki point to gain an extra attack.
5' Step to s16
Full Round Action: Full Attack on Cobalt Shadow in r15

First Attack w/ Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (19) + 12 = 31
Confirm Critical Hit: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (2) + 12 = 14
Second Attack w/Scimitar: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Third Attack w/ Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (8) + 12 = 20

First Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Second Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Third Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

Stheno's blade flashes in her hand as it darts towards the closest Cobalt Shadow in a whirl of dancing metal.
"Miserable wretch. Whatever your mission is today you won't be completing it."

Swift Action: Spend a ki point to gain an additional attack
Full Attack Action:
First Attack with Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (11) + 12 = 23
Second Attack with Scimitar:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Confirm Critical: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24
Third Attack with Scimitar: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (9) + 12 = 21

First Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Second Attack Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 3) + 4 = 13
Third Attack Damage: 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Sudden understanding dawns on her face as her eyes narrow. "By the blood of the Gorgon, Cobalt Shadows. Be wary friends of the Hanalindrim, these imposters are no Koska and those shuriken they are throwing have a potent sleeping venom on them. We need to take them down hard and fast."

hmmm... for some reason I thought I was coming in from behind the Koska. My bad. :/

Narrowing her eyes, her snakes hissing in suspicion, Stheno strides forwrd as she sees two of the strangers go down to what she now suspects to be a planned ambush. As she moves, her cloak swirls around her and when it settles it's blood red lustre is replaced by an inky blackness.
"Be wary," she says to the the strangers. "These Koska are not what they seem."

Standard Action: Reverse her Cloak from the Charismatic to the Stealth side.
Move Action: Stride forward to t15 (I think. Sorry Pat, your squares are a little off, so I'm not sure which Square Isaac is in).
She already has her Scimitar in her hand from her previous move as well.

Perception Check: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30

While Stheno keeps her gaze on the Koska ahead, her snakes dart their heads here and there, keeping her informed of her surroundings.

Seeing the melee about to break piques her interest, but more that she wonders why the Koska would be attacking strangers. She begins to casually move in the direction of the brewing fifth, curious to see what the newcomers do. Once the two new Koska show themselves however, her brow furrows. Could the strangers stand up to them now they were outnumbered (for obviously the Elves didn't count). She moves more purposefully towards the commotion now, drawing her scimitar and cursing herself for not carrying her bow. She would show the Koska not to pick on travellers, no matter how strange they may look.

As the confrontation occurs she will move towards the breaking battle.
Once the fight breaks out she will double move to come at the Goblins from behind, drawing her scimitar as she goes.

ALSO: Our little wanderer Flash will be rejoining us here at this jucture with an all-new character. =P

Say hello to the group new guy/gal!

"Hello Group!"