Aboki bounds after his fleeing prey and gives the man a hug.
With a surprisingly gruff grunt Freia hammers the man trying to get up with her sap. The spell of freezing has subsided, but the blunt cudgel still packs a wallop!
Ariana's really wishing she had been smart enough to cast Message before splitting the party.
At least nineteen more..probably more than that. There's too many here to kill quickly./i]
Ariana wracks her brain for a solution, debating different routes.
[i]Bomb between a few beds, takes out a few. Continue cutting throats until they wake, then turn invisible. That's..maybe two or three. Grease door handles and cast Hold Portal on the door..set fire to the room--no, we need the records. Think!
..Or all of the above.
Round 4
Ariana pulls out a bear trap (I really need a bag of holding so she can carry more of these and not always be at 20' move :() and sets it up near the foot of one bed where someone might swing their feet to when sitting up. (Move to draw, standard to set and place)
Traps first. Then grease the door. May be able to cut a throat or two before tossing a grenade and retreating to hold the door shut.
With fluid, precise movements Halsanna drops both men blocking the party's access to the hall.
Noro moves quickly to the thug battling Freia and with a leap she elbows the thug in the face.
The preoccupied man doesn't even see noro coming. Her elbow renders him unconscious instantly.
Freia takes the time to give Noro a quick nod of appreciation before dashing to the next foe. She still feels the faint river of unfamiliar energy bleeding into her weapon, but it felt proper so she did nothing to stem it. Instead she added her trained magical energy to it and struck ... air. Dammit!
Round 5 (party Round 3)
Ariana glances around the crowded room frowning and moves out of the room, continuing to move sneakily (using her earlier stealth check). She'll cast Grease on the floor right before the double doors.
The wizard grins to herself, her fingers reaching for a scroll at her side. First the grease, then an illusion to cover it. Between traps, a grenade, people falling and some poltergeist-actions, this should cause some chaos.
The lone guard left in the room desperately attacks zayid, but the tanned young warrior is ready this time and the spear thrust is deflected.
Downstairs, the racket above is causing men to stirr. It's now or never if Ariana wants her plan to begin under ideal circumstances.
Halsanna - As soon as you look out into the hall you see the other remaining man hotly engaged with Aboki. The lithe cat looks like it just dodged an attack, and the guard's face is pale.
Round 6/Round 4
Ariana uses a scroll of Silent Image on the floor on top of the Grease spell then moves out of sight of the doorway.
Noro moves toward the fight in the hall. seeing the large cat has that in hand, Noro moves into the room across the hall.
Zayid keeps swinging at his foe even as Aboki tears into his own.
Noro, Aboki and the other guard are engaged between the party and the other room.
noro moves over to the thug still dancing with Zayid.
son of a b*&$*, Hold shtill, I'm trying to punch you
Freia attempts to circle the thug engaged with Aboki and, eventually, move up behind him.
After a round of embarrassing misses and whiffs, the men make their counters and make the best of them. The man in the room facing Zayid and Noro deftly side steps the long reach weapon and lands a solid blow on Zayid. The spear head slips between a seam in his armor and pierces deep.
In the hall, Freia gets sliced on the thigh as she attempts to circle the guard. She makes it, but her pants have a new blooming blood-flower on them. The guard then quickly turns and stabs at Aboki. He too is hit on the right shoulder, but this elicits only a howl of fury from the feline.
Down stairs, the time of peace and quiet ends in the worst way possible. Ariana's bombs go off, her servants start batting miscellaneous items about, and men panic. The sounds of utter chaos erupt from the room and the door shudders as men attempt to exit, but it holds and keeps the runners trapped in the nightmare. If the building wasn't aware that something was wrong before, it is now.
"Die, curse you..." mutters the polearm-wielding young man, stepping back and swinging his blade at the man in response. In the hallway, Aboki follows up his howl by attempting to rip his opponent's face off.
Zayid and aboki prove most fearsome when injured. Zayid buries his weapon in his opponent's shoulder, dropping him. Aboki flows over the other man's defending spear and proceeds to spatter blood all over the walls... and Freia.
You peek in for a split second and jerk your head back immidiately. Tbere are four men behind overturned tables at the far side of the room. All of them were lining crossbows up at the door. Your movement was 40 ft.
Ariana smiles grimly at the chaos and moves to the other door, hoping no one is inside. She grips a scroll of invisibility in her hand and if she sees anyone within, casts it on herself.
Noro thinks for a moment.
I got thish
She then grabs one of the downed Thugs, she will then use his body as a shield and charge the crossbow wielders.
Noro grabs the remnants of the man Aboki evicerated and heaves them into position like a huge shield. She bursts into the room and four crossbows twang. Two solid thumps signal two absorbed hits. The other two quarrels bury their heads in the open door.
Noro sees that Halsanna was right. Four men are here. Three look like the men they just defeated. They kneel, spears close by, behind two large, overturned tables that effectively barricade the far 15 ft. of the room. One, clearly the leader, is just finishing the last strap of fine looking half plate. C'Mon, Tears! he taunts as he scoops a long handled weapon with a single spear at its tip, flanked by a pair of short, curving blades.
Well - it is a start! Freia reflects as they down the last crook in the room they entered. I hope Annara is doing okay... Since she hadn't heard much over the turmoil of their own battle, she could only assume the mage was handling herself - and so the tiefling focused on her own task.
With their exceptionally short breather Freia takes a moment to work on her defences as she heads towards the other room. Crossbows. Better be careful!
Placing a finger on her mask to indicate silence, Ariana steps forward. Hold. Who are you? I am not here to hurt you...I am with the city government.
Downstairs:
A Tear! Thank the gods! an elderly man says. He stumbles up to you. We are all insurance against various businesses. We're being held hostage! Please, get us out of here!
Upstaris:
The dead thug has served its purpose, absorbing two crossbow bolts intended for Noro, as she reaches the barricade, Noro tosses the body aside and maneuvers to get over the makeshift wall.
Tossing the body aside Noro vaults over the wall flipping through the air to come down hard on the bad guy on the end, her foot planted on the guys face. Yeah...Kill 'em all, Baby! she yells with a little laugh.
Freia sees Noros heroic charge and attempts to replicate it at the other flank. She clears the barrier - but lacking any grace whatsoever. More a roll then a jump, she lands disoriented and her magic infused sap misses her target.
Oh dam...
Zayid moves quickly toward the fray, motioning for Aboki to precede him into the room.
1 9
2 6
3
4
As Noro comes in, the man attacks her! The nimble pit fighter easily dodges, however, and tumbles over the obstacle like it's not even there. She then lands a solid foot in her target's face. The man grunts, but recovers quickly. His counter attack cuts the air just inches from Noro's ear, but she is unharmed.
Freia... well she's not so lucky. The man is ready for her and attacks as she comes in. The spear catches her shoulder and opens a nice gash. Then she attempts to vault the makeshift wall and he is there, wounding her again on the thigh. Thankfully, his thrid attack goes wide as she frantically bobs and weaves.
Aboki arrives at the scene and ducks under the center man's attack. he snaps up and bites the man on the arm before he can pull it back.
Halsanna and Zayid rush into the room. Halsana continues south to get a clear shot on the situation whereas Zayid sticks to the wall for the moment.
The captain assesses the situation and calls to his men, Hound's Noose, men! At his command, all of them step back.
Downstairs:
Ariana, you hear the sound of boots. Someone's coming from the first level!
Zayid advances and attacks, directing Aboki toward the same man Noro is engaging.
Adriana puts a finger
to her lips. Pretend you did not see me. I Will be here and assist.
Ari casts invisibility from a scroll.
*Gasp!*
Freia cried out in pain as the sharp spear stabbed her multiple times. The chain links and reinforced leather was not enough to protect her - even with both enchanted wards and her Shield spell. And she wasn't fast enough to dodge them either. She couldn't help but feel her fear blossom and an icy lump forming in her stomach.
Her odds of withdrawal looked equally grim. I'll never get back across the baricade in one piece - I'll be stabbed in the back! She saw only one course to get trough this. And that was forward! She bit down to keep herself composed and lashed out with her sword - but the swing was wild and missed by a large margin.
OhDearohdearohdear!