What if we could get to the jungle or our canoes? If we could get the Ekujae on our side then we could deal with these bastards.
Still if we do go down, the tunnel is narrow. It would be hard for them to come at us more than a couple at a time, but it would also be hard for us to fight our way out.
Immediately after Fippen's description Sykala gets a very apprehensive look, "I not go there. Not want be trapped small place."
"I'd prefer to avoid going into the tunnels myself, but once we get out there, the entire camp will be upon us. If we decide to do this, we should be prepared."
He doesn't seem entirely disappointed at that prospect.
The barking of orders tells you a force is gathering outside of the hut. You don't have long to make your decision.
"Fip, Ix...Baas hurt." Moving to a defensive position Sykala then turns toward the door, casts a Summon Natures Ally III, and holds it.
"Then we will make a stand here."
Ixius goes to the door of the guardhouse and looks out.
Fippin will take out the wand of healing and try to cast a couple of cures before things get ugly. He casts 2 on Baas and 1 on Ix.
Baas 7 hp
Ix 8 hp
url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2050491/]1d8+1=3, 1d8+1=4, 1d8+1=8[/url]
"Then we will make a stand here."
Ixius goes to the door of the guardhouse and looks out.
Ixius:
You can see about nine guards but there may be more. Some of the ones you can see are moving to either side of the building to ensure you don't somehow escape through the barred windows on the sides or back. Gorse is coming out of the Station House. You don't see Esteban anywhere.
Ixius calls to those behind him: "Guards coming. They are going around the guardhouse. Gorse too."
I more than one bunches up within 15 feet he lets loose with the burning hands .
"Where's Keliwyn? We could use his help. Desna bless us. If we die here my friends, know that it was a pleasure to travel with you and that Desna will see to it that your souls are carried safely and swiftly to their reward. Do not fear death. It is merely the beginning of even greater journeys."
Fippin casts a true strike spell. He tries to get near the door for a moment so that he can stick an arrow in Gorse.
Waiting until Ixius has unleashed his flames, Baas then moves to the front of the with his hammer held high, ready to ruin the day of any Nightfall guard who gets in his way.
Attack & Damage: (1d20+11=15, 2d6+8=14)
Gorse orders the guards to attack and three move toward the door; Ixius lets loose with his burning hands sending them back regretting their obedience.
"Bastards!" shouts Gorse. "Ekujae-loving cowards! Come out and fight!!"
A half-dozen arrows pepper the door, forcing Ixius back from it. There's silence for a long moment.
"Bastards!" shouts Gorse. "Ekujae-loving cowards! Come out and fight!!"A half-dozen arrows pepper the door, forcing Ixius back from it. There's silence for a long moment.
As Gorse yells out Sykala tries to catch a glimpse of him and put a snarling slavering dire wolf in his face.
The door is pulled open so hard it is almost torn off its hinges. The guards are coming in in twos and coming in fast. Gorse is leading from the rear.
Ixius falls back behind Baas and casts mage armor on him.
Initiative 1d20+2=12
Fippin launches the true strike shot that he had ready using his deadly aim feat. His target is Gorse
If it hits it's 10 damage.
As the door opens, Fippin and Sykala make an attempt to get Gorse out of the way. A dire wolf and a well-placed arrow put him on the defensive immediately. He's not barking orders anymore. Someone else is helping too: A crossbow bolt from somewhere high and behind Gorse falls just short of the mark.
The men pour into the room and spread out, along the walls, crossbows aimed at the party. Eight guards have entered the guard house. Clattering and thunking draw your attention to the barred windows around the guard house. Another six guards have aimed crossbows at you from there.
"Give it up," shouts one of the officers. "This won't end good."
Keliwyn suddenly jerks awake, and after a moment or two of confusion, he realizes that he nodded off in Petrune's room. After waking with the others and being at a loss for what else to do, he found himself in the mage's room again, trying to piece things together. Now, it seems, there was some commotion. Rising to his feet, the elf's brain starts to buzz as he realizes it's still early in the day, and possibly not another ekujae attack. He returns to the room where he and his companions are quartered to see if there is anyone else around, and finds the place eerily quiet. Looking out the window, things get even more confusing as he sees Gorse leading a contingent of guards in an assault on the guardhouse. With that, he draws his rapier and heads for the roof, hoping to get a better vantage point to learn what he can.
Keliwyn suddenly jerks awake, and after a moment or two of confusion, he realizes that he nodded off in Petrune's room. After waking with the others and being at a loss for what else to do, he found himself in the mage's room again, trying to piece things together. Now, it seems, there was some commotion. Rising to his feet, the elf's brain starts to buzz as he realizes it's still early in the day, and possibly not another ekujae attack. He returns to the room where he and his companions are quartered to see if there is anyone else around, and finds the place eerily quiet. Looking out the window, things get even more confusing as he sees Gorse leading a contingent of guards in an assault on the guardhouse. With that, he draws his rapier and heads for the roof, hoping to get a better vantage point to learn what he can.
You find Esteban on the roof. A guard lies slumped at his feet. Esteban is aiming the guard's crossbow downwards. "Fire me? You can't fire me!" he's shouting as he reloads.
"Esteban!" Keliwyn yells, trying to get the riverboat captain's attention before he has another bolt strung and ready to fly. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"
As the door opens, Fippin and Sykala make an attempt to get Gorse out of the way. A dire wolf and a well-placed arrow put him on the defensive immediately. He's not barking orders anymore. Someone else is helping too: A crossbow bolt from somewhere high and behind Gorse falls just short of the mark.
The men pour into the room and spread out, along the walls, crossbows aimed at the party. Eight guards have entered the guard house. Clattering and thunking draw your attention to the barred windows around the guard house. Another six guards have aimed crossbows at you from there.
"Give it up," shouts one of the officers. "This won't end good."
Fippin holds his action waiting for the others.
"Damn. How'd these f+!#ers get in here so quick." He looks to the others and whispers "I can likely still get out of here, but I don't want to leave you behind."
Keliwyn:
"Esteban!" Keliwyn yells, trying to get the riverboat captain's attention before he has another bolt strung and ready to fly. "What's going on? Where is everybody?"
"Getting me fired! One bad decision ... hiring you lot! I'll kill that f!&#er Gorse. Get over here and help me," Esteban yells down from the tower. "Who's in charge? Who's in charge? I'm the boss now!"
Ixius holds a scorching ray for now and does nothing.
Glowering Sykala says, "Not catch. Not cage." She intones a prayer to Gozreh and will warp wood 5 of the 6 crossbows at the windows. I assume they are going to try and stop her so her current AC is a 23. The dire wolf continues to attack Gorse.
1d20+15=32, 1d8+12=14
1d20+18=29
Baas does what he does best.
For a moment, everything inside the barracks is still. Crossbows drawn, the guards nervously wait for you to surrender or attack. The only noise is the sound of Gorse attempting to fend off a wolf as it tears him to shreds.
Then the room explodes with action.
Sykala warps the wood on five crossbows causing most of them to fire wildly. One of the bolts sproings up from the warped crossbow and pierces the eye of the guard holding it. He falls out of sight. The rest hit walls or the ceiling of the guardhouse. Baas explodes into action and takes a guard down in one blow, knocking him clear out of the hut. Ixius startles another with a ray of fire.
Keliwyn:
Keliwyn slowly puts down his rapier and unslings his bow as his brain starts working through the possibilities of what's happening. "Esteban! Who is in the guardhouse? Where is everybody? What the hell is going on?"
As Keliwyn looks over the edge he sees a wolf tearing Gorse to pieces. Esteban puts an arrow in Gorse to make sure he stays down.
"Who's in the barracks?" Esteban repeats as the body of a guard is knocked out through the door and into the dirt in front of the barracks. "I'd guess Baas and Sykala are in there, at least. Maybe the others too."
Keliwyn notes the body flying out the door and the wolf attacking Gorse as he nocks an arrow. "Well, then, I guess it's time I joined the party," he remarks as he takes a shot at one of the guards.
Fippin casts a hold person spell on the nearest guard (DC 14).
Keliwyn:
Your arrow wounds but does not kill one of the guards outside the barracks. You cannot aim at any of the guards inside the barracks from here.
One of the guards at the door hesitates momentarily as Fippin targets him with a spell but shakes it off quickly. The seven guards inside the barracks aim crossbows at the party. Not a single one comes close to hitting. The guard at the window whose crossbow was not warped by Sykala's spell fires at her missing.
Keliwyn continues to take advantage of his sniper position, aiming at the guard's outside the barracks.
Attack 1d20=20+7=27, Hit 1d8=7
Crit Roll 1d20=17+7=24, Damage 1d8=5, 1d8=5)
As he let's his arrow fly, Keliwyn can feel what seems like the shot of his life just sing off the bow string, and before it even hits, he knows it will strike true. The grinning elf holds the bow out, looks at it, and exclaims, "Thank you, Ixius!"
Keliwyn:
You're shot takes down one of the remaining guards on this side of the barracks. Something had gone wrong with his crossbow but he was surely going to be a threat sooner or later.
As he let's his arrow fly, Keliwyn can feel what seems like the shot of his life just sing off the bow string, and before it even hits, he knows it will strike true. The grinning elf holds the bow out, looks at it, and exclaims, "Thank you, Ixius!"
Esteban looks momentarily confused until he realizes you're referring to the bow. He smiles and shoots a bolt into the guard you'd wounded earlier. There is now only one guard on the side of the barracks you can see from here.
Ixius closes with on e of the guards in the guardhouse and tries to shock him.
Sykala unleashes lightning that crackles past one of the officers men and burns small holes in his tunic. As there eyes meet she gives him slow feral predatory grin, "Kill." The hot breath and snarling from behind make the hair stand up on the back of his neck as he knows deep down that these are his last moments on this plane of existence.
Fippin casts spiritual weapon in front of a nearby foe.
15 to hit and 5 damage.
Baas takes apart one guard while Fippin, Ixius, and Sykala tear into others. Outside, one guards panicked screaming ends suddenly while another gurgles helplessly, beginning to choke on his own blood.
Recognizing Baas as the greatest threat, not to mention the closest threat, three guards close in on him short swords out. Flanked and outnumbered, Baas is stabbed by one guard and has his arm slashed by another.
The other guards match off with Fippin, Ixius, and Sykala but seem unable to prove the worth of steel against magic.
Keliwyn:
"What the hell?" yells Esteban, suddenly turning and running for the stairs.
Perception (1d20=10+10=20)
Esteban is reacting to someone leaving the Station House through a door beneath you at full trot towards the 'Cold Storage'. It's Petrune. Oh, and he's carrying his spellbook, Mr. Sleepyhead.
"Pas!" (Damn!) Keliwyn mutters as he spots Petrune, book in hand. His neck audibly cracks as he looks after Esteban, and then back to Petrune, and then raises his bow for a shot at the spell caster. Hesitating for only the briefest of moments, Keliwyn realizes that Petrune must have taken back his spell book when he fell asleep in his room just minutes ago, and that although he was at Petrune's mercy, the man didn't harm him. "Pas!" he yells again as he throws his arrow at the ground, slings his bow, grabs his rapier and runs after Esteban.
Ixius claws at the next guard in front of him: