Next initiatives.
Upon spotting the duo on the road, Mijanor says, "Now there's a promise of a break in all this marchin. Torag be blessin us this day."
He will channel positive energy hopefully healing and relieving most of their fatigue except Vykos who he selects out. He would have done this immediately upon being aware of potential adversaries.
positive healing within 30' (2d6=12)
Mijanor raises the silver Hammer of Torag before him and calls down a blessing of life upon his allies. A flash of silvery light and the faint clang of a hammer ringing in the air, and the burden of a long, hot day is lifted from his companions.
All characters, companions, and mounts have been completely relieved of nonlethal damage. Vykos, as he has an endure elements has no nonlethal. The party is no longer fatigued.
Alexei, Kin Lur, Mijanor (turn taken), Enemy, and Vykos remain this round.
Alexei, Kin Lur, Mijanor (turn taken), Enemy remain this round.
Kin Lur will attempt to move into the trees alongside the road. Assuming he cannot scale the embankment on the dog, he will move Fourthea as close to the embankment as possible, direct her to stay, climb up on the saddle so he's standing, and jump/climb to the top of the embankment. Rolls posted earlier.
If this is not feasible, he will scout for a place where he and hopefully Fourthea can get off the road and into the trees - probably away from the attackers. Having just come this way, he will hopefully know if there's any point in such a search -- if there's not, he will instead ride forward 30' (Fourthea's speed currently) and let fly at the attacker that shouted earlier.
Shortbow attack; damage (1d20+8=25, 1d4=1)
If Fourthea's move puts me within 30' of my attacker, both the attack and the damage are +1 from Point Blank Shot.
Kin Lur maneuvers his faithful dog Fourthea over to the embankment, and in an impressive feat of athleticism, jumps from his mounts back up to the embankment. Grasping at some exposed tree roots, he pulls himself up onto the embankment and is now behind a tree.
That leaves Alexei, the enemy, then Vykos.
Augrok's Turn:
With Ur protected as well as he could currently, Augrok releases that part of him that the gods saw fit to return, even if it was for ever so briefly. In his place stood a black bear similar to Ur, that bumped shoulders, growled something, and then moved off of the road into the trees to its right, the other bear following.
Alexei's Turn
Spur mount (running double move) to the visible archers, hopefully fast enough to avoid any ambush lurking in woods.
Draw scimitar during movement.
Leap from saddle (acrobatics) up embankment, hopefully reaching one before he can draw a new weapon. I'd like to end up in melee with him, so that his friend has to think twice before shooting.
Dice Rolls:
Ride: 11 (roll) + 10 (skill) = 21
Jump: 20 (roll) + 7 (skill) = 27.
If I reach him and can get in an attack after my move action jump:
Attack: 12 (roll) + 2 (charge) +6 (attack bonus) = 20 (and I'm AC 14 instead of 16).
Alexei decides to show up his ranger companion, charging forward in a fury, precariously rising in his saddle only to leap at the last moment up to the embankment. His powerful legs clear the top, and with scimitar in hand he carries the momentum of his rush as he attacks the human-sized opponent.
Alexei deals 8 damage.
Alexei decides to show up his ranger companion, charging forward in a fury, precariously rising in his saddle only to leap at the last moment up to the embankment. His powerful legs clear the top, and with scimitar in hand he carries the momentum of his rush as he attacks the human-sized opponent.
Alexei deals 8 damage.
Okay, the enemy has taken their turn (unbenownst to the party).
Vykos is up next.
Vykos urges Reaper forward until he is within 20' of the humanoid opposite Alexi's . Once there his face takes on a frightening expression as he flings his arms wide at the figure.
Vykos:
The enemy has narrowly saved against your effect with a 13 and is now shaken.
Okay, new round begins with Augrok, then Ergrin.
Communication with Ur was easy when he was in this state, reinforcing his idea that he was more meant to be one of the forest denizens that his current incarnation. The words they had exchanged essentially consisted of this:
"Vermin to harm us. We scare away."
"Upstart vermin."
Augrok and Ur were ranging in a wide arc towards the two shooters, using ears, eyes, and nose to locate anything unexpected on their way towards them.
Augrok:
A hot stale wind is blowing out of the east, carrying the scent of more humanoids downwind. Yourself and Ur detect 2 more humanoids on each side of the road, for a total of 4 new creatures.
DM Drax:
Ergin's turn, posted previously:
I whistle quietly to the others and, if they can see me, attempt to signal by making little walkie-walkie fingers with both hands and indicate that these little walkie-walkie hand people are coming towards us. They will either understand or think I've lost it.
I crouch down in my position off of the road.
The steep embankment means you can attempt to hide from enemies on your side of the road (and gain total cover), but you now know that enemies on both sides have seen you and fired on you.
Assuming you still attempt to Stealth up to the enemy on your side, you are now 10 feet away from it.
Ergrin crouches low, moving as gracefully as a dwarf can along the steep embankment. He stops 10 feet from the closest archer on the right side of the road, pressing his back to wall to conceal his presence.
Suddenly four more humanoids appear at the edges of the forest above the embankments, two on each side of the road. On each side one of these new combatants slides down the ledge onto the road, wielding longswords. The other four fire longbows at Ergrin.
Ergrin is fortunate this time, as only one arrow appears to strike true - deflected at the last moment by a meaty dwarven palm.
Ergrin's death appears to be averted for now, but it is then a new opponent comes into view. Two hounds, jaws wreathed in flames, move up the road and stand at the feet of the two sword-wielding humanoids.
The opponents on the road do not take any actions.
Updated map is available here.
On Alexei's Turn:
Attack rolls: Scimitar: 16 + 4 = 20; short sword: 8 + 4 = 12.
Damage (if applicable): scimitar: 3 + 3 = 6; short sword: 1 + 1 = 2.
For now I am going to assume you simply stand in place and attack, your training realizes the futility of maneuvering in the underbrush.
Alexei draws his smaller dagger, and in a beautiful display of swordsmanship the blades flash in the edging darkness. Unfortunately with his weaker eyesight he appears to mistake a tree branch for the creature and the dull thunk of steel on wood confirms this. With his scimitar caught in the branch, his shortsword thrust is off target.
The creature cackles. To those who speak Goblin:
"Stupid human. Darkness will be your grave."
On Alexei's Turn:
Take 5-ft. step back (away from road) so as not to be flanked;
Alexei:
Dorak:
On Kin Lur's turn:
Stealth checks for each 20' of movement (1d20+14=23, 1d20+14=24)
Shortbow attack; damage; sneak attack, if it applies (1d20+8=27, 1d4=4, 1d6=1)
Dorak:
Dorak:
Kin Lur will move into the thick underbrush away from the road .
Thanks to Kin Lur's superior training, he is able to tiptoe around the thick branches and leaves of the forest, moving 20 feet north into the forest.
As he trundles forward you hear Mijanor say in a deep rumbling voice, "Haha! Take it to em lads! Torag's blessin be upon us!" Raising his hammer he utters a prayer to Torag in Dwarvish and you feel your senses sharpen and your spirits raised.
All characters except Mijanor:
A new creature enters the fray. Striding forward with purpose from around the bend in the road ahead is another humanoid. This one is very differently equipped than the others - studded leather armor, with two short swords with wicked curved blades drawn. Emblazoned on the chestpiece of his armor is a crimson red five-fingered hand. He takes up position in N16 between the two humanoids with longswords.
"Come on, journeymen. Offer your throats and we'll be done here."
Characters with darkvision see only a gray hand.
Do I have any idea why I hit him with the scimitar before, but hit a tree this time? Alexei obviously wouldn't know that both attack rolls were 20, but he'd know they were roughly as good, and that one hit solidly and the other hit... a tree. Did I see him ready a shield or something? Or can I assume some kind of magic is at work? [/ooc]
Your enemy did indeed ready a shield as a move action (no attack of opportunity). Between the tree and the shield, you were unable to land a blow that you are confident would have been successful if either factor was not present.
I do realize now that you would have had an attack of opportunity when it fired the bow at Ergrin, so you may make that attack roll now.
So, do you want to drop your short sword as a free action and then use your scimitar two-handed in the future? I will allow you to drop the weapon on your previous turn if you like.
So, do you want to drop your short sword as a free action and then use your scimitar two-handed in the future? I will allow you to drop the weapon on your previous turn if you like.
I'd like to keep it in hand, but just not use it to attack. That way, if one of those dogs attacks (and has a lower AC) I won't have to go looking for it again amidst all the leaf litter. And if we have to flee, I don't want to lose it.
Vykos is up next.
Vykos is up next.
Vykos is up next.
Vykos attempts a Knowledge (Arcana) check on the hounds (free action). Realizing he has little chance of controlling Reaper if things come to blows, Vykos dismounts (move action). Vykos then attempts to cast ray of enfeeblement on the dual-wielding foe. Vykos then 5-ft steps and uses Reaper for cover.
Ranged Touch: 1d20+3=18, Strength Damage: 1d6+1=5
The ray hits the creature in the chest and deals damage.
Vykos witnesses the arrival of two hounds and three mean-looking humanoids on the road before him. Vykos searches his mind for information that might identify the mysterious red hounds, but the knowledge evades him. He is confident they are not the product of magical works. He decides that dismounting his horse Reaper, before it becomes unruly, would be safest as it is untrained for war.
Hoping to disrupt the enemies plan, Vykos calls forth necromantic energy in an ancient tongue. A thin red ray springs forth from his index finger, striking the humanoid wielding two short-swords in the chest. The humanoid falls to one knee before steadying itself, appearing shocked at the sudden departure of its strength. The dispassionate Vykos then takes cover behind his own steed.
Next round, starting with Augrok and Ergrin.
The foliage on the side of the road is thick, but not thick enough that it is hampering, Augrok having grown used to the more "natural" point of view like coming home. Casting about with ears and nose as well as eyes, Augrok realizes he has come up on the same side as Kin Lur and Alexei. It makes little difference from his viewpoint on this side of the road, but he can't help but wonder about the other side of the road, and whether or not it has its own share of hostile beings with arrows.
"We attack.", he said to Ur, the tone of the audible growl enough to convey the message.
Leading the way for Ur, Augrok closes distance with the nearest humanoid, anticipating that he may be engaged. If that is the case, a growl and huff will tell Ur to help while he looks for the other one on this side of the road. The goings-on in the center are rather difficult for him to see, so he pays it no mind at this particular time, expecting that someone would call out for help if it is needed.
Augrok:
Move to the closest enemy.
-If enemy is already engaged (by Kin or Alexei), then Ur helps them and Augrok moves to the next closest enemy (still on the embankment)
-If the enemy is not engaged, the both of them engage.
Two bears lumber through the forest. In the evening light, distinguishing Augrok from his companion is impossible. One bear moves up to the humanoid engaging Alexei and begins to growl, rearing up on its hind legs. The other lumbers through the forest with ease, moving up to the humanoid further along the embankment.
Neither Augrok nor Ur can attack as both of you had to double-move to reach the opponents, but you now threaten.
Ergrin will move towards the dogs and hobgoblins on the path and let two shurikens fly at one of the dogs.
As Ergrin steps forward to engage the hounds, the closest beast opens it's jaws and spews forth a cone of flame that envelops the dwarf. The other steps forward and mimics it's double.
Ergrin, please make 2 Reflex saves.
Damage:
7 fire if you fail the first, none if you succeed. DC 13.
11 fire if you fail the second, none if you succeed. DC 13.
One bear moves up to the humanoid engaging Alexei and begins to growl, rearing up on its hind legs.