Zumii notices Thosys approaching, she lunges again at the Hell Knight.
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Looking incredulous, "Look, I'm not sure they can survive it either. Running the few steps to the edge of the bridge and jumping in the creek will make it very difficult for those heavy armored buffoons to chase us and it'll allow the rest to retreat." She looks meaningfully at her pouch as she leaves, "Take another potion if you want, quickly, lets go!" Lia draws her bow to cover Areal's escape as she steps out of the wagon and lets fly an arrow at the priest above her.
Hoping to assist with the escape, Tobias moves slightly to the side and weaves his hand through the air, placing a slumber hex on the hellknight standing on the wagon's top.
I chuck another dagger at the cleric. Lord do I hate evil priests.
10 + 3 = 13, damage 3 if I hit.
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The battle rags on as the number of opponents dwindles. Salm fires at the cleric driving his bolt into the cleric's left shoulder. The cleric grunts in pain and turns his attention to reloading his large crossbow; his eyes intent on Salm.
Meanwhile Zumii continues to battle with the hellknight in front of her. Her stab with her dagger fails to hit the mark and she leaves herself vulnerable for just a moment. It is in that moment that the hellknight thrusts forward with his own sword, cutting a slice across her midsection creating a painful gash (5 hp dmg). Just in time, Thosys steps forward, flanking the knight and forcing him to split his focus and defences.
Back at the wagon, Hadrian attempts another throwing dagger and again the blade sails wide of the cleric missing him completely. Tobias tries his hand at putting the driver hellknight to sleep but somehow the knight manages to stave off the effects of the spell. Free of the magic effects, the driver snaps the reins causing the horses to rush forward.
Inside the wagon, Lia attempts to convince Areal to jump out of the wagon. Before the cleric can respond to her latest attempt, the wagon suddenly lurches forward threatening to knock both Lia and Areal off their feet. .
On top of the wagon, the cleric seems caught off guard but manages to hang onto the crossbow to remain standing.
ACTIONS?
Salm locks eyes with the cleric and knocks another arrow.
Damage
Tobias attempts to jump to one side of the wagon
With what energy he has left, he carefully steps away from the horses and attempts a wild swing with his sap at the driver.
Zumii raises her shield & continues her attack.
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The wagon lurches forward causing Lia to grasp for her balance and Tobias to leap to the side to avoid being trampled by the fleeing horses. He manages to get to the side of the wagon and swing with his sap, cracking the driver's side. The combination of that attack and the cleric's negative surge proves too much for the hellknight who passes out. Without the driver, the horses still gallop forward but the wagon begins to go off track and towards the treeline.
As the wagon lurches forward, Lia convinces Areal to grab another potion and head towards the door, "I hope I don't regret this!" he says as he grasps the doorframe and leaps for the creek. He barely clears the stone wall of the bridge and disappears over the edge. A second later a splash can be heard.
Atop the wagon the cleric moves the crossbow around to take another shot at Salm. The wagon bumps over the road edge onto the rough ground near the treeline throwing off his aim. His bolt flies high of Salm. However, the inquistor's aim is true as his bolt clears the top of the large crossbow striking the cleric squarely between the eyes. His head snaps back, followed by the rest of his body as he lands with a thud on the roof of the prison wagon.
The remaining hellknight sees the leader of his group fall and is noticeably shaken. Looking about quickly he sees he is the only remaining member of his force. Faced with the overwhelming odds, he does the only thing he can: he runs. Breaking away from both Zumii and Thosys, he makes a straight retreat towards his horseless companions further up the road.
Zumii will allow the Hell Knight to flee, she is more interested to check everyone is not too badly harmed.
I call out, "Ok! Let's go!" I wait a bit for the others to begin to make their withdrawal before doing the same myself. While waiting, I'll take a shot at the remaining hellknight if Tobias' hex fails.
Shortbow Damage
I firmly embrace the noble cousin of valor - survival and make a retreat towards my comrades.
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Having overcome the Hellknight force, the party attempts to retreat from the area. Lia, unfortunately, does not exit the wagon as gracefully as Areal and slams into the side of the bridge while Tobias completes the sweep of the Hellknights by dropping the last one to sleep in the middle of the road.
Their enemies vanquished the group heeds Salm's words and breaks for the treeline, along with the wet but no worse for wear, Areal. Once back to the horses stashed in a ways from the sight of the road, the group mounts up and rejoins the rest of the Children of Westcrown back at the fork off the main road. Janiven and the other part of the group are overjoyed to see Areal but the elven man says, "There will be time for celebration later. For now need to get back to the city and to the safe house. The Hellknights will not be pleased to lose their prize."
Nodding in agreement everyone focuses on the hard ride back to the city stopping long enough to provide Areal with a makeshift disguise to get past the guards at the gate. Staggering your return into the city, the guards pay little attention to any of you and once again you are within the city walls.
A short time later, you arrive back at the safe house and after corralling the horses, you enter into the sanctuary and begin to debrief. Areal shakes each of your hands and smiles warmly saying "I owe you my life as well as the continuation of our little group here. I am a strong man, but even I could not have withstood the 'interrogation' tactics of the Hellknights within their castle. They would have broken me at some point and all of this would have been for naught."
Looking over the group he says, "Some of your are injured. Let's tend to those wounds and you can tell me all about yourselves." With that Areal heads off to the bathing chamber with a fresh set of clothing and his healer's kit.
Salm has 2 cure light wounds spells available and is willing to cast them on whomever needs them.
CLW
CLW
First come first serve.
Tobias rubs his hands together, pulling out his healer's kit and laying things out his alchemical supplies.
Should anyone require further attention, please let me know and I will do what I can to provide you some healing."
Zumii stands with the others, "Let me aid you Areal & Salm"
"It would seem I am too quite exhausted. Rest would be welcomed."
Zumii seats herself on the floor & awaits instruction from Areal & the rest of the community.
"The Everbloom smiles upon us this night. Let us enjoy our victory, rest for a bit, then rally to continue on to victory." Salm does enjoy himself that night and intends to rest the next day.
Hadrian proceeds to take some cloth and dab at his cuts. "Maybe someone could help me with some ointment after I shower and clean the cuts. After that I'm hoping for beer, soup, bread and sleep. In that order."
Who's injured and by how much? That way we can figure out the healing.
I'm not hurt.
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Using the available healing spells and healing kits, everyone is soon cleaned up and healed and ready to rest up. Another meal is put together for everyone including ale, hot soup, roasted chicken and potatoes and several loaves of fresh bread.
While eating, the decoy group are eager to hear the specifics of the battle with the Hellknights. All through the meal, Areal is quiet and watches the group interact; his eyes measuring those around the table. As a natural lull comes to the conversation, Areal finally speaks.
"I want to thank you all again for rescuing me. The Order of the Rack would not have been kind and all our budding efforts here would have been crushed before we had even started. However, your rescue has given the Hellknights a black eye that they will be eager to avenge. I would suggest that no one leave this safe house for several days to allow the Knights to bluster and posture before the City Council. We shall begin to sow the word that they were attacked by bandits which will eventually force them to start actually dealing with real bandits."
Getting up from the table Areal stretches and winces a bit before holding his shoulder, "For now, though, I think rest is in order. Quarters have been prepared for you. I'm afraid we are a bit cramped so you will have to double up. I'll leave you to decide how best to do that. You are free to leave, of course, if you so choose. If so, we'll find way to contact you when we are ready to move forward." With that, Areal heads off to the sleeping quarters part of the safe house saying good night to the other members of the group.
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Lia thanks Zumii for taking care of her large goose-egg on her head . Looking around at the others she leans in close to Zumii and whispers, "Ummm....would you mind sharing a room with me?"
She will stay here for the first day as long as something interesting is happening but her need for some fresh air gets the better of her the second day and she heads out, "You can find me on the western shore in Rega Scripa down by the docks. Just leave a shell on the corner post of the pier in front of The Devil's Contract. I'll be busy tweaking the Dotarri but I'll come when I see it." Her smile disappears into her hood as she pulls it up and heads out.
Salm spends his time in weapons practice and getting to know the Children and their procedures better.
Zumii, whispers back to Lia, "Of course not, I would welcome your presence"
Zumii will explore the temple further. If there is little to note Zumii will mingle more with the Children of Westcrown & possibly implore the Children to share their knowledge of the profession cooking.
"Nice work for you too. Who split up the party? We were following the plan." Salm does indeed look very pleased with himself.
Hadrian eyes everyone moving around and their verbal jabs at each other while looking for a book to read. Finding, something acceptable he settles into a corner out of the way half to read, half to people watch.
Tobias takes a genuine interest in the Children of Westcrown. With a warm smile, he walks around the area, getting to know the Children better. He takes particular interest in anyone who seem genuinely interested in the healing arts, or at least understanding of the mortal body.
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After the meeting adjorns, everyone breaks away from the table and goes about their tasks. Lia and Zumii find a bed chamber that provides comfortable if cramped accomodations. The beds are comfortable and clean and it does not take long for the ladies to fall asleep once they lay their heads down. Before Lia leaves with Zumii, Vitti steps up to her and says, "I hope you are feeling better. I saw your fall from the carriage. You were magnificent in saving Areal. Perhaps some time I can show you my woodshop and carvings." With that Vitti once again reaches down and kisses Lia's hand giving his best smile before standing tall once again and running his fingers through his long green hair.
Hadrian finds a book off the sparse bookshelves covering some historical theatre from Westcrowns glory days. It is rather dry in spots but holds enough interest as he watches the other Children work on clearing away the dishes and storing away the leftover food. As Hadrian reaches a particularly good part of the book he notices the female gnome eyeing with a glare as she directs traffic in the kitchen.
Thosys finds Tarvi once again with her nose in a book about magic. She is munching on some leftover vegetables that have not been cleared from the table as of yet. In front of her is a half finished glass of white wine. She notes Thosys standing there and looks up over her spectacles saying, "Yes, is there something you need? If not, could you please step out of my light? I need to finish this book..."
As the time passes Salm notes that there doesn't seem to be any sort of real training regime for the Children. Most seem to explore their own areas of interest but no formalized training seems to be happening.
As Zumii searches the temple she finds more trappings to Imodae than anything else. From her observations it seems that both the halfling female Fiosa and the Scalvo the soft-spoken human male seem to worship Imodae. Fiosa in fact seems to be taken with Tobias and asks many questions about the healing arts focusing more on the technical aspects of his healing procedures rather than the magical ones.
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She gingerly touches her head where she hit it at Vitti's words but manages a small smile and says, "I think he got a little to used to being driven around in the comforts of a carriage. I had a tough time convincing him to jump in the refreshing creeks waters." She pauses with uncertainty flowing across her face, "I think I would like to see your carvings sometime." She self-consciously wipes at a particularly dirty spot on her arm, accomplishing nothing more than to bring attention to just how grimy the rest of her is by making a almost clean spot.
Hadrian eyes the gnome a bit warily but decides to try to be friendly and sets down the book and saunters over,
"Excuse me ma'am. I hope to not be in the way, too many hands in the kitchen is worse than too few just as is true on a stage but if I can lend any aide I'll be glad to."
Salm will try to organize some basic weapons and team work drills for the Children. As well as escape drills in case they need to leave in a hurry. The goal is to insure that everyone is at least minimally capable with a weapon and won't be likely to confuse orders given in the heat of the moment.
Now, pay attention, Fiosa, Tobias warmly addresses Fiosa. While Tobias speaks through a warm, half-smile, his tone and attitude are serious and determined as he concentrates on his trade. This is a healer's kit, I am sure you've seen one around here, but I want you to pay close attention to what it contains; bandages, antiseptics, and other non-magical methods for treating injury and disease. Pausing for a moment, as if considering Fiosa, Tobias continues, Look, here is my medicinal journal, you're free to read it at your leisure; in it you will find many techniques for brewing antitoxin, antivenom, and antiplague potions to help combat illness in the world. Also, you'll see some advanced techniques for first aid and long-term care.
After explaining many of the pages to Fiosa, Tobias concludes his...lecture, It is important, Fiosa, that you pass on what you've learned today. As mortals we rely on the divine for healing far too often, but it is important to understand how we can help ourselves as the divine can be fickle. Of course, that isn't to say magic is completely worthless...once you understand the basics that I've shown you today, we can begin to examine some mystical, nondivine, methods of healing.
For dramatic effect, Tobias weaves his hands through the air, reciting an incantation and stops just before the spell completes, leaving the residual energies of the spell tingling in the air. With a smile, he dismisses Fiosa.
Zumii is thoroughly enjoying exploring & taking note of trappings relating to Iomedae. Since Iomedae was Aroden's herald many of Aroden's previous temples & shrines became used by Iomedae & her followers. Zumii is unsure if this is the case with this temple, but either way the site intrigues her.
Zumii observes Fiosa & Scalvo. Fiosa seems eager to be in Tobias's presence & Scalvo goes about his day to day life happily. Zumii smiles observing Tobias instruct Fiosa & can't help but wonder who is more taken with who.
Zumii heads back to her shared chambers & to see how Lia is fairing. On her way back she will look to see if the Children have a local store or merchants within the temple.
Much like Zumii, Salm spends time in the temple. He doesn't expect to find any paraphernalia of his patron deity, Milani, but takes some comfort in the trappings of her allies.
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She gingerly touches her head where she hit it at Vitti's words but manages a small smile and says, "I think he got a little to used to being driven around in the comforts of a carriage. I had a tough time convincing him to jump in the refreshing creeks waters." She pauses with uncertainty flowing across her face, "I think I would like to see your carvings sometime." She self-consciously wipes at a particularly dirty spot on her arm, accomplishing nothing more than to bring attention to just how grimy the rest of her is by making a almost clean spot.
Vitti's eyes twinkle at Lia's awkwardness but he produces a small silk cloth from one of the many pouches sewn into his patchwork cloak. "Here, take this. Now that you've gone and made a clean spot, you might want to clean up the rest. We have some great tubs if you'd like to clean up. I am sure we can find you some clean clothes while we clean yours. I'd love to hear some stories about what you have been doing in the city." The strange man leans back on a stool, waiting to hear Lia's response and takes a small piece of wood out of his cloak and starting to carve it.
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Salm will try to organize some basic weapons and team work drills for the Children. As well as escape drills in case they need to leave in a hurry. The goal is to insure that everyone is at least minimally capable with a weapon and won't be likely to confuse orders given in the heat of the moment.
During Salm's practices, everyone participates to the best of their ability. However, over time, Salm notices that the two larger men, Ermolos and Rizzardo seem to take the training much faster than the others. Both can be seen continuing to work with their weapons and running drills long after the others have returned to other tasks.
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Fiosa listens intently as Tobias runs through his lecture. She eagerly takes the journal and absently strokes the cover as she continues to take in all that Tobias emparts. When Tobias finishes, Fiosa smiles and says, "Thank you so much for sharing with me. I believe in the power of the divine but the skill of mortals is also important. I shall study your journal and come with more questions if you don't mind?"
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Thosys smiles as he sits down opposite Tarvi. There is only so much about magic you can learn from books. To truly learn about the Arts, one has to go out and see how Arcane energies interact with the world around them. Do you have much experience with magic?
Tarvi looks over at Thosys with a measuring look. Deciding to continue the conversation she says, "I would like to have more expertise and have done much reading. However, one needs formal training to be successful and my parents do not approve of my interest in the arcane arts. They are only interested in marrying me off to whichever boor has the largest dowry. As if their jewelry store did not bring them enough coin."[/b]