|
It's only a couple of minutes' run from the Soggy Piper to the coastline, and the fog gets all the thicker with every thudding step. Once you reach the end of the road, even in the fog it won't be difficult to find what you're looking for.
Six brash young toughs covered with tattoos of vicious, snarling dogs are prodding four terrified older men off the edge of a cliff into the sea. The prisoners are shackled together in a line with heavy chains, which shall surely drag them to the sea floor in short order should they tumble from the cliff’s edge into the churning waters below.
Round 1 map
Key:
t1-6 - War Hounder thugs
p1-4 - The four prisoners chained together
A - Allara
D - Dakkon
J - Janos
N - Nyria
S - Sevegny
W - Wadi
|
Nyria swore softly at such a display of insolence. In her mind, wisdom was to be venerated, not threatened with violence. Wordlessly, she levelled the crossbow that she had been carrying in her arms and aimed it at the nearest thug.
To-Hit:
Damage:
No move action this round, as she is waiting to see how the thugs disperse to see if she can use her bombs to good effect. At the moment, she risks hurting one of the prisoners given how they are bunched up.
|
|
"Move along, folks, there's nothin to see here," says an athletically built thug (#1) from his watch position. When Janos replies with the order to halt, he laughs, and calls out to his companions, "Alright boys, kick 'em over the ledge and let's take care of these witnesses."
With that, Janos rushes into the group at a bolt, and as she rushes past, one of the thugs (#2) takes a swing at her with a metal claw fashioned after a dogs.
Dodging the blow easily, Janos reaches the prisoners, who are still quite startled, but now have a spark of hope in their eyes. Now close enough to see them in more detail, you distinguish a frail elderly man wearing glasses, a mid-aged woman with an apron and a piece of cloth holding her hair back, a tall young man with freckles and noticeably cleaner clothes than the others, and an old man with what must once have been a powerful build, with several deep scars on his face.
"Oh thank the gods you've come! Hurry, free us!"
At the same time, Dakkon charges forward with a cry, landing a pulverizing blow with his shield on a thug with a makeshift blackjack. The hit knocks him to the ground, where he lies unconscious.
"Get up, you IDIOT!" shouts the thug up front, but to no avail. He looks up to see Allara walking slowly in his direction, and after a few eldritch words a blast of green light shoots violently towards him, but flies off course at the last moment.
Unfortunately for him, moments later a crossbow bolt from Nyria and a blast of fire zip towards him. He dodges the flame only for the bolt to catch him in the shoulder, and he falls, still breathing yet silent.
Sevegny, her voice calm yet boomingly loud, shouts a command, her eyes fixated on one of the gangsters.
The young man looks confused, but understanding visibly dawns on him, and he begins to look around nervously, down to the water for a moment, clearly considering his options. Finally, he turns and runs, heading southeast along the cliff, unwilling to risk his life in the waters below but unable to get the voice telling him to leave out of his head.
As he flees, Janos will swing with a scimitar, but only catch the air where he wants moments before.
The western-most thug (t3) surveys the skirmish, looks thoughtful for a moment, and then turns to the prisoner nearest to him, fragile man wearing glasses, advancing with a clawed glove on one hand, and grabs him, forcing him over the ledge.
The old man fights back, but is too weak and tumbles over. The chain tugs at the legs of the woman, and as she falls, she grabs at the thin freckled man, knocking him off balance. They are both dragged over the edge, but as the scarred old man falls, he grabs at the loose cobbled street and finds a hold, stopping the movement. You can hear the screams of the other three prisoners just below the ledge, and the shabby shackles strain under their combined weight.
Meanwhile, another tattooed brute will level a crossbow at Dakkon, and let loose a bolt.
The bolt sinks into Dakkons wooden shield with a thick thud and the gangster drops the weapon, cursing its uselessness, as he backs away slowly.
The last thug turns to Janos, intent on catching him with the vicious claw this time, but for all his determination, Janos is too fast for him.
Unable to strike home, he backs up cautiously, spitting curses at the interlopers as colorful as you're likely to hear anywhere in the world.
Janos 20
Dakkon 17
Allara 12
Nyria 10
Sevegny 8
Wadi 8
Thugs 6
|
|
Smiling smugly as the thug she had fired her bolt at falls to the ground, Nyria drops her crossbow so that the strap causes it to fall by her side and retrieves a small vial from beneath her robes and shakes it vigorously.
"Stand back," she yells to her fellow adventurers.
|
Janos does not have a scimitar out, hoping to catch the chain next round. I could have bashed with Light Shield, I supposse, though.
I am not sure what sort of action this will be to try to pull them up, or make sure they don't fall, but theat will be my firts priority.
If possible, (depending on the action required above), Janos will move to the ledge and attempt to cast Guidance first.
Catch and attempt to pull up prisoners (even going so far as to be Flat Footed if needed).
Free Actio: Drop shield so that I have less an Armor Check Penalty, and also now threaten no squares. . .
Move Action: Move to the side of the cliff where they have fallen and caught on.
Standard Action: Cast 0 Level Spell Guidance, hoping for a +1 on the roll to pull them up.
In Kelish, without even realizing he had slipped back into that language without thinking, "I can take the hit, Sandsworn, destroy them, and don't fear for me.", hoping that she would throw her bomb at the best place she could find, even if it caught him as well.
Back to common once he has the chains (or the old mans hands, whichever is better in the cituation), Janos says reassuringly "Come my friends, I have got you, and will not let go. I'll keep you from falling while my brave allies destroy these "War Hounders"."
|
|
Janos does not have a scimitar out, hoping to catch the chain next round. I could have bashed with Light Shield, I supposse, though.
I am not sure what sort of action this will be to try to pull them up, or make sure they don't fall, but theat will be my firts priority.
If possible, (depending on the action required above), Janos will move to the ledge and attempt to cast Guidance first.
Catch and attempt to pull up prisoners (even going so far as to be Flat Footed if needed).
Free Actio: Drop shield so that I have less an Armor Check Penalty, and also now threaten no squares. . .
Move Action: Move to the side of the cliff where they have fallen and caught on.
Standard Action: Cast 0 Level Spell Guidance, hoping for a +1 on the roll to pull them up.
In Kelish, without even realizing he had slipped back into that language without thinking, "I can take the hit, Sandsworn, destroy them, and don't fear for me.", hoping that she would throw her bomb at the best place she could find, even if it caught him as well.
Back to common once he has the chains (or the old mans hands, whichever is better in the cituation), Janos says reassuringly "Come my friends, I have got you, and will not let go. I'll keep you from falling while my brave allies destroy these "War Hounders"."
** spoiler omitted **
|
OOC: Did Dakkon not get an AOO on T3 as he fled south-east? If he did, he lunges with his short sword viciously at the fleeing culprit.
AOO:
Damage if hits-
Seeing the peril the prisoners on the West side are in, Dakkon smoothly 5-foot steps into melee with T4, casually stepping on T6's unconscious body and moving into his original location, attacking T4 with a brutal combination of shield bashing and short sword thrusts.
OOC: As I am now duelling 1 on 1 +1 to AC unless someone else gets involved.
Short Sword:
Heavy Shield:
Assuming this drops his foe, Dakkon will attempt to leap on top of the chain (as P4 is adjacent to him; effectively he is falling prone onto the chain as a free action). If his attack does not drop his foe, he will remain standing.
Sevegny here. Posting to get my dot, sorry for breaking the flow.
|
|
Seeing with thug with the crossbow, she decides to reply to his bolts with her sling.
OOC:
Fire at T4 with sling
Attack 1d20+2
Damage 1d4I'll also use my Dodge feat against attacks from T4
OOC: I thought Dodge was simply +1AC in PF, not conditional to one person? Also he is no longer carrying a crossbow, he dropped it after firing at me. Also, you go after me in initiative and if I haven't dropped him, i'm still in melee with him for a -4 and giving him a cover bonus against your sling shot :(
|
|
Seeing three of the prisoners go over the edge, Janos instinctively drops his shield and dashes toward them. Seeing an opening, one of the thugs swings with his clawed glove and hammering into his backside.
;
Once he reaches the scarred man holding on for dear life, he grabs the chains around the mans feet, relieving the strain on his muscles, and is able to begin pulling the others back up, slowly.
Dakkon steps forward, and with a thrust from his sword and a heavy thud from his shield, he takes another foe down. Rushing to help the prisoners, he drops his weight on a segment of chain to keep it from moving.
After seeing another foe drop, Allara moves closer to the fray and fires another green orb at one of the remaining foes (t3). The orb strikes home and the criminal shouts out in pain, but begins leveling his crossbow on the assailant.
Nyria calls out a warning and the concoction she is shaking begins to bubble violently, shifting colors as it does so. While she does so, Sevegny bows her head and begins silently praying, and Wadi moves in on one of the few remaining thugs, bringing his thumbs together and flicking his fingers forward.
Flame spouts and then pours out of the fingertips, fanning over the thug. He reels from the pain and falls unconscious, collapsing to the floor with a pathetic twitch.
;
Meanwhile, his gangmate (t4) runs toward Janos, not willing to let the prisoners be rescued so easily, drawing a dagger from his sleeve as he runs past the elderly man, past Dakkon, and attempts to plant it in Janos' back.
for
Puncturing Janos' skin, the dagger opens a gash, but Janos stands strong, holding the chains and focusing with all his willpower.
Lastly, the gullible thug that had begun running slows his pace, and then turns around. Looking quite confused about what is going on, he turns back toward the battle. He begins to rush toward Sevegny, his dog claw weapon raised to strike as he nears.
|
|
Using his weight to help keep the chain weighted down and keep the prisoners from falling to their doom, Dakkon drops his weapons, draws a crossbow and takes a single, carefully aimed shot at the Thug threatening Janos with his loaded crossbow.
Edited to show the correct weapon damage roll; crossbow is heavy not light. Missed anyway :(
Edit: Hate to be the rules lawyer again :( but Allara your firing into a melee so your attack roll is at -3. Suspect you have missed either way though.
Final Edit: No AOO on T4 either as he ran past me? Curse you thugs! :P
|
|
Janos, heaving against the pull of Golarion with all of his might, is unable to pull the next prisoner up to safety. The chains creak from the strain, but for now they appear to be holding steady.
for
Dakkon levels his crossbow at the thug who had attacked Janos, but unfortunately sends his bolt flying over the gangsters shoulder and out to sea. Allara's bolt of green energy follows suit, dissipating harmlessly over the sea.
If you miss the target (whether aiming at a creature or a grid intersection), roll 1d8. This determines the misdirection of the throw, with 1 falling short (off-target in a straight line toward the thrower), and 2 through 8 rotating around the target creature or grid intersection in a clockwise direction. Then, count a number of squares in the indicated direction equal to the range increment of the throw. After you determine where the weapon landed, it deals splash damage to all creatures in that square and in all adjacent squares.
Nyria throws the explosive vial towards the thug, but fails to hit her target, floating off course and landing but a few feet away from the elderly man, and the blast is enough to knock him unconscious. Still breathing, his body goes limp, but Janos' hold remains strong.
Sevegny raises her spear warningly at the thug, who foolishly tries to rush past it. The tip pierces the skin of his leg, cutting a gash through cloth and skin easily. He staggers but does not fall, and prepares to bring the metal claw down on Sevegny.
for
Wadi closes in on man assaulting Janos, drawing a club and preparing to use it. The gangster turns his attention back towards Wadi, blood dripping off of his dagger.
for
He slashes Wadi across the chest, cutting him but not deeply, and moves to the side carefully .
|
|
Cursing her poor aim, Nyria nonetheless moves so that she has a clear path to the thug and then retrieves her dagger and throws it at her target.
I'd mentioned that Nyria would keep 20' from her assailant while throwing the bomb, specifically because I wasn't aware of where the thug would finish up.
... seriously, how can one person be that bad at throwing stuff?
|
|
Dakkon drops his crossbow, leaving a small stockpile of weapons on that square (Shield, Crossbow, Short Sword...) and stands up while pulling his trident over his shoulder and wielding it in two hands (I've provoked an AOO from the Thug- my AC is a little lower due to not having my shield in hand).
Dakkon then 5-foot steps so that he is flanking T4, and thrusts his Trident, attempting to impale the Thug on the three spines of his deadly weapon.
for
|
|
Janos struggles more with the chains, but makes no progress. Fortunately, they appear to still be holding strong and his grip is keeping them from falling further, but who's to say how long that will last?
Dakkon retrieves another weapon and a thug will take a swing at him as he does so.
The man finds a gap Dakkons armor and thrusts his knife, withdrawing it and grinning at the blood. A lesser person may have fallen to the blow, but Dakkon appears to shrug it off and brings the trident to bear, running the man through with a powerful jab.
The thug looks down at the wound, and back at Dakkon. "You can't stop Nessian, it's far too late," he whispers with a grin, spitting blood at Dakkon. Moments later he slumps and stops moving.
Allara turns around to set Sevegny's assailant in her sights, and this time her bolt of acid hits its target; the man cries out as the blast hits him unexpectedly, but Allara is too far for him to chase after with Sevegny still in front of him.
Nyria, hoping to take down the foe that Allara hit, moves to the side and flings a dagger. Whether it was a sudden burst of wind or poor aim, the dagger misses by a wide margin and clatters to the ground behind the thug.
Sevegny takes advantage of the momentary distraction of projectiles and slashes the thug across the side of his head, cutting a wide and deep gash. Clutching the wound, he falls over, unconscious.
The cries of the prisoners dangling above the churning sea, is all that you can hear as the last of the thugs fall.