The group runs up stairs. You see burning arrows stuck inside the shop's walls. The glass windows in several rooms are shattered and the flames are beginning to spread.
Kurt looks calmly at the burning shop. Well, this night seems to get more and more interesting.
Assessing the spreading fires he turns to Jasper, "can you manage to put these out?".
Of course they'll just fire more arrows, they must be trying to smoke us out
Turning to Keve, "is there a back way out? They might be waiting but we may have to chance it."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cyrene continues up the stairs, making for the upstairs window that she knows is there. Once she makes it to the upper room she sticks close to the wall and peers out of the window from one side, trying her best to stay in cover as much as possible.
When she locates their foes she tries to work out where best to cast her sleep spell, drawing all of her mental capacity for the effort.
As the bard works on putting out the fires, Kurt slides up to the window with Cyrene, trying to get an idea of how many foes they were up against. One hand finding his scroll case and a scroll of shield.
"Looks like we might be fighting our way out afterall." he mutters, intending to cast his scroll immediately prior to charging out the door, should that become necessary. "Should we need to charge out I will cast shielding magic and go first, my magic should give me a better chance against any further arrows."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Keve does his best to peak out of the window without being seen. "Jasper, try and get those fires out." He whispers over his shoulder as he tries to keep his calm with everything he has ever known is set aflame.
Jasper is able to use his water spell to put out the burning arrows. Even as more are fired through the broken window, he is able to keep the flames from spreading. Based on the rate of fire, there are at least three archers out there. Maybe more soldiers.
The stalemate draws on for sometime before Tabo, the half orc, calls out of the night. "I know that if we come in there, you have an ambush ready. You know that if you charge out, my archers will drop you before you can reach me. So, here's my proposal. Toss your weapons out that window there, and we'll let you keep your lives and this town its freedom. You will come with us and we'll use your bodies to fill our coffers. Refuse, and not only do the next arrows go on the roof, but your entire town with feel the bite of the shackles.
While the slaver is speaking, Keve gets a makeshift bomb ready out of an old flask.
Kurt smiles thinly at Tabos suggestion for "compromise" as he looks out the window, trying to locate his enemies.
"I am not surrendering arms, that's for sure. I am ready to charge out there and take my chances. Other plans?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Jasper swallowed. "I second Kurt's notion. If they come to us, we have the advantage. The only way we stand a chance running against them is if we have a surprise though."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yes. The archers are about 75ft from their target. Well outside of her telepathy range, but well within sleep spell range.
Kurt has a thought. Turning to his companio s.
"I possess the ability to cloak myself and an area in preternatural darkness. After Cyrene tries her spell, if I go out first you all should be able to follow my spell effect and be shielded from arrow fire, at least until we reach the enemy. I do not need light to see, and as long as you stay... oh... twenty feet or so back from me you should be unaffected. This should at least give us a fighting chance to come to grips with Tabo and his ilk."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"The only problem with that is we have no idea how many other thugs are out there. We only know how many are shooting us with arrows. We need to think about the safety of the people in this town as well. I don't know what to do. Every action has consequences. We need to be sure before we act. I don't want to lose someone else to this." He says back to Kurt and the group while hanging his head and fiddling with his newly prepared bomb as what seem like thousands of ideas are thought up and shot down.
"Keve, I think our best bet would be to use that bomb to get out the back of the shop."
"Inaction is how we became trapped. Thought and planning is well and good, but when you paralyze yourself with worry about concequences you are just as lost." Kurt retorts, yet allows "but if there is a back way out of this place, fleeing is certainly an excellent option. We may lose them in the forest."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cyrene and Kurt see 8 men outside the inn. Three of them are archers, two are swordsmen. The half orc is there, as is the elven leader of the slave caravan. The last person is the red headed elf girl that helped you free the first batch of slaves. She dressed for battle in chainmail and wields a staff. She is looking at something in her hand rather than watching the battle. She has a small smile on her face.
Suddenly, you hear a rapping sound approaching. Keve's dad stumbles in with his crutch. "What's going on Keve? Why are there people outside?"
Kurt glances out the window, "Looks like 3 archers and a couple swordsmen, the orc and the mysterious leader of the slavers. Is that... is that the elf that gave us the keys? Why is she here, I wonder if she is friend or foe. Hmm, so it is either 5 against 8, or 6 against 7, depending on who's side the elf girl is on. Unless Brennel is preparedto fight, then we are nearly even odds."
Plus Keve's bomb
Seeing Keve's dad come in, Kurt falls silent, letting his young companion handle discourse with his father.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I freed some slaves and now these slavers are trying to murder us. And burn down the shop. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. We are going to end this soon. Just please, when their attention is on us you need to get away." Keve replies to his father as he makes his way into the room.
" I'm in agreement to blowing a hole in the back wall. It'll allow us to get better positioning. Facing them head on is suicide." He turns toward the furthest back wall and begins setting up the bomb. "All of you keep your distance, I have no clue how strong this is going to be." Once everyone takes cover Keve lights his bomb attempting to blow out the back wall.
Keve lights the cloth fuse and steps back. The resulting explosion rocks the foundation of the house as the wooden wall is blow to pieces, resulting in an open route to the freedom of Mulberry Woods.
As the archers prepare to shoot across your escape route, they fall asleep before their leaders who look on, flabbergasted at Cyrene's magic.
Kurt shakes his head to clear the glash and noise of the explosion from his mind.
Looking out the window, he sees Cyrene drop the archers with a spell.
We should press the advantage, yet my companions do not seem willing and able to go for the kill.
"The way is clear, the time to move is now"
-Posted with Wayfinder
The archers have fallen - go now! Cyrene's mental voice is firm and clear in everyone's heads. Even as her companions act she begins drawing on her psychic energies again - hoping to drop some of the leaders before they engage.
Kurt leads the group through the hole and into the woods. Prepared to use his darkness power to shield the group should any hidden archers or mages target the group as they flee into the forest.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The half orc collapses into a deep slumber as he tries to pursue you into the woods. His fall causes the other leader to hesitate long enough for you to lose pursuit among the trees and shadows.
Once they have lost persuit, Kurt stops to catch his breath. Then, turning to the group.
"What next?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Strike now - while they are not prepared." Cyrene seems entirely ready to go with the martial solution. "We could steal around the village and come on them from the flank but we have to do something."
Kurt listens to Cyrene and admires her enthusiasm, yet does not quite agree.
"What advantage we gained from your magics is lost by now. I say we find a place to camp for the night and reftesh our magics. While we do so we can come up with a plan for dealing with these slavers on the morrow." Taking a moment to think, he adds.
"There are, what, less than a half score slavers remaining. If they intend to search for us or enslave the town as promised they will have to spread themselves thin. If we are careful we can likely encounter them in smaller groups and even our odds. Either way a night if rest will allow me to prepare magics better suited to the task at hand."
Looking to Jasper, Keve and Ulfred, "Your thoughts?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
Jasper liked civilization - minimial as it was for the town - in comparison to the woods. Yet he understood the severity of the consequences were they to venture back at this time.
"If by small groups you mean pairs. Really small groups. I don't think I can stomach another beheading." Jasper shuddered.
"We should also head a bit deeper into the woods just to be safe. Find a flat spot for some rest. Sleep."
Happy Brennel was safe for now, the bard was thinking of how best to save their hides. Keve will have a tough time leaving his dad.
Ulfred thinks for a moment before speaking. "If we are going to fight these slavers, then we will need two things: rest, and a strategy. We will also need to make sure that they do not follow us into the woods and attack us while we sleep. I can take first watch, as I can see in the darkness without a torch. In the morning, we should be careful when we attack, so as not to bring all of them running at once."
Kurt nods at his companions words, "then let us find a safe place to camp. And plan a course for the future."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I'll take the watch before dawn then."
Jasper then set to aid his companions in finding a suitable campsite.
Kurt turns to the dwarf, "better let me take first watch then, my eyes are keen in the dark and I will require unbroken sleep to replenish my magics, I shall wake you for second watch if you wish."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Cyrene looks from one to another, slightly bemused by their choice, but she goes along uncomplaining. Being back under trees is actually pleasant after all the time spent either chained or in buildings - the open sky reminds her more of the First World, only much more bland.
Curling up under a large tree she slips easily into sleep, completely neglecting to volunteer for a watch...
About an hour after the rest of the party has gone to sleep, Kurt sees a pair a torch-like lights moving across the ground about 30ft away from your campsite. They are accompanied by a intermittent clicking sound.
Kurt stiffens as he sees the anamoly in an otherwise quiet night. Not wanting to wake the whole camp over possibly nothing, especially the spellcasters, yet unwilling to leave them completely unprepared, Kurt quietly shakes Ulfred awake.
"Ware, something approaches. I go to see what it is."
With that, he catches up his sword and slowly moves to investigate, mind going through the preparations for his combat magics.
-Posted with Wayfinder
As he approaches the strange light, Kurt quickly realizes that it is just a pair of fire beetles scrouging for food in the night. He steps on a twig, and they quickly take to the air to escape the sudden sound.
Kurt returns to the camp and notifies Ulfred that it was a false alarm and resumes his watch.
-Posted with Wayfinder
The rest of the night passes without interest.
Kurt wakes in the cold grey of dawn, not exactly rested but well enough. He quickly goes about cleaning up his sleeping space and breaking out his spellbook. After carrful study of his book and perusal of his components pouch, he is confident that he will be able to successfully cast color spray twice this day, a spell that should come in very useful.
Waiting for the remainder of the group to finish waking and completing their own morning meditations, he ventures:
"We have reached relative safety and have choices to make. We can either return to town and wipe out these slavers, or continue on our way from this place. Myself, I have nothing tying me to this towb and can easily move on... yet, I feel I owe these slavers s debt of cold steel for yesterday's events, so I am for further confrontation.
That said, we need a plan of action. Any thoughts?"
-Posted with Wayfinder
"I think," Jasper replied, "We should move onward while we have eluded them. We have to hope they will fragment into smaller groups upon leaving this place and can be ambushed then. I'm no fighter. They are. There are many of them. They must be broken down to small numbers."
Keve wouldn't want to hear that, but heroics weren't something Jasper felt like inspiring right then.
"Do you want to leave them alone in the village?" Cyrene asks, something slightly feral in her eyes. "If this were my tribe I would not let the slavers live. Although taking them in small groups makes sense."
Kurt weighs in, "Cyrene's potent sleep magic has proven quite potent, and I have memorized magics that can even the numbers should they get in close. I am of the opinion that we stand even odds in a stand up fight, and significant advantage should we find them split up." looling around the group.
"In my thinking, the time to press the advantage is today, if we tarry longer they may recieve reinforcements or, worse, Hellknight support. Though I have no roots in this town and care not overmuch for their fate I do owe these slavers a debt in blood and intend to collect."
-Posted with Wayfinder
Turning to the bard, "do you posses disguise magic, " to the rest of the group, "or stealth skills? Scouting the town might be an excellent first step, we can then see what we will be up against."
-Posted with Wayfinder
As you all are discussing how to approach, you hear the sounds of something approaching. Fallen leaves and twigs grind as the mysterious comer drags along the ground.
Kurt stops as the noises grow closer, "do you all hear that?" moving towards the sound as to put himself in front of the group to the sounds, and waited to see what would make its way to their camp.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Disguise magic? No! Do I look like a thief?.." Jasper was cut short by a rustling in the woods. He drew his bow and readied an arrow. At least we'll outnumber them...
"Disguise magic? No! Do I look like a thief?.." Jasper was cut short by a rustling in the woods. He drew his bow and readied an arrow. At least we'll outnumber them...
Kurt's eyebrows rise in surprise at the bard's outburst and accusation. Distracted by the approaching sounds he still manages to mutter, "no, I was thinking in terms of performance aids. You are clearly not a thief."
Far too moral for that, though a thief would certainly come in handy for our future plans. An assassin even moreso.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Ulfred stops when he hears the sound from beyond the trees, and tries to discern what it is.