[Game Thread] Chapter One: Awakenings..

[Nimlos]

for Elwen For a few moments, she stands still in the shadows, watching what's going on below her. Then a thought occurs to her. "Great. Now what?" For another moment she watches them, her mind whirring as she tries to figure out what in the world she should do. It's pretty clear they're graverobbers - the concept of people being in a graveyard to raise up some undead is an intuitive leap her mind's not yet ready to make - so what to do about it? Three men, three dogs. If she makes herself known, they'll probably attack. They might run, but probably not. Graverobbers don't like audiences, that's pretty much obvious. But if they're going to start digging up graves, forget about doing anything with this building; they'll be at it a while. Maybe seeing the others would be enough to scare them off. That half-orc ought to scare the hell out of anyone. With a final look, she drifts back into the shadows, intending to return to the others. OOC Figured I'd stop it there in case you wanted to add anything else. If not, let me know and I'll put up a post telling everyone else what I saw.

[Elwen]

for Nimlos One of the men starts to put his shovel in the earth, confirming your suspicions. Of course, he could be a gravedigger, rather than a robber, but something tells you daytime would be a better hour for honest labor. As he begins his work, one of the men looks up in your direction, but does not seem to notice you. OODM Feel free to report back, you'll need another stealth check to move away without drawing any attention.

[Elwen]

for Nimlos As you start to back away, the wind shifts a little. One of the dogs glances up in your direction, catching a whiff of an unfamiliar scent. Immediately it starts barking, which sets the other two dogs off barking in your direction. One of the man glances up in your direction, peers strangely and then says something to the man with the shovel. He replies, but their words get drowned out by the barking dogs. Soon the other two start making their way towards you, their dogs pulling on the chains of their leashes. They are currently about 60 feet away from you. OODM You've beaten the initiative of the dogs (and the men who are acting on the dogs' turn), so feel free to do whatever you like. You can tell they are coming your direction but you can act before they get very far.

A dog starts barking again, joined in by more dogs. Soon there is a cacophany of barking echoing over the crest of the hill, growing louder by the second.

[Nimlos]

for Elwen "Oh, sh*t." As first one dog starts barking, the others joining the chorus, she realizes they at least know she's there, and the men holding their chains will know as well in about two seconds. She backs away swiftly into the deeper shadows by the building, then spins on the ball of her foot and starts running. She gets about one step in before she stumbles, parts of her she's not used to and is still trying not to think about moving in ways she's really not used to, but there's absolutely no time to dwell on that now. Her body's incredible agility recovers before her other foot hits the ground, and she's running again, back toward the others.

She comes back over the top of the hill at a full sprint, racing down to join the others.

"Three men," she gasps as she slides to a stop. "Three dogs."

[Elwen]

As you are processing this news and arranging your battle line, two of the men she mentioned crest the hill, with two dogs on leashes barking. They are wearing dark robes and have short swords in their free hands. One of them blinks in surprise. "I might've known.." He mumbles before turning around over his shoulder. "You'd better get out here...she didn't get the message!"

[Nimlos]

"What the hell is he talking about?" she asks under her breath, looking up the slope at the two men holding straining leashes, a frown on her face. Still, they weren't attacking, and that was a good thing. "They were over there starting to dig up a grave," she continues in a low voice, one the rest of the group can hear but one that won't carry all the way to the two men.

"Whoa," she calls out, stepping just a little to the side so she can address them without someone standing directly in front of her, holding up both her hands in a stopping, calming motion. "No call for this to get nasty. We were just passing by, no harm done."

 

Diplomacy: 28.
She's moving one step to the left, bringing her to Q13.

And what's with all the gravestones right here?

[Elwen]

The man hesitates for a moment, disarmed. His friend glowers, but does not release the dogs just yet. "Just passing by? Just like you just happened to be asking a lot of questions about things a pretty little halfbreed should not be sticking her nose into.."

As he speaks, another man crests the hill, his shovel discarded and a long spear like object in his free hand, while his other holds the third dog by the leash. His face too is a mask of surprise and recognition. "The heretics found us here?" He frowns. "They must not be allowed to interfere with the work of salvation. Our Lord has seen fit to increase our harvest with a fresh recolt."

He lets go of the dog's leash and his men do the same. It seems that whatever flavor of religious zealots these are, they can be reasoned with no easier than their counterparts from Earth's Dark Ages.

OODM Go ahead and ignore the graves south of the building...

[Nimlos]

For a moment, she's a little too confused about what she just heard to think of anything to say, too busy trying to understand just what this idiot in the robes is going on about. After all, she's never heard words like 'little,' 'pretty,' 'halfbreed' and 'her' used to describe her before just now, and they're still not clicking. By the time the other man crests the hill, she's still looking at the first speaker, her head cocked slightly to the side and, judging by the expression on her face, wondering if he took the short bus to the battle.

"What?" she asks finally. "Who ... what are you talking about?"

Instead of an answer, she only gets more confusing words from the new arrival, though in a back corner of her mind, she recognizes what at least part of what they're saying means ... the mention of the heretics is too specific, too directed. It's more evidence of what she's suspected since automatically answering "Tali" when asked her name - evidence that this body she's in has a past.

"Wait..." she begins. "I don't..." And that's as far as she gets before they release the hounds.

"Oh, sh*t," she breathes, a sudden memory dredging itself up, of the time when she ... no, he ... was seven, out riding bikes when that doberman came over that fence at her ... no, him, dammit ... of snatching up that broken brick and throwing it as hard as ...

She starts to drop into a defensive stance, the kind drilled into her during year upon year of taekwondo training, but it's off, it's wrong, the muscle memory isn't there. The dogs have closed half the distance. Without thinking, her hands flash to her back, index fingers hooking into the open circles that form the pommel of each of the six daggers held there, ripping two of them from their sheaths. The one on her left finger spins like a pinwheel, the polished blade glinting in the last rays of the setting sun, while her right hand snaps forward faster than a rattlesnake, an underhand throw hurling the knife toward the lead dog. The blade is still in the air when the dagger she still holds leaves her left hand to arc slightly upward, caught a split second later in her right, ready to throw, as the first blade bites deep into the dog's neck, burying itself in the animal's flesh.

"Sorry, dog," she thinks with a twinge of regret. She hardly objected to the idea of killing an animal to keep it from mauling her, but still, none of this is the dog's fault. Just then, it strikes her what she just did. She'd never been better than 'not-entirely-pathetic' with a thrown knife before, and what she just did was ... "Holy hell," she mutters, taking a half-stumbled step backward.

 

Move action: Draw weapons
Standard action: Lob dagger.
Swift action: Step backward to Q14.

Attack/Damage: 20/21.

[Elwen]

The dagger spins through the air, making a strange whistling sound as it flies towards the dog. The distance is on the upper end of the dagger's range, but it finds its mark, plunging into the canine's head and killing it instantly, its angry barking cut off and replaced with a sad whine as it dies. It hits the earth with a whump sound, though the other two dogs continue moving.

[Olorian]

Saranya doesn't like to get spoken to in this way. "Heretics?? What the hell are you talking about, mister?" The morningstar in her hand, taken out while Tali was away, is lifted in upright position when the dogs are released. Staying close to Ingus, beside him rather than behind him, she faces the oncoming animals. "Wow." leaves her lips as she sees only part of what must have been a lightning-quick movement, but the result is clear: one of the dogs' skulls has a dagger hilt sticking out of it. She moves forward to meet the other two dogs, holding her own weapon in front of her to scare off the animals. The swings she makes with it seem all but secure, as a new brain/muscle controller is getting used to his/her new tools, like a carpenter with a new hammer.

 

Move: towards dogs/black robed men 5 squares
Standard: ready action Righteous Brand vs the first dog/man that enters my melee reach (1)
Rolls: 12 vs AC, 8 damage (misses).

[clark352]

"What's happening? Who are they and-" C'laak's questions are cut short as his jaw drops. This is crazy! Did she just kill that dog?

C'laak briefly considers backing away from the fight, but the pressure of whatever was inside him suddenly increased ten-fold. He HAD to release it.

 

Move to R-11
Explosive Pyre vs J6
vs reflex: 21
damage: 12
Until the start of your next turn, any enemy that enters a square
adjacent to the target or starts its turn there takes 1d6
fire damage.

[girlplay]

Gwenn furrowed her brow at the men who did not just seem unnecessarily rude but actively hated the party for no good reason that she knew of and then sent their attack dogs against them! Panicking momentarily, she considered seriously just turning and running but realized quickly that she could not outrun a dog. She was stil holding the rod in her hand. Maybe she would get lucky and something would just naturally come to her like it had for Tali. That throw was amazing!

Okay... wrath of the gods... She pointed her rod in the general direction of the man with the halberd and... nothing happened. "Go!" she finally said but the rod remained inert.

 

Full Round Action: Try to summon us an Invoker power and fail.

[Elwen]

Much like Peter Parker shouting "Go web, go!" during the first Spider-man movie, the result of Gwenn's command is rather unspectacular. C'laak, however, sees more results. Whatever pressure was inside of him bursts forth engulfing the man in the center of the melee. The flames spread outwards, burning the man to his side as he reacts. He rushes to get away from his companion and the inferno that is engulfing him. moving around Saranya and leaving himself open to her attack. Once he is clear and flanking the girl, he stabs at her with his shortsword. The blade cuts painfully across her unprotected side, causing her world to explode in a shower of pain. Blood flows freely, soaking the earth around her.

OODM The robed man on the right takes 1 point of damage from the explosive pyre, and then provokes an opportunity attack from Saranya by moving to M8 (Do you want me to roll these for you guys to save time?) He then stabs at her side with combat advantage, dealing 13 damage to her. Next is Ingus and then the rest of the baddies.

[Zeppo007]

Things were happening quickly and Ingus felt like he was left in the dust by his companions as they spring into action before he can even tell what is going on. He sees one of the soldiers move around to strike at Saranya. When the infidels sword bites into the half-elf Ingus feels a sea of rage boil up into him. "Not on my watch, Bub." He calls out as he advances across the battlefield. Gripping his mordenkrad tightly he stalks up and slams the fearsome weapon into the hooded man with a baseball swing to the back. "How bout picking on someone yer own size."

Mechanics Move: 4 squares to N9 Standard: Wicked Strike 19 vs 16-AC for 16 damage I also mark the punk. If he shifts or attacks anyone else I get an OA against him. Free Actions: Taunts

[Elwen]

Ingus's hammer crunches painfully into the back of the man who just stabbed Saranya. He howls in pain and then turns his attention to the dwarf.

Unfortunately, Saranya seems to have jumped into the deep end here. The flames engulfing the man in the center burn out, but not before burning both surviving dogs to a crisp and singing the man with the halberd (3 points).

The other man surrounding Saranya strikes at her with an angry cry of rage and pain. Saranya feels the an echo of the pain she felt before and then her world goes dark again as she falls to the ground, bleeding.

The hooded man who seems to be their leader moves down to swing his halberd at Ingus, knocking the spear across his legs and trying to trip the stout dwarf. "You'll be joining the ranks of the faithful soon.." He promises.

OODM The second short sword man stabs Saranya for 10 hp, dropping her to 0. The halberd wielder moves to N7 and tries to knock Ingus prone with a Powerful Strike. It does 12 damage and would normally knock him prone, but I believe as a dwarf he gets an automatic saving throw to not fall down?