An Arl's Ransom

[HorizonsDream]

"I would say he is an impatience man with a bad temper," Simone said honestly. "I would not want to get on his bad side."

[spyguy1503]

"I second that one!" Wallace agrees.

[mgbevan]

"Hmm" Davne sighs part in thought and agreement.
"Alenka, what kind of reputation in personality does the arl have with the folk round here?" She asks, striding along.

[JadedDM]

Alenka smirks wryly. "I'd say you have the right of it. The Arl isn't exactly well loved, but he is feared. He's also wealthy, and money means power. But that is simply the way of things, I suppose."

[spyguy1503]

"Feared is definitely right. If I was that elf I would have given him a piece of my mind!"

[HorizonsDream]

"If you were that elf, you would fear the Arl just as all the others did," Simone says with a shake of her head. "It wasn't just the elf that was slapped, but all the elves it seemed like. The one that dropped all the swords in the mud before we were announced was afraid we were going to be like the Arl."

[JadedDM]

"Such is the way of things," Alenka says. "And I imagine, had the elves won that last war, it would instead be us humans being beaten by our elven masters."

[mgbevan]

"The capacity for cruelty outweighs that of compassion..." Davne says softly to no one in particular

[HorizonsDream]

Simone shrugs a little bit at Alenka. "Probably. But that isn't the way of things right now, and many elves do have perfectly nice masters. Though, many, also have the short end of the stick."

[JadedDM]

The party continues on for a couple of hours without incident. The path takes them into a sparse woodland for awhile. Eventually, Alenka informs them there is a bridge up ahead, and just beyond it is an excellent place to stop for lunch.

They reach a deep chasm, at least 12 yards across, but no bridge to be seen. Rather, just the heavy stakes to which a wooden bridge was probably once attached to.

Before anyone can react to this development, there's a shout behind them followed by a chorus of answers. A band of horrifically ugly, squat humanoids with yellowish-grey skin leap out from behind some trees and bushes, brandishing throwing axes.

"By the Maker!" Alenka cries. "Darkspawn!"

The four nearest of the creatures are about 20 yards away from the party. Each one is equipped with light mail and is carrying a throwing axe, but has a shield and battle axe on their backs.

Genlock.jpg (43.96 KiB) Viewed 5959 times

The one that is furthest away, however, looks much tougher. Unlike the others, he is wearing heavy mail. He's also the one who gave the command to attack.

Genlock Alpha.jpg (37.64 KiB) Viewed 5959 times

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Initiative
Davne (3d6+2): 7
Alenka (3d6+1): 11
Wallace (3d6+1): 14
Simone (3d6+3): 13
Genlock 01 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 02 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 03 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 04 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock Alpha (3d6+2): 12

(OOC: Okay, we're going to take things slow here, so don't be afraid to ask questions if you aren't sure about something. Please take a moment to read up on the combat rules here. As we are all still learning, this battle might take longer than normal, and we should be ready for that. Initiative is ranked from highest to lowest, so Wallace will go first and Davne will go last.

On the map below, assume each square is 4x4 yards. The ravine is at the very top of the map, just off-screen, so about 10 yards north of Davne.

Remember, each person gets one Major action and one Minor action on their turn or two Minor actions.)

[mgbevan]

Davne spins on her heels in surprise. Alenka was not kidding, there they were, darkspawn, and outnumbered too. The seconds it took for her brain to process this set of events before her could prove vital.

Finally her training kicked in, as she moves 8 yards south, bringing herself between the Darkspawn and Alenka, Simone and Wallace. Drawing her shield up and ready she calls "Try and stay behind me!" to the group.

[HorizonsDream]

Simone moves to take cover by the nearby rocks, and takes aim at darkspawn #3 with her crossbow.

[spyguy1503]

Wallace uses his arcane lance on Darkspawn #1.

[JadedDM]

Wallace is the first to act. He turns and holds up his staff, pointing the end at the nearest darkspawn he sees. A small bolt of energy fires from the staff butt and flies toward a Genlock. However, it fizzles out about four yards before it would hit, doing nothing.

Simone quickly hurries over to a nearby boulder, taking cover behind it. She fishes out her crossbow and peeks out from behind the boulder to look for a target.

The Alpha of the Genlocks strides forward confidently. He chuckles darkly to himself, as if the party's defeat was a forgone conclusion. He says something to the others in a strange language; it sounds like he's goading his men on, because they grin and move forward, as well. They aren't completely relaxed, however. They keep their defenses up, just in case.

Alenka slams her staff into the ground and a burst of white energy starts to cackle at the head of her staff. She then points it at the same Genlock Wallace targeted and releases a much larger bolt. It flies far and slams into the Genlock's chest with enough force to make the creature stagger and nearly fall over. Nevertheless, the darkspawn continues forward.

Davne, the shock wearing off, is the last to make her move. She hurries to the front line to act as a shield between the darkspawn and her allies. She readies her actual shield and prepares for the oncoming attack. But can she alone hold off six darkspawn at once? Hopefully her allies can pick a few of them off before they reach her!

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Combat Order
Wallace (3d6+1): 14
Simone (3d6+3): 13
Genlock Alpha (3d6+2): 12
Alenka (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 01 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 02 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 03 (3d6+1): 11
Genlock 04 (3d6+1): 11
Davne (3d6+2): 7

Round 1!

Wallace uses a minor action to ready his staff and a major action to fire an Arcane Lance at Genlock 01. It misses, due to being out of range.
Simone uses a minor action to move 2 yards northeast and 2 yards east to take cover behind a boulder (+2 to defense). She then uses a minor action to ready her crossbow.
Genlock Alpha uses a minor action to move 6 yards north and a major action to defend (+2 to defense).
Alenka uses a minor action to ready her staff and a major action to cast Arcane Bolt at Genlock 01 [TN 10] (3d6+4): 16, hit. She consumes 2 MP.
--Genlock 01 makes a Dexterity (Acrobatics) test [TN 14] (3d6+2): 11, fail. He takes (2d6+5): 13 damage. Genlock 01 is now critically wounded.
Genlock 01 uses a minor action to move 7 yards north and then a major action to defend (+2 defense).
Genlock 02 uses a minor action to move 7 yards north and then a major action to defend (+2 defense).
Genlock 03 uses a minor action to move 7 yards northeast and then a major action to defend (+2 defense).
Genlock 04 uses a minor action to move 7 yards northeast and then a major action to defend (+2 defense).
Davne uses a minor action to move 8 yards south and another minor action to ready her shield.

(OOC: Arcane Lance has a range of 16 yards, Genlock 01 was 20 yards away.

Actions for Round 2?)

[spyguy1503]

(OOC: Oops. Is he in range now?)