Final Fantasy Hacktics

I'll be honest here, I work better running something by the seat of my pants than I do planning out a bunch of details ahead of time. Also, since it seems like the displayed interest in this game is less serious-minded and more humorous in nature, a deeply-detailed epic story would probably drown in the sea of silliness. I currently have no starting plot in mind as I thought I'd see what kinds of characters people intend to bring to the game first and then work from there. This method has worked in the past and I hope it will continue to work for this.

The basics of the game are probably all that is important. It will be a high fantasy medieval setting. This means magic is common and technology is low. Monarchies and magocracies are the rule as opposed to modern forms of government. Monsters roam the world, both above and below ground. There are multiple planes of existence to be traveled across and through, even those that are the homes to the gods themselves. Welcome to the world of Sephyr. If you want to know more, click the spoiler. If you think that's all you really need to know about the setting, feel free to move on.

Here's a piss-poor map of the Human Kingdoms and surrounding lands. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/TelodinKingdomsMap1.jpg)



So you're ready to join up for a rousing adventure of merriment and mayhem? That's great, but first you'll need a character. (To those of you who I've already discussed characters with outside of the forum, just post your stuff according to the guidelines below.) Now there isn't too much to worry about here - I'm not going to direct you towards a pile of rulebooks and say build a character. I just need some very basic information from you and with that I'll write up the mechanics for your character based on that info. In that same simplified way of thinking though, I don't want anyone coming to me with some fully-detailed character sheet for the game system I'll be basing my mechanics off of and expecting they'll get to play some min-maxed monstrosity. So, here is what I'll be asking for along with a note on each.

Quote
-Name: You must have one of these. If you want to have more than one, that's fine too.
-Gender/Sex: If you feel so inclined, these don't have to match up. Some races have the natural option of Neuter as well.
-Race: More information listed below.
-Age (Human Equivalent): Not all races live for the same length of time. You give me a human age and if you're not human I'll work out the numbers.
-Birth Place: Pick a region from those listed above. If you would like more information on those regions before choosing, let me know.
-Appearance/Clothing: This is hopefully self-explanatory. Try to keep it appropriate for a fantasy setting.
-History/Background/Motivation/Goals: The more you have to say here, the more I'll have to work with for a plot.
-Combat Style: Again, the more details you can give me on this, the better. Unless you want to go with Pacifist, which is also a perfectly valid choice. If you have specific types of weapons or armor you want your character to be in, make a note of that here.
-Religious Affiliation (if any): While it is not required to follow any specific faith, the gods are very active forces in Sephyr and being unaffiliated can prove potentially hazardous in some situations. Remember, even if you don't actually believe you can always fake it.

The next part Raven had easy with Curse of the Viper. There was only one race to choose from: human. In my game that just isn't so. There are many choices and for the most part if you can think it, I can probably make it playable. That said, here is a quick list of the more common races in the parts of the world I would expect the game to take place in.

As I said before, if there is a race you know of that you want to be and its not listed here, PM me about it (either on the forum or on IRC). I tend to be able to make just about anything work.

Just a quick piece on the gods - I don't want to write up a pile of information on what are still only partially fleshed-out deities. If you list something like your character worships the God of Magic or the God of War then I'll find a nice match for you from my notes. If you put in something completely out of left field, I will attempt to find some kind of match. For those of you familiar with the base D&D gods here is a chart for names to their equivalents in Sephyr.





Once I've collected everyone's character data I'll be posting your character sheets in a post below which will be updated as the game moves along. After that, I'll be starting off with a general assessment of everyone's situation and we'll begin with some kind of direction (I hope.) It seems like this is going to be a sandbox-world sort of game. You'll have pretty free reign of where to go and what to do. I'll likely go with popular vote among the players if there is some kind of dissent about what do to or where to go.

I will be running the game in 'Scenes' and 'Battle Panes'. Scenes will be the time for roleplaying, deciding on where to go and what to do and generally interacting with the world outside of battle. Battle Panes will be used for combat and they will follow much of the same format as was used in Curse of the Viper.

The game will progress when one of two things has been achieved: Either there is a party consensus or the time limit has been reached. With each Scene I will be posting a cut-off time for votes on where the game will go next. If you do not make yourself heard by that time, the game will continue without your input and you will be carried along with the flow of things. This will also hold true for Battle Panes - if you don't post before the time limit, you will forfeit your turn.

Battle Panes will have a specific format, again based directly on how things were done in CotV. It worked well there and I hope I can make it work as well here. First though I want to take a moment to shamelessly steal Raven's own words to explain again how Battle Panes will work. Those of you familiar with the system should read through it for some small changes that will be applied.

Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz said something like this
----------Combat and Battle Pane Explanations----------

All combat will be explained in "Battle Panes", a sort of freeze frame or ongoing novelization of each turn as it happens.  The description of each Battle Pane will be the full summary of all the actions taken, the reactions from the enemy, and a situation to work out of for the current Battle Pane.  The map will be presented to the players in the form of an image showing the locations of the player units, all known enemy units, and giving the players a good idea of what the terrain looks like.  This overview will be updated with each Battle Pane, and should be easy to follow.

During each Battle Pane, a character is allowed a default of four (4) Actions that he or she can perform, and also allowed to do things such as talk which doesn't require using up an Action. Examples of Actions are:

1. Moving
2. Drawing a weapon or item from your pack.
3. Casting a spell or using a power/skill.
4. Safely storing a held item in your back/sheathing a weapon properly.

There will also be Advanced Actions available to you as the game moves on which require more than one Action to perform. At the start of the game all players have access to one Advanced Action: Charge. If there is at least two tiles between you and a target, you can perform a Charge which will give you a bonus to your attack but will inflict a temporary penalty to your defense. Charging moves you at Running speed (see below),  but without such severe penalties to defense. A Charge must end with an Attack. You can't use a Charge to flee from battle.

When moving there is no distance cap per action. However, moving farther in a single action will delay how long it takes for your next action to trigger (as should be logical, since moving farther takes longer).  Note that there are also 2 types of movement: Normal and Running. Normal movement is just that, normal. You move at a steady pace and react to your surrounding appropriately. By contrast, Running lets you move a whole lot faster but at the expense of not being able to make attacks or put up more than a passive defense against incoming attacks. Running is good for getting the hell out of a mess, but not very useful if you intend to fight.

Try and be creative with your Actions. Remember, you can attempt to do just about anything. Success or failure will depend on your character's abilities and you can never succeed if you don't try. (However, if you try to do something completely impossible I will let you know so you don't waste actions on it.)

I will try to remember to make notes on terrain as I post each Battle Pane. If there are questions about any terrain seen on a map, just ask then. I will keep open the possibility of both airborne and underwater combat but for now all that really needs to be noted for that is to make a note of how many tiles vertically you are from 'zero'. When flying, zero is the ground and when underwater zero is the surface.

Quote from: RavenOfRazgriz said something only vaguely like this
----------Range Explanations----------

There are several different combat ranges. These include Melee, Reach, Short, Medium, and Long. Ranged attacks are usually only affected by terrain when it interferes with line of sight. When counting squares for range, remember that diagonal movement counts as 1.5 squares.

Melee: A melee attack against an adjacent enemy.  In game terms, this Range is 1 Square anywhere around the unit, including diagonally.

Reach: A melee attack with a long weapon such as a polearm. This can hit enemies 2 sqaures away but not immediately adjacent enemies.

Close: Close range, but far enough away that a melee attack won't be effective. In game terms, this Range is anywhere from 2 to 4 Squares in a diamond around the unit. This is primarily used for thrown weapons and some skills.

Medium: An average combat distance that some ranged weapons function at. In game terms, this Range is 4-12 Squares in a diamond around the unit. Some weaker short range weapons such a slings fall into this category, as do some skills.

Long: A far range that most ranged weapons function at. In game terms, this Range is best used from 8-20 Squares in a diamond around the unit. It can be used for closer range attacks, but at a penalty.

As for the posting format, I do want to keep the same format that was settled on in CotV. That is normal text for narrative actions, "Bold print and quotes for when your character is speaking," and notation numbers in parentheses (1) when designating an action.



If four actions seem to let the game go too slow per turn, then I may increase the number to six later on. I'd rather start with less and add more than start with too many and take them away afterwards.

As for Scenes, I was hoping to at least keep them to the same narrative plain-text and speaking bold-text. Anything that needs to be said Out of Character should be in ((double parentheses)) or noted in some other obvious fashion.



For the time being, this part is going to be left empty since I will determine your initial load out of weapons and armor based on how much information you give me in your character's Combat Style entry. After everyone has fleshed out their characters here in the thread and I've posted your character sheets, then you'll be able to visit the shop to purchase the gear you'll need to make your way in the world with whatever Gold you have. I'm going to reserve the post after this one for whatever shops will be available to you as the game progresses. Most of the basic adventuring gear will be available in almost any decent sized part of civilization. During Scenes I will try to remember to note that the Shop Is Open or the Shop Is Closed for general restocking of gear. If you want to find something special/specific when you're in a town or city, say so and we'll see how things go from there. You can be vague in your requests to find special gear with things like "Something to help improve my defense" or "A charm to make my magic stronger." Its not like I expect anyone to come to me with a detailed list of equipment they would like to go and find.



Being in a world of high magic, even death itself can be held at bay or denied entirely. Its just not always easy. If you die, there will expectedly be some length of time you won't be able to play for. There is also the possibility that the only people likely to go through the trouble to bring you back from the dead are your fellow players. It will be up to them to choose whether or not to pursue methods of resurrection or to let you rest in peace. Should the latter option be chosen, you can withdraw from the game entirely or go onto the Waiting List, should such a thing be necessary. The Waiting List will be for anyone that wants to play in the game but is either coming in late or I didn't have room for in the initial party. If you do end up dead and there is no wait to rejoin the game with a new character, please make a new character. I don't want to see a long-lost brother that is a clone of your original dead character showing up to join the party out of nowhere, nor will I tolerate a new character joining the scene who for some reason has the insane agenda of resurrecting your old character. That kind of thing will not be tolerated. I'm not saying you can't play a relative however. Just make sure that if you intend to that they have been previously established in your background AND that they are the kind of character to take on adventuring as a lifestyle. I hope I don't have to spell that out any further than I already did.



I think that's just about everything for getting this started. I already have some players that are definitely signed on for the game and they just need to post their characters here using the format listed above (Character portrait images are encouraged.) Anyone else that is interested in playing, feel free to just throw your hat into the ring. If I get more entries than I have slots left open for the game, I'll leave it to an RNG to see who makes the cut and who goes on the Waiting List.

Potions: You drink this to use it. Pulling it from a pouch or pack requires 1 Action. Drinking it can be done fast enough that it doesn't require an action.
Oils: These are applied directly to an object to make it function, usually a weapon. Pulling it from a pouch or pack requires 1 Action. Applying it also requires 1 Action.
Scrolls: You must be able to learn the spell on the scroll to cast it at all. You must have a high enough Magic Skill to do so safely. You can attempt to cast a spell off a scroll without the necessary skill but it may backfire. Scrolls usually require 1 Action to activate.
Wands: Like Scrolls, you must be able to learn the spell in a wand to activate it. Magic Skill doesn't affect your ability to activate a wand unless your Magic Skill is flagged with (Items Only). Wands cannot backfire - if you fail to activate them properly they just fizzle and waste a charge.
Wondrous Items: These usually require a command-word and/or being worn to gain the benefits from them. Anyone can use these unless they empower a specific skill (like Rage.)

Quote from: Rhyhorn
~Info~
Name: Rhyhorn
Gender: Male
Race:Monster
Age: 5
Birthplace: Mountains of Soreth
Appearance: This (http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/041/1/2/Rhyhorn_by_Kidura.jpg), covered in many leather sacks like a carrier beast.  His body is made almost purely of stone, leaving him in many ways akin to a Golem.  His stone-exterior is covered in the faded blue markings of elf's blood when not covered by the leather sacks, draconic runes of unknown use inscribed on his hide from a previous adventure. Their purpose is, and may forever be left, unknown.

Background & Personality: A stone-rhinoceros of unknown origin and sometimes questionable intellect, Rhyhorn lives as Rhyhorn lives - eating rocks, carrying goods for others in trade for money, and performing other simple tasks while roaming from place to place.  His previous adventures haven't been remarkable enough to warrant being told, and aside from the markings on his hide and some half-healed scars, he bears no mementos of them.  Rhyhorn is instinctual and quick to anger, charging perceived adversaries without warning, using the massive weight of his body to crush threats that aren't impaled upon his horn.  When not threatened, Rhyhorn has a habit of being silly or inattentive to the situation at hand, if not being directly addressed and having his attention maintained through some means.  While Rhyhorn can speak when required, the act of speech seems to come terribly difficult to him, causing him to often result to other forms of communication when possible.  He can easily understand speech spoken to him, however... again, as long as his attention can be held.

Combat Style: At his core, Rhyhorn is a simplistic fighter.  Offensively, he uses his rock-hard face and body as weapons, often charging his opponents resulting in body slams or horn impalements.  While Rhyhorn himself is not the kind to back down from a fight, he places the lives of companions and innocents above his own, often drawing and maintaining the enemy's aggression as he fights so others can heal, escape, or themselves fight without being harmed.  Despite his seemingly low intellect and "need" to eat, Rhyhorn understands enough of his physiology to know he can take plenty of abuse, something that pairs well with his primitive defensive instincts.  His selfless nature has resulted in him having several half-healed scars across his stone body, reminders of adventures with companions that parted ways with him long ago.  In desperate situations, Rhyhorn exhibits an intellect and ingenuity that seems far beyond him... though that could just be the result of a Golem-like equivalent of an adrenaline rush, because it never seems to last.

Religious Affiliation: Animals have no God.

~Stats~
HP: 60
Defense: 20
Movement: 4
Endurance: 9
Reflex Speed: 1
Magic Defense: 2
Melee Skill: 20
Ranged Skill: 12
Magic Skill: 0
Athletics: 5
Stealth: 0
Stamina: 12
Knowledge: 1
Perception:  5
Social:  -2

~Abilities~
Horn Attack: Your most basic attack form. Range: Melee. Power: 11. Requires 1 Action to use.
Focus: Makes you Focused. Being Focused allows you to use other abilities. Requires 1 Action to use.
Up The Walls: You may move up to 6 squares along a wall or ceiling during any movement. If you do not end your movement on the ground, at the end of the 6 squares of movement, you fall. You must be Focused to use this ability.
Roar: Lose being Focused and gain a +14 bonus to Power on your next attack. If you miss you still lose being Focused. You must be Focused before using again. No Action to use, just declare you will be using it in your attack Action.

~Powers~
Level 1 Powers (4/day): Stomp, Harden, Expansion.
-Stomp: You stomp the ground and create a shockwave that can knock down anyone in range. Range: 4 squares, cone shaped. Power: 6 (non-lethal) Requires 1 Action to use.
-Harden: Gain a +4 bonus to your Defense for a short time.  Requires 1 Action to use.
-Expansion: Grow one size category for a short time. Increases Attack Power and Range of Horn Attack but lowers Defense. Requires 1 Action to use.

Level 2 Powers (1/day): Rest.
-Rest: Regenerate your body with a short rest. Heals 1-12 HP. Range: Self. Requires 1 Action to use. Augment: You can consume 2 Level 1 Power uses per day to increase the total amount healed to 2-24 HP. This still only requires 1 Action to use when Augmented.

~Racial Traits~
Stone Body: Having a body made of stone grants more than a little bit of protection. You are considered to be wearing heavy armor and get a +8 bonus to your Defense. You gain a 25% chance to ignore critical hits against you. You also ignore the first 2 points of damage from any weapon that is not made of Adamantine. You can also subsist on nothing but rocks for nourishment. You are immune to most natural poisons and diseases, but cannot be easily healed by magic, nor do you recover HP from resting. You also reduce all Fire damage you take by 2 points.

~Equipment~

spoiler: Other Gear

[Carry]

{Tied to Neck by String}
1 Waterskin (full of water) - 4lb.
1 Chalkboard + Rag - 1lb.

{Worn on Front Hooves}
1 Brute Gauntlets - 1lb.

{Worn on Front Legs}
1 Bracers of Armor - 0lb.

{On Back}
1 Exotic Pack Saddle - 20lb. (Counts as "Clothes", so 0lb.)

{Exotic Pack Saddle Contents}
1 Bedroll - 5lb.
2 Caltrop Sacks - 5lb.
5 Chalk - 0lb.
1 Flint and Steel - 0lb.
1 Grappling Hook - 4lb.
1 Rations - 1lb.
1 Rope, Silk - 5lb.
1 Rope of Stone - 5lb.
2 Acid - 2lb.
2 Everburning Torches - 2lb.
2 Smokestick - 1lb.
2 Sun Rod - 2lb.
1 Artisan's Tools, Masterwork - 5lb.
1 Greatsword - 8lb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opj8jak_GXY)
3 Oil of Light Repair - .3lb.
4 Unidentified Potions - .4lb.
## Rhyhorn's Money - 2.96lbs
## Xun's Money - 12.7lbs

//Total Carry Weight: 56.98lb.//

[Pull, Weight/5]

1 Cart - 200lb.

{Cart Contents}
1 Chest, Rhyhorn's - 25lb.
1 Chest, Nathalie's - 25lb.
5 Firewood - 100lb.
1 Lock (Amazing) - 1lb.
# Unsorted Rocks - 15lb.
4 Chalkboard + Rag - 4lb.
1 Crossbow, Heavy - 8lb.
2 Crossbow, Light - 8lb.
60 Bolts, Crossbow - 6lb.
2 Javelin - 2lb.
2 Glaive - 20lb.
1 Greatsword - 8lb.
2 Halberd - 24lb.
2 Scythe - 20lb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opj8jak_GXY)
3 Masterwork Battleaxe - 18lb.
1 Longspear +1 - 9lb.

{Nathalie's Chest (No Lock) Contents}
1 Backpack (Empty) - 2lb.
1 Bedroll - 5lb.
1 Ink (Gold) - 0lb.
1 Ink (Purple) - 0lb.
1 Ink (Black) - 0lb.
1 Inkpen - 0lb.
1 Parchment (sheet) - 0lb.
3 Rations, trail - 3lb.
2 Soap - 2lb.
1 Waterskin - 4lb.
1 Disguise Kit - 8lb.
1 Scale, Merchant - 1lb.
1 Thieves' Tools, Masterwork - 2lb.
1 Cold Weather Outfit - 7lb.
1 Courtier Outfit with Jewelry - 6lb.
104 Bolts, Crossbow - 10.4lb.
## Nathalie's Money - 2.98lb.

Rhyhorn's Chest (Sealed with 1 Amazing Lock)
[Unsorted Goods and Supplies]

Total Pull Weight: 627.78lb. (125.556lb.)

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 87 lbs. Medium Load: 174 lbs. Heavy Load: 262 lbs.

Languages: Common, Dwarven

Quote from: Hogarth
~Info~
Name: Hogarth
Sex: Female
Race: Alynthian Elf
Age: 134
Birthplace: Alynthia
Background/History/Motivation/Goals: Raised by a nomadic tribe of stoats (and people) in the frozen north, she has learned to hunt and kill for herself. Prone to berserker rages common of her tribe, she uses a large battle axe and smaller, other axes for throwing. She refuses all other weapons. She thinks wizards are cowards, due to her low intelligence and lack of social skills. She left Alynthia for having "killed at least one of everything that lives there", looking for other, more exciting things to attack and then possibly eat. Ale, violence, and adventure are what she lives for, as she drifts from day to day.

Combat style: Pig-headed, focused, rushed attacks are her specialty. She will often Charge in to swing her axe, and really only uses her throwing axes when it would either look cool or win a contest for gold.
Religious alignment: She screams the name of her heathen gods to empower her for fight, and to frighten her enemies. She sometimes makes up new, different gods to scream to in case they might exist or the name sounds scarier.

~Stats~
HP: 59
Defense: 17
Movement: 8
Endurance: 7
Reflex Speed: 4
Magic Resistance: 2
Melee Skill: 33
Ranged Skill: 24
Magic Skill: -130 because wizards are cowards.
Athletics: 10
Stealth: 3
Stamina: 3
Knowledge: -1
Perception: 2
Social: -1

Attacks:
- Greataxe: Power 27. Melee Skill Bonus:+4. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Throwing Axe: Power 15. Range: 2-10 squares (loses accuracy every for 2 squares.) Requires 1 Action to use (includes drawing the weapon to throw.)

~Abilities~
Illiterate: This counts as an ability. You can't read. You're lucky you know how to speak. Future note: Not all abilities are good ones.
Rage (4/day): You can go berserk for a short time, temporarily increasing your Power, Combat Skills, HP and Magic Resistance while also lowering your Defense. At the end of your Rage, you become fatigued and must rest before using your Rage again. Duration: 14 Actions. Requires 1 Action to use. (Power +6, Melee Skill +8, HP +8, Magic Defense +2)
Uncanny Dodge: You are always ready to fight and never take penalties to Defense for being surprised.
Trap Sense: You gain a small bonus to avoid the effects of traps you trigger.
Low-Light Vision: Can see in dim light as easily as if it were daylight.
Throw Anything: If you can lift it you can use it as a weapon. Only accurate to a range of 2 squares. Melee weapons hurled this way do normal damage for that weapon. Anything else is up to the discretion of the DM.

~Equipment~
- Greataxe (Magic +1) (12 lbs.)
- Throwing Axes (Quantity: 3) (2 lbs. each)
- Mithral Shirt (10 lbs.)
- Custom Animal Hides (Decorative) (The height of Alynthian fashion) (10 lbs.)
- Belt of One Mighty Blow (1/day get +21 Power on a Melee Attack)

spoiler: Other Gear

1 Backpack 2lbs
1 Bedroll 5lbs
1 Crowbar 5lbs
1 Grappling hook 4lbs
1 Hammer 2lbs
3 Mug/Tankards, clay 3lbs
3 Oil pints 3lbs
1 pot, iron  10lbs
3 pouch, belt 1.5lbs
1 Rope, hempen (50ft) 10lbs
1 Sledge  10lbs
1 Waterskin 4lbs
5 rations, trail  5lbs

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 100 lbs. Medium Load: 200 lbs. Heavy Load: 300 lbs.

Languages: Alynthi (spoken only), Common (spoken only)

Quote from: Xun Huan
~Info~
Name: Xun Huan
Gender/Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 24
Birth Place: Corinthon

Appearance/Clothing: A slender young man dressed in a simple robe of undyed cotton, bearing a yin-yang stitched on the back and held closed with a brilliant red sash.  His eyes are a brilliant green, standing out sharply in his tanned face.  His head is shaved bald,   His only weapon is a simple straight sword bearing an ornate red tassle, slung across his back in a worn leather sheath.  Around his neck hangs a necklace of large beads, an aid in focusing his mind and helping to direct the energy of his prayers.

History/Background/Motivation/Goals: Raised from infancy within the confines of Wudang Temple, Xun lived a life of simplicity and devotion.  He has studied the basics of Taoist alchemy, astrology, cuisine, martial arts, medicine, and the workings of both internal and external applications of personal energy in addition to studying the ways of the gods and their places within the Tao.  A humble student of The Way, Xun has recently finished his novitiate in a temple, and is wandering the world to expand his knowledge and understanding of the principles of his teachings.

Combat Style: Xun eschews heavy armor, trusting in his martial arts training to anticipate and deflect or avoid physical attacks while his intense spiritual training helps ward him from mystical assault.  His movements are swift and precise, his strikes suprisingly powerful thanks to his martial arts practice.

Religious Affiliation (if any): As a devoted Taoist, Xun reveres all the good gods equally, seeing them as personifications of the virtues of The Way.

~Stats~
HP: 28
Defense: 20
Movement: 6
Endurance: 1
Reflex Speed: 6
Magic Resistance: 7
Melee Skill: 33
Ranged Skill: 24
Magic Skill: 0
Athletics: 6
Stealth: 2
Stamina: 0
Knowledge: 5
Perception: 6
Social: 0

Attacks: (See Also Maneuvers)
- Bastard Sword: Power: 21. (2Handed: +4 Power). Melee Skill Bonus: +4. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
        -> Crystal of Return, Lesser: Draw weapon as free action, returns to hand from up to 30' away if unattended (requires 1 action.)

~Abilities~
Disciple of the Sword: You have access to martial Stances and Maneuvers. You may only have one Stance active at any time. You can only have 4 Maneuvers ready at any given time. You can meditate for 5 minutes to change what Maneuvers you have ready. Once you use a Maneuver during an encounter, you cannot use it again until you Recover your Maneuvers. You can spend 2 Actions to Recover your Maneuvers. If you did not use a Maneuver before this, you cannot use it twice but rather it is reset with the others.
Exotic Training: You can wield a Bastard Sword in either one hand or two hands as needed. You get a bonus to Power when using it two-handed.
Vital Recovery: Heal 6 HP the first time you Recover your Maneuvers each battle.
Aid Another(Defense Boost): When using an Action to Aid Another for raising their Defense, the bonus is +3 instead of +2.
Rune of Endless Fire (1/day): Damages one enemy with equipped weapon. Damage counts as Fire damage and target is blinded. Until the end of the encounter, you gain a +4 bonus to Power on all your attacks, your attacks deal Fire damage instead of their normal type, and the number of hit points and temporary hit points granted by your abilties increases by 4. Power: As Weapon x2. Range: Melee. Requires 2 Actions to use.
Stances: Requires 1 Action to use, effect persists until you spend 1 Action to either end it or switch to another Stance.
- Punishing Stance [Destruction Stance]: Your Melee attacks gain a +7 bonus to Power and you take a -2 penalty to Defense.
- Bolstering Voice [Protection Stance]: You and your allies within Medium Range of you gain a +2 bonus to Magic Resistance and a +4 bonus to resist any Fear effects. (These bonuses do not stack with each other.)
Maneuvers: These are usually used in place of a normal attack. Some have an additional effect based on your Stance being either [Destruction] or [Protection].
-Word of Mending: You or one ally within Close Range of you heals 6-13 HP. [Destruction] - You and each ally within Close Range of you gain a +4 bonus to Power on weapon attacks until the end of the next turn. [Protection] - You and each ally within Close Range of you gain a +1 Bonus to Defense, Endurance, Reflex Speed and Magic Resistance until the end of the next turn.
-Word of Binding: Damages the target and they cannot move until the end of the next turn. [Destruction] - Allies get a +6 bonus to Power when attacking the target next turn. [Protection] - One ally in Close Range of you (at time of use) gains a +3 bonus to Defense until the end of the next turn. Power: 14. Requires 1 Action to Use. Range: Melee.
-Word of Exchange: Damages one enemy with equipped weapon. [Destruction] - The next ally that attacks the target before the end of the next turn gains a +6 bonus to their Power and also gains 3 temporary hit points. [Protection] - The target takes a -2 penalty to Defense until the end of the next turn and the first ally to attack the target before then gets a +3 bonus to Defense until the end of the next turn. Power: As Weapon. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
-Word of Shielding: Damages one enemy with equipped weapon. [Destruction] - The first time your target attacks you or an ally within Close Range of you before the end of the next turn, that target takes 1 point of damage. [Protection] - The first time your target attacks you or an ally within Close Range of you before the end of the next turn, the target of that attack gains 1 temporary hit point. Power: As Weapon. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
-Divine Rune of Thunder: Damages one enemy with equipped weapon. [Destruction] - Gain a +6 bonus to Power for this attack. The target takes a -2 penalty to Defense until the end of the next turn. [Protection] - The target is pushes back 3 squares from you and loses 2 Actions next turn.
-Icon of Victory: You and your adjacent allies gain +4 to Combat Skill until the next Turn. You can choose to expend the first Action of your next Turn to repeat the effect. Requires 1 Action to use.


~Equipment~
- Bastard Sword (Magic) (6 lbs.)
- Crystal of Return, Lesser ( - )
- Chain Shirt (Masterwork) (25 lbs.)

spoiler: Other Gear

backpack
  rations (14 days)
  bedroll
  winter blanket
  candle x5
  fishhook x5
  Flint & Steel
  common lamp
  oil (5 pints)
  soap (2 lbs)
  shovel
Pot, iron
pouch, belt (x3)
  Ink (3 oz)
  small steel mirror (x3)
  Candle x5
  paper (20 sheets)
  scroll case x2
  cash   31 gold, 7 silver
waterskin
belt of healing

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 100 lbs. Medium Load: 200 lbs. Heavy Load: 300 lbs.

Languages: Corithonian, Common (broken, spoken only)

Quote from: Yvonne Scintillae Incendam
~Info~
Name: Yvonne Scintillae Incendam
Gender: Female
Race: Lirai (fire)
Age: Forgotten (appears to be human equivalent of mid-twenties)
Birthplace: Plane of Fire

Background: Born of the eternal inferno of the Plane of Fire, Yvonne spent her early days flitting around the flames and basking in the warmth. While the plane is most certainly not devoid of life, after a century or so, it gets old. Upon coming of age, she left the safety of her home and began seeking methods of extra-planar travel. She quickly found she was unable to open her own portals, so whenever she was bored with a plane, she had to inquire about to find one who could send her on her way. She has spent decades exploring any place she can find adventure and has recently stumbled across a strange realm known as Sephyr. At least that what she claims.

Personality: Prideful, boastful, arrogant, though sometimes ignorant, Yvonne lives day to day with a robust lust for life and the adventures it can hold.

Appearance: About eight inches tall and something like this...

spoiler

(http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9172/firefairy.jpg)

Combat Style: Yvonne is practically useless in melee combat, and she knows it, therefore she abhors physical fighting. She prefers to stay at a safe distance and flits around the battlefield, flinging her spells at her foes and laughing.


~Stats~
HP: 14
Defense: 19
Movement: 6 Flying (1 Walking)
Endurance: 2
Reflex Speed: 7
Magic Resistance: 4
Melee Skill: 8
Ranged Skill: 32
Magic Skill: 8
Athletics: -1
Stealth: 5
Stamina: 6
Knowledge: 3
Perception: 0
Social: 5

~Abilities~
Natural Flight: You can fly under your own power and in all directions at equal speeds. You can fly straight down at double your normal speed.
Low-Light Vision: Can see in dim light as easily as if it were daylight.
Elemental Affinity: You ignore the first 10 points of Fire damage dealt to you from any source.
Hide in Plain Sight: You can attempt to hide with your Stealth Skill even while being observed if you are within 1 square of a naturally occuring source of fire (which can be no smaller than a campfire in size.)
Elemental Strike (3/day): You can conjure up a small ball of fire to attack someone with. Power: 22, Fire damage. Range: Close. Ranged Skill Bonus: +8. Requires 1 Action to use.
Dormant Power: A power yet inaccessible at this time.
~Magic~
Cantrips (6/day): Acid Splash, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Electric Jolt
- Acid splash: Throw a tiny ball of conjured acid at a target. Power: 3, Acid damage. Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Dancing Lights: Creates torches or other lights. Range: Long. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Flare: Dazzles one creature (-4 on Combat Skills for 1 turn.) Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Light: Make a held object glow like a torch. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Electric Jolt: Arc a tiny lightning bolt at a target. Power: 4, Lightning damage. Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.

Level 1 Spells (7/day): Magic Missile, Kelgore's Fire Bolt, Lesser Orb of Electricity.
- Magic Missile. Launch bolts of magical force unerringly at a target. Power: 14. Range: Long. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Kelgore's Fire Bolt: Conjures a small stone and wraps it in magical fire. Power: 27, Fire damage. Range: Long. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Lesser Orb of Electricity: Create a tiny ball of energy and hurl it at a target. Power 18, Electricity damage. Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.

~Equipment~
- Bracers of Armor (+1 Defense) (.5 lb.)
- Cloak of Resistance (+1 E/RS/MD) (.5 lb)
- Ring of Protection (+1 Defense)
- Spell Component Pouch
- Handy Haversack (5 lbs.)
- Everlasting Ration Kit (.5 lb.)

spoiler: Other Gear

Mirror (I feel pretty) (.5 lb.)
Vial (to keep soap in) (.01 lb.)
1/5 lb. of Soap (a lady has to keep clean) (.2 lb.)
Cold weather outfit (1.75 lb.)
Blanket, winter (.75 lb)
Case, Scroll (.125 lb.)
Scroll of Shield x4
Scroll of Endure Elements x2
Scroll of Orb of Fire, lesser x4
Jewelry consisting of gold choker, brass earrings with red quartz, pyrite druzy bracelets, and a flame signet ring
Wand of Repair Light Damage x2
Wand of Magic Missile
Wand of Detect Secret Doors
Wand of Detect Magic
Needle and Thread
Various Flowers
Antitoxin x2: 100gp
Pole, 10 ft. (8 lb.)
Tent, lirai-sized (5 lb.)
Bedroll, lirai-sized (1.25 lb.)
Rope, silk 50 ft. (5 lb.)
Chain 10 ft. (2 lb.)
Block and Tackle (5 lb.)
Piton x10 (5 lb.)
Hammer (2 lb.)
Sealing Wax (1 lb.)
Other Miscellaneous Items

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 13 lbs. Medium Load: 26 lbs. Heavy Load: 40 lbs.

Languages: Common, Sylvan

Quote from: Nathalie Marchand
Name: Nathalie Marchand
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: Twenty-one
Birth Place: Kingdom of Highland

Appearance: Nathalie's face is fairly oval-like, but her features are a mix of contradictions. Her eyes are pointed, and stern, but they carry themselves with a lazy, tired beauty. Her eyes are a cold, pale blue, but they evoke an inviting warmth to them. Her face is haughty, and statuesque, with defined cheekbones and a nose that points slightly upward, though when she smiles her whole face lights up, and stretches and contorts to every emotion she feels. Her hair is medium length and a deep, maroon-like red, though she is normally cool and carries a "quiet" confidence. Her skin is a porcelain white and her features are striking, though quite vanilla.

However, her knack for fashion offsets the lack of any sort of exoticism. She messily parts her hair from the end of her forehead to the left, having her hair fall wildly down, across and back. It's waviness adds to the quality of being "untamed." She wears a very muted gold, almost pale, silk dress with slits down the sides that start at her thighs, leaving her legs exposed. She covers up her "bare" parts with a silk, sinewy, sienna scarf, and the same colored leggings (cotton) that also keep her warm in the temperate weather. She dons black boots with laces that tie up to her shins, and they have a small heel to give her a bit of height.

History: Nathalie is, for the most part, something of a celebrity in Highland, well, at least Weinrist that is. Blooming ever delightfully at the ripe age of seventeen, she's been the object of many a man's affection. Having worked in the gruff and tough environment of a bar, she can at least handle herself with the more rowdy men, and the more shy customers flock like sheep to her beauty, leaving her to be a model employee and barmaid. She has quite excellent oratorical skill as well, and used it to her advantage to entice men into thinning their wallets to fatten her purse. She is not exactly the most moral of people, but she does nothing that is blatantly immoral. Recently, however, she has fascinated the wrong crowd of people. Since Nathalie is not very careful of the men she allures and for all intents and purposes "steals" from, she has gained her small share of detractors. In this case, she has gained the un-approving eye of loyal men (with domineering wives) that find her behavior deplorable and sinful. While at first she shrugged off their holier-than-thou sermons and attempts at "rescuing her soul," the relentless and perilous persistence of these men forced her to pick up and leave Weinrist and flee elsewhere.
With only small bits of knowledge and tricks she's gained over the past five years of tending to perverted, lonely or respectable men that wandered into her place of employment, she escapes from the zealous men who, and as a shock to her, still chase her, even in her dreams..

Combat Style: Having only a few parlor tricks if in case of emergency, she doesn't fare well in battle at all. Her strength is in her words and fights only with the power of speech. While not exactly a pacifist, she is so out of necessity (self-preservation). She survives by making deals, a bit of a devil in that regard, she'll always exchange some sort of commodity to ensure her own safety, at, and to her dismay, any
cost.

Religious Affiliation: Since she flies by the seat of her pants, she relies heavily on luck to ensure everything goes smoothly. With that, she is a very devout follower of Armist, but only in secret. Making a spectacle of faith, she feels, defeats the purpose.

~Stats~
HP: 22
Defense: 20
Movement: 6
Endurance: 1
Reflex Speed: 5
Magic Resistance: 1
Melee Skill: 8
Ranged Skill: 22
Magic Skill: 1 (Items Only)
Athletics: -1
Stealth: 7
Stamina:  1
Knowledge: 6
Perception: 6
Social: 8

Attacks:
- Light Crossbow, Magic: Power: 11, Ranged Skill Bonus: +4, Range: Medium. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Dagger: Power: 3, Combat Skill Bonus: +4, Range: Melee/Close. Requires 1 Action to use.

~Abilities~
Trapfinding: You can attempt to find and disable complex traps that would otherwise be undetectable. Also gives you a bonus to Defense and Reflex Speed for avoiding damage from traps.
Evasion: Take no damage when successfully resisting the effects of some spells, instead of half damage like normal.
Sneak Attack: When attacking an enemy under certain circumstances you get a +7 Power bonus on your attack. Ranged attacks can only get this bonus within 6 squares of the target.
Use Magic Device: You can attempt to activate wands or magic scrolls despite not being a spellcaster. Be careful of backfires!
Rapid Reload: When reloading a Light Crossbow you do not require spending an Action. When reloading a Heavy Crossbow you require spending only 1 Action.
Point Blank Shot: When firing on a target within 6 squares of you, you gain +1 Power and +4 Melee Skill on your attack.
Uncanny Dodge: You are always ready to fight and never take penalties to Defense for being surprised.

spoiler: Equipment

Carried:
1 Crossbow, Light, Enchanted +1 - 4lb. (Primary Weapon)
10 Bolts, Crossbow - 1lb.
1 Dagger, Masterwork - 1lb.
1 Mithral Shirt, +1  Magic - 10lb.
1 Buckler, +1 Magic - 5 lbs.
1 Healing Belt - 2 lbs.
1 Wand of Bless (10 charges) - .1 lb.

On Cart: See Rhyhorn
Current Load: 23.1/80lb. (Light Load)

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 26  lbs. Medium Load: 53 lbs. Heavy Load: 80 lbs.
Languages: Common, Giant, Goblin, Alynthi, Draconic, Orcish.

Quote from: N'zla of Ro'K
~Info~
Name:  N'zla of Ro'K (UN-zzzl-ah | roh-Kuh)
Gender/Sex: Lesser Male
Race: Ek, highly intelligent bug people. Picture
Age: 79
Birth Place:  Hive Ro'K, Underdark
Appearance/Clothing: Sketch (http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy242/lynnific/nzla_of_rok.png)
Predominantly lime green.  N'zla's shell is embossed in the Ek tradition with swirls and dots, the embossed sections are painted red and pink.  N'zla wears the traditional Ak Priest headdress made of scaled blackened chitin.  The headdress is topped with a carved statuette on the front between his antenna of an Ek in a meditation position.  The headdress leads into a thick collar with hundreds of bright feathers (a sign of wealth as feathers are a rare and treasured commodity in the Ek Hives).  He wears more blackened chitin scales as armor over his torso and abdomen.

History/Background/Motivation/Goals:
N'zla was raised as a priest of Holy Ak in the Ek Hives of Underdark.  His people are strict pacifists, and like them he has a tendency to be naive.  But also as most Ek have, N'zla bears a great curiosity for the Above.  He wishes to understand the Above and its peoples, to know what they know and to bring secrets back to Ro'K.  
As most priests of Ak, N'zla is also well-versed in Mok-T'raat, or "War Games", a ritual that honors the time long ago when Ek still fought like beasts until they were saved by their patron, Ak.  Mok-T'raat is merely a strategy game, a mimicry of ancient feuds, and N'zla has no idea how to actually fight.
He's far better with the Tongues of the humanoid races than many of his peers.  He has spent years practicing to mimic the sounds humanoid mouths make.  Even so, his speech is broken and awkward at best.

Combat Style: Pacifist.

Religious Affiliation:  Ak, God of the Forgotten, Secrets, and Knowledge.

~Stats~
HP: 24
Defense: 25
Movement: 6
Endurance: 4
Reflex Speed: 5
Magic Resistance: 8
Melee Skill: -100
Magic Skill: 8
Athletics: 0
Stealth: 4
Stamina: 4
Knowledge: 6
Perception: 6
Social: -3


~Abilities~
Turn Undead: Focus your spirit through your holy symbol and make weak undead flee in terror. Range: Medium
Darkvision: Can see up to 12 squares in complete darkness. Everything appears in monochrome using Darkvision.
Chitin Hide: Your body is naturally armored. Gives a +3 bonus to Defense that can't be removed.
Restless: Immune to Sleep magic and effects. Does still need to sleep normally.
Multiple Limbs: You have four arms and they all function equally.

~Magic~
Cantrips (5/day): Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, Detect Poison, Purify Food and Drink, Resistance, Detect Magic, Guidance, Read Magic.
- Create Water: Conjure up 2 gallons of fresh water. Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Cure Minor Wounds: Heal one ally for 3 HP.  Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Detect Poison: Detect poison within a creature or object. Range: 12 squares, cone shaped. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Purify Food and Drink: Makes food and/or drinks safe to consume. Range: Special. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Resistance: +1 to Endurance, Reflex Speed and Magic Resistance. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Detect Magic: Detect magical auras. Range: 12 squares, cone shaped.
- Guidance: Divine guidance grants a +4 on an ally's next Attack, or a +1 on their next E/RS/MR or Skill check. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Read Magic: Read magical scrolls and writing.

1st Level Spells (5/day): Cure Light Wounds, Bless, Omen of Peril, Blessed Aim, Deathwatch.
- Cure Light Wounds: Heal one allly for 6-13 HP. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Bless: All allies within 10 squares of you get +4 bonus on all Attacks. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Omen of Peril: Divine inspiration lets you know if danger lies ahead. Requires 1 Actions to use.
- Blessed Aim: All allies within 10 squares of you gets a +8 bonus on Ranged Attacks. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Deathwatch: Know how much life remains in creatures within 6 squares of you. Requires 1 Action to use.

2nd Level Spells (3/day): Cure Moderate Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Dark Way
- Cure Moderate Wounds: Heal one allly for 9-23 HP. Range: Melee. Requires 1 Action to use.
- Lesser Restoration: Heal one ally for 1-4 points of stat damage. Range: Melee. Requires 3 Actions to use.
- Dark Way: Create a bridge of force 1 square wide and up to 12 squares long. Can hold up to 600 lbs. Range: Close. Requires 1 Action to use.

~Equipment~
Totem of Ak
Ek Chitin Armor
Healer's Kit
Backpack
Buckler +1
Artificer's Monocle
Healing Belt
Wand of Repair Light Damage (10 charges)

Carrying Capacity - Light Load: 33 lbs. Medium Load: 66 lbs. Heavy Load: 100 lbs.

Languages: Ek'r, Common, Telluri, Undercommon, Gnomish

Because some people were asking about stats I thought I'd put this chart up for them. It doesn't directly reflect the number values (for instance 'Average' does not mean '10') but rather the characters' stats in relation to the rest of the party.

One thing I may have neglected to mention in the OP is that this is a beginning level game. No making yourself up to be world-sundering mages or unparalleled fighters. You're newbs. Cadets right out of training for whatever field you're in. Take that into consideration during your character design.

It lets the Berry Mama in
Or else the dice roll 1's again

-> Prepares his character sheet.

I will edit the following post since I will need more information from Celdia.

Seap
Castrated Male
Human
22

Birthplace: Highland

Background: Seap was, until recently, an actor and bard for Baron Emal, a major patron of the arts in Highland.  The yearly festivals hosted by the Baron's musicians at his summer villa in Depstan drew crowds from all of Telodin.  That was until last year, when an unusual omen prompted Depstan's chief astrologer to predict disaster during the week of the festival.  The Baron, never one to believe superstitions, proceeded without heed of the warning.  Despite the reduced turnout that year, the festivities seemed undisturbed by the omen.  On the penultimate night, however, right as the bards were rehearsing one last time for their finale the next day, light covered the sky as if the already set sun had reemerged to swallow everything else.  Following his instincts, Seap bolted across the gate of the villa; his eyes too steeped in terror to even glance back.  As his eyes regained vision, he scanned at the marketplace around him.  It seemed normal enough, and yet, the festive atmosphere he had seen that very morning was gone.  Rushing back along the seaside road to the villa, Seap could only see the unimaginable.  Where the road once led up to the villa, the road now curved away, leading to a fisherman's hut.  Waves crashed against the sand where the gates of his master's summer mansion once stood.  There was no trace of wood, stone, or food anywhere near the site, only wet sand and a few scuttling crabs.  The fisherman, like all the other inhabitants of the town, told Seap that no villa had ever existed where he had spent 10 summers of his life.
Over the next year, the disheartened Seap tried to relate his story to anyone who would listen, to no avail.  The clergy considered him cursed; the nobles found him unemployable, and the peasants simply called him crazy.  Forced to pawn most of his possessions, Seap finally decided to meet the very astrologer who predicted the disaster, even though Seap himself didn't believe in such matters.  The astrologer, despite his sympathy, seemed to offer no solution, only suggesting that Seap wander until he found the truth.  With no other real option, Seap departed from Depstan, if only to escape his reputation.

Clothing: Seap wears a worn linen tunic, with worn leather shoes and pants.  His undershirt is made of wool, as is his socks.

Combat Style: Seap was never trained in combat and disdains it.  He believes his song can win over even the worst of people, though he isn't above running if his life demands it.  (Seap is mostly pacifistic.)

Religious Affiliation: As part of his repertoire, Seap sings the songs of many religions, and thus, doesn't feel strongly drawn to any.  Furthermore, he doesn't see the priests as any more holy than himself, since they both draw money off of the emotions inspired from the audience.

Out of curiosity, what rolls in the party are the interested individuals looking to fill? Doorkicker? Caster? Traps? Heals? Support? Jack-of-all-trades?

formerdeathcorps is looking to do buffy bardy things, I assume.  I'm looking to do... erm... this, which I guess technically counts as a Doorkicker:

-Name: Rhyhorn
-Gender: Male
-Race: Monster
-Age: 5 Years
-Birthplace: Mountains of Soreth

-Appearance: This (http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs27/f/2008/041/1/2/Rhyhorn_by_Kidura.jpg), covered in many leather sacks like a carrier beast.  His body is made almost purely of stone, leaving him in many ways akin to a Golem.  His stone-exterior is covered in the faded blue markings of elf's blood when not covered by the leather sacks, draconic runes of unknown use inscribed on his hide from a previous adventure. Their purpose is, and may forever be left, unknown.

-Background & Personality: A stone-rhinoceros of unknown origin and sometimes questionable intellect, Rhyhorn lives as Rhyhorn lives - eating rocks, carrying goods for others in trade for money, and performing other simple tasks while roaming from place to place.  His previous adventures haven't been remarkable enough to warrant being told, and aside from the markings on his hide and some half-healed scars, he bears no mementos of them.  Rhyhorn is instinctual and quick to anger, charging perceived adversaries without warning, using the massive weight of his body to crush threats that aren't impaled upon his horn.  When not threatened, Rhyhorn has a habit of being silly or inattentive to the situation at hand, if not being directly addressed and having his attention maintained through some means.  While Rhyhorn can speak when required, the act of speech seems to come terribly difficult to him, causing him to often result to other forms of communication when possible.  He can easily understand speech spoken to him, however... again, as long as his attention can be held.

-Combat Style: At his core, Rhyhorn is a simplistic fighter.  Offensively, he uses his rock-hard face and body as weapons, often charging his opponents resulting in body slams or horn impalements.  While Rhyhorn himself is not the kind to back down from a fight, he places the lives of companions and innocents above his own, often drawing and maintaining the enemy's aggression as he fights so others can heal, escape, or themselves fight without being harmed.  Despite his seemingly low intellect and "need" to eat, Rhyhorn understands enough of his physiology to know he can take plenty of abuse, something that pairs well with his primitive defensive instincts.  His selfless nature has resulted in him having several half-healed scars across his stone body, reminders of adventures with companions that parted ways with him long ago.  In desperate situations, Rhyhorn exhibits an intellect and ingenuity that seems far beyond him... though that could just be the result of a Golem-like equivalent of an adrenaline rush, because it never seems to last.

-Religious Affiliation: Animals have no God.

-Name: Elia Cyronae (Seer-oh-nay)
-Sex: Female
-Race: Human
-Age: 23
-Birth Place: Derrymor
-Appearance/Clothing: She is dressed in a long red robe, with a pink trim. Medium blonde-white hair, green eyes. She has a spear on her back.
-History/Background/Motivation/Goals: She was born in Derrymor. Her mother was a devoted religious woman, and here father was a warrior. Einar Cryonae, her father, saw that Derrymor was a land of barbarians, and he believes that that land is for the taking for the purpose of a more civilized group. So he started his own little village on the out skirts of Derrymor. There he slowly grew his land over the years, conquering small piece by piece, losing some of his own land at times too. After a few years, he got married to a lovely Priestess, named; Helene Else. Together they had a child, Elia Cyronae-Else.

Elia grew up, learning the ways of Odin from her mom, and how to use the spear from her dad. By the age of 15, her dad was killed, poisoned by barbarians (actually by his wife, she doesn't know though). Everything Elia's father worked for, everything crumbled apart. The Barbarians came over and took their land back, erasing everything that her father worked for. Elia was taken by her mom to Fradaria, Fradris. Where for 5 years she lived as a priest in a Church of Odin.
For the past 3 years she has been wondering slowly following where ever Odin leads her, so she my grow strong, and one day take Derrymor from the barbarians that took her fathers life!

Her main goal is to go where Odin leads her (She prays to him to guide her spear so it may lead her to where he wishes) so she may grow stronger, and one day take Derrymor.

-Combat Style: When she must, she uses her spear, but does not un-sheath the spear's bldea, unless needed. Usually she hangs out, healing and helping others.
-Religious Affiliation: Odin

So we have a brick-like door-kicker, a heal-bot and a... scaredy cat? ... heh... I'm not sure it's a good idea to leave the stealthy trapper to me...

Hey, word of advise, don't make a character that is a filler for the party. Yes that is smart mechanically, but in doing so, you aren't playing what you like.
Go ahead play what you wish. I highly doubt Celdia will kill us off from not planing a better party. Play who you like, and don't play stupidly in game, and we should have some fun and hard times.

I have a full cast of characters I can pull from, and would be happy playing any of them. The ability to play them gives me the ability to flesh them out.

Well do as you wish, just know you have no reason to help fill in the teams missing spots.

-Name: Thanatos Exeros
-Gender/Sex: Male
-Race: Alynthi Elf
-Age (Human Equivalent): 22
-Birth Place: Alynthia
-Appearance/Clothing: A light chainmail shimmers black under his heavy black shawl, draping down to the small of his powerful back. His legs coated in the same shimmering chainmail, strong and sturdy as tree trucks. This behemoth of an elf has undergone significantly tougher training than the average warrior, and has additionally learned to strengthen himself using magic.
-History/Background/Motivation/Goals: A son of a powerful warrior, he aspired to become like his dad. However, his father went to war, and is still in the military, fighting to keep Alynthia safe. So, his father was not there when he graduated top of his fighting class. Nor was he there for when Thanatos left home, searching for a greater good.
He was never there, and it burns in Thanatos' mind everytime he's reminded.
-Combat Style: He relies purely on his dual scythes, twirling in an endless dance to wreak havoc, known as Death by some, and Living Hurricane by others, he has earned much infamy for his unique style of fighting. His wears a chainmail threaded into nodes on his chest in order to keep it from flailing about. Prefers complete domination over stealthy tactics.
-Religious Affiliation (if any): Atheist, however he will gladly worship to avoid insulting anybody. He enjoys studying religion for its philosophical points.

-Name: Hogarth
-Sex: Female
-Race: Alynthian Elf
-Age: 25 human equivalent
-Birthplace: Alynthia
-Appearance: Tall, with scraggly black hair and blue eyes. Muscular, but lean, and wears animal hides for clothes, including a wolf skin with the head of a wolf for her hat, connected to the rest of the skin for her coat.
-Background/History/Motivation/Goals: Raised by a nomadic tribe of stoats (and people) in the frozen north, she has learned to hunt and kill for herself. Prone to (http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-black101.gif)berserker rages(http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-black101.gif) common of her tribe, she uses a large battle axe and smaller, other axes for throwing. She refuses all other weapons. She thinks wizards are cowards, due to her low intelligence and lack of social skills. She left Alynthia for having "killed at least one of everything that lives there", looking for other, more exciting things to attack and then possibly eat. Ale, violence, and adventure are what she lives for, as she drifts from day to day.

Combat style: Pig-headed, focused, rushed attacks are her specialty. She will often Charge in to swing her axe, and really only uses her throwing axes when it would either look cool or win a contest for gold.
Religious alignment: She screams the name of her heathen gods to empower her for fight, and to frighten her enemies. She sometimes makes up new, different gods to scream to in case they might exist or the name sounds scarier.

No reason? I beg to differ. "Because it's fun" is always a good enough reason for me. ^_^

do we have an offensive mage yet? That might be a good thing to have, if not.

(http://i.imgur.com/XDhc2.jpg)
Just Saying

-Name: Xun Huan

-Gender/Sex: Male

-Race: Human

-Age: 24

-Birth Place: Corinthon

-Appearance/Clothing: A slender young man dressed in a simple robe of undyed cotton, bearing a yin-yang stitched on the back and held closed with a brilliant red sash.  His eyes are a brilliant green, standing out sharply in his tanned face.  His head is shaved bald,   His only weapon is a simple straight sword bearing an ornate red tassle, slung across his back in a worn leather sheath.  Around his neck hangs a necklace of large beads, an aid in focusing his mind and helping to direct the energy of his prayers.

-History/Background/Motivation/Goals: Raised from infancy within the confines of Wudang Temple, Xun lived a life of simplicity and devotion.  He has studied the basics of Taoist alchemy, astrology, cuisine, martial arts, medicine, and the workings of both internal and external applications of personal energy in addition to studying the ways of the gods and their places within the Tao.  A humble student of The Way, Xun has recently finished his novitiate in a temple, and is wandering the world to expand his knowledge and understanding of the principles of his teachings.

-Combat Style: Xun eschews heavy armor, trusting in his martial arts training to anticipate and deflect or avoid physical attacks while his intense spiritual training helps ward him from mystical assault.  His movements are swift and precise, his strikes suprisingly powerful thanks to his martial arts practice.

-Religious Affiliation (if any): As a devoted Taoist, Xun reveres all the good gods equally, seeing them as personifications of the virtues of The Way.

Quote from: st4rw4k3r on November 02, 2011, 01:49:22 am
(http://i.imgur.com/XDhc2.jpg)
Just Saying

Yes, this would be rad. The PCs were most definitely here.

Oh god, Golden Axe.

Lookie, Celdia posted profiles for FDC and myself.  Things gone get leet.

-Name:       Maximilian Haynes

-Gender/Sex:    Male

-Race:       Human

-Age:       28

-Birth Place:    Fandaria

-Appearance:   Bearing shoulder-length kept blonde hair and wearing the most exquisite of clothing, Maximilian takes great
      pride in his appearance, often wearing Fandaria's noble colors of red and gold. Bearing light blue eyes,
      they are known to turn a deep black when his blood pressure rises.

-History:    A highborn born and raised in south Fandaria, Maximilian serves as a mediator between the ever-growing tensions
      between Highland and Fandaria to prevent a possible war. Despite this, he holds no love for either nation,
      desiring Fandaria to take Highland as its own. To this end, he schemes on a way to manipulate the war
      so that Fandaria may absorb the weakened nations as its own. Trained in both the ways of the crossbow and the
      spoken word, Maximilian does not hesitate to manipulate and threaten those who stand in his way.

-Combat Style:   Maximilian's skill with words extends to combat, where he can initiate parley, threaten foes, and arise a variety
      of emotions in those who listen to his words. When the enemy lets their guard down, he puts an end to his foe's
      suffering with a bolt to the head.

-Religion:   Astinus

I'll try to hop onto this, i'll take some time to think on my char.

Name: Nathalie Marchand
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: Twenty-one
Birth Place: Kingdom of Highland

Appearance:

History:

Combat Style:
Religious Affiliation:

Name: Yvonne Scintillae Incendam
Gender: Female
Race: Lirai (fire)
Age: Forgotten (appears to be human equivalent of mid-twenties)
Birthplace: Plane of Fire

Background:
There once was a sprite of the flame
Whose moxie no plane could contain
She went off a flying
So desperately trying
To procure her fortune and fame

Adventures await she is sure
But nothing that is too demure
Her candle is burning
With both ends a churning
Of Sephyr she'll make her grand tour

Personality: Prideful, boastful, arrogant, and sometimes ignorant, Yvonne lives day to day with a robust lust for life and the adventures it can hold.

Appearance: About eight inches tall and something like this...


Combat Style: Yvonne is practically useless in melee combat, and she know it, therefore she abhors physical fighting. She prefers to stay at a safe distance and flits around the battlefield, flinging her spells at her foes and laughing.

Religious Affiliations: Yvonne does not worship any deity, per se, but she does feel a certain affinity towards Hiran, the fire deity.

Since people have been starting to make plans with their characters before I've gotten around to building everyone and rolling to see who makes the starting party, I'm going to close Registration now. Anyone that joins up after this will automatically start on the Waiting List.

Keep an eye on this post for the starting players. Edit coming soon.

Here's your starting line-up (in alphabetical order):
formerdeathcorps - IN
NinjaWeazel - IN
RavenOfRazgriz - IN
Ryqoshay - IN
SilentB - IN
st4rw4k3r - IN


~Waiting List~
Kalas - 1st
Eternal248 - 2nd
Dunkelritter Luna - 3rd
Joseph Strife - 4th, pending character

Anyone else that wants in will join at the end of this list. Players with characters that die will join the end of this list assuming the players don't make it their quest to revive the fallen ally. Since I didn't think to note it before, if Joseph doesn't have a character ready and he should reach the top of the list he will be passed over until he does have one prepared.

New characters joining the game later on will join at an equivalent power to the party. I don't believe in 1st level characters joining a 10th level party. That shit is fucking ridiculous.

Quote from: Celdia on November 04, 2011, 12:09:12 am

Here's your starting line-up (in alphabetical order):
formerdeathcorps - IN
NinjaWeazel - IN
RavenOfRazgriz - IN
Ryqoshay - IN
SilentB - IN
st4rw4k3r - IN


~Waiting List~
Kalas - 1st
Eternal248 - 2nd
Dunkelritter Luna - 3rd
Joseph Strife - 4th, pending character

I object! This is clearly racist against nicks that are in the first half of the alphabet, due to late-alphabet privilege. fdc being on there is just a token pre-N letter hand out.

On a serious note, I can't wait to start the game :D

There go my char, let the game begin.

- Name: Awduin Lariat

- Gender: Male

- Race: Human

- Age: 24

- Birth Place: Verun

- Appearance: With short, spiked, black hair, Awduin likes to take care of his style, he wears an over-all too. Pants and boots complete his appearance. On the chest he wears a commom shirt and under it a light Dragon Scale armor, that is realy strong against physical attacks, that is a legacy from his father along with the emerald necklace he wears that was his mother legacy.

- History: A commoner by birth, his mother served as a maid in the palace of Vormir for 20 years and his father worked as a blacksmith. His mother was a good friend of the Queen, that is kind and gentle, so is the king too, they are like his second family. As for his father work, Awduin learned to handle almost every type of melee and ranged weapon that his father crafted for the palace. One night bandits raid the palace when the troops were out to war, they were so many, so Awduin help the few guards left behind to defend the palace. His father died while trying to protect his mother, and his mother was kidnapped taken by the bandits, as he saw this he was knocked out by one of the bandits that ran with what they looted. Now Awduin is raised in the palace by the Queen and King themselves and has a good realation with their daughter Celina. He seeks to go on a quest to find the whereabouts of his mother as she may still be alive. While the opportunity does not appear, he trains with the guards in the castle.

- Combat Style: Awduin know both melee and ranged combat styles, but he specializes himself in melee combat wielding either a long sword and a shield or two long swords. He is very tactical, so he plans all his moves before entering in a battle, try to come up with the better strategy possible, and only then he engages his opponents, but he make all this plans in just seconds due to his hard training.

- Religion: Daedalean

Quote from: SilentB on November 04, 2011, 12:44:59 am
I object! This is clearly racist against nicks that are in the first half of the alphabet, due to late-alphabet privilege. fdc being on there is just a token pre-N letter hand out.

On a serious note, I can't wait to start the game :D

I'm a victim of pre-N racism and I will not be silent anymore!

Needs more Kalas.
By the way, epic game.

To those of you who I've posted character sheets for: If there is something in there you don't like/don't want/don't agree with, contact me and we'll see what can be changed (within reason.)

Looks good to me!  Thanks for all the conversion work.

Quote from: Celdia on November 05, 2011, 07:23:54 am
To those of you who I've posted character sheets for: If there is something in there you don't like/don't want/don't agree with, contact me and we'll see what can be changed (within reason.)

I need more cowbell.

Then buy all means, buy a cowbell.

*notes a -100 penalty to Hogarth's Stealth Skill*

Quote from: Celdia on November 06, 2011, 10:46:23 am
Then buy all means, buy a cowbell.

*notes a -100 penalty to Hogarth's Stealth Skill*

Get the Shop done so she can do so!

Yvonne's character sheet is up.

Also, for everyone else, take a look at your sheets. Notable things that have been added under equipment is your wealth listed in gold coins (except for Yvonne who can't carry that much metal), your carrying capacity (listed in pounds and by tier) and under that is the languages you know.

What makes money and carry capacity important is the Shop is now open for business! Check the 2nd post for that and for important information about being overweight.

Weapon and Armor lists are forthcoming.

Pouch, belt - 1gp - 1/2 lb
   7 Rations - 35sp - 7 lb

Pouch, belt - 1gp 1/2 lb
   Flint and Steel - 1 gp
   4 Candles - 4cp
   Whetstone - 2cp - 1 lb
   Soap - 5sp - 1 lb
   
Pouch, belt - 1gp 1/2 lb
   2 Red 1 yard long by 2 inch wide silk ribbon - 2sp - 1 lb
   4 Bells - 4gp

Pouch - 1gp 1/2 lb
   all my cash

Waterskin - 1gp - 4 lb

------------------

Total Weight: 16 lb
Cost: 14gp 2sp 6cp

Left over cash: 34pp 1gp 7sp 4cp

(Before the game starts I want to tie the bells to the ribbons, two bells per ribbon. Then tie the bells to Elia's hair.)

The "Ribbons for Rhyhorn" charity even is now open.
For each yard of ribbon donated, I shall match.*
1 yard costs but a mere silver coin and comes in a wide variety of colors.**

Each yard weighs about .05 pounds, so don't worry too much about overloading our dear Rhyhorn.

I shall track the donations here in this post.



*up to 100 yards
**the ribbon I provide will be red

For the time being I'll just put this note here: If you're looking for something that isn't on the list here, PM me about it or find me on IRC and we'll see what can be found. This includes but is not limited to: healing items, magic scrolls, enchanted armors or weapons.

1 Backpack 2gp 2lbs
1 Bedroll 1sp 5lbs
1 Crowbar 2gp 5lbs
1 Grappling hook 1gp 4lbs
1 Hammer 5sp 2lbs
3 Mug/Tankards, clay 6cp 3lbs
3 Oil pints 3sp 3lbs
1 pot, iron 5sp 10lbs
3 pouch, belt 3gp 1.5lbs
1 Rope, hempen (50ft) 1 gp 10lbs
1 Sledge 1gp 10lbs
1 Waterskin 1gp 4lbs
5 rations, trail 25sp 5lbs

This should be all I need.

[SHOPPING!]

Notes:

Insert 1 set of Caltrops into each Sack, tying the sack closed loosely so that I can pull the sack off my back then tug it open with my mouth to deploy the caltrops.

The Cart is modified so that I can easily slip out of the harness and do battle.  Each side of the Cart has a wooden sign with "Rhyhorn Defense and Transport. 5 Silver/Day."  written on it sloppily with red paint. The back of the Cart has its own wooden sign with "CAN CARRY ALL THE THINGS" written on it with equally sloppy red paint.  (Yes, fellow players, this means I'm willing to help transport YOUR goods for the low starting price of 5 silver pieces per day!  Extreme loads or loads through extremely treacherous terrain may incur extra fees, but most loads and terrains only 5 silver pieces a day!  With 500lbs or so of spare space remaining in my Cart, there's plenty of room for several people to stow their supplies with Rhyhorn Defense and Transport!  Fill up a Backpack, Chest, or other preferred method of holding yoru items and stow them with Rhyhorn Defense and Transport TODAY!)

The 2 Everburning Torches are positioned at the top of the Exotic Pack Saddle so they stick out and illuminate the area around myself, but can still be removed if needed.  (Basically, they're 360 headlights, sortof.)

The weapons in my Cart are partially obscured and/or covered by the rocks and firewood for safety when passing through towns, but should be easily enough grabbed if someone is actively going through the Cart to find them.

Allocation of Items:

[Carry]

Tied to Neck by String:
1 Waterskin (full of water) - 4lb.
1 Dark Stone Slab (aka, a Chalkboard) and erasing rag - 1lb.

Tied Around Waist:

1 Healing Belt - 2lb.

On Back:
1 Exotic Pack Saddle - 20lb. (Counts as "Clothes", so 0lb.)

Exotic Pack Saddle Contents:
1 Bedroll - 5lb.
2 Caltrop Sacks - 5lb.
5 Chalk - 0lb.
1 Flint and Steel - 0lb.
1 Grappling Hook - 4lb.
1 Rations - 1lb.
1 Rope, Silk - 5lb.
2 Acid - 2lb.
2 Everburning Torches - 2lb.
2 Smokestick - 1lb.
2 Sun Rod - 2lb.
1 Greatsword - 8lb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qf58nvsxJ4)
3 Oil of Light Repair - .3lb.

Total Carry Weight: 41.3lb.

Total Weight: 41.3lb.

[Pull, Weight/5]

1 Cart - 200lb.

Cart Contents:
1 Chest - 25lb.
5 Firewood - 100lb.
1 Lock (Amazing) - 1lb.
# Unsorted Rocks - 15lb.
4 Dark Stone Slab (aka, a Chalkboard) erasing rag - 4lb.
1 Crossbow, Heavy - 8lb.
2 Crossbow, Light - 8lb.
6 Bolts, Crossbow (10) - 6lb.
2 Javelin - 2lb.
2 Glaive - 20lb.
1 Greatsword - 8lb.
2 Halberd - 24lb.
2 Scythe - 20lb. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qf58nvsxJ4)

Chest [sealed with Lock (Amazing)] Contents:
[Unsorted Goods and Supplies]

Total Pull Weight: 518.7lb. (103.74lb.)

Total Cost: 2551 gp.

Remaining Funds: 140 gp. 80 sp. (4.6lb.) [Carry on Exotic Pack Saddle]

Total Weight: 148.64lb.

Remaining Carry Capacity: 113.36lb.

Xun Huan Inventory
backpack
   rations (14 days)
   bedroll
   winter blanket
   candle x5
   fishhook x5
   Flint & Steel
   common lamp
   oil (5 pints)
   soap (2 lbs)
   shovel
Pot, iron
pouch, belt (x3)
   Ink (3 oz)
   small steel mirror (x3)
   Candle x5
   paper (20 sheets)
   scroll case x2
   cash   31 gold, 7 silver
waterskin
Bastard Sword
masterwork armor
total weight 90 lbs

Already had:
Bracers of Armor (+1 Defense) (.5 lb.)
Cloak of Resistance (+1 E/RS/MD) (.5 lb.)
Spell Component Pouch
Backpack  (1 lb.)
Everlasting Ration Kit (.5 lb.)

Adding:
Mirror (I feel pretty) (.5 lb.)
Vial (to keep soap in) (.01 lb.)
1/5 lb. of Soap (a lady has to keep clean) (.2 lb.)
Cold weather outfit (1.75 lb.)
Blanket, winter (.75 lb)
Case, Scroll (.125 lb.)
Scroll of Shield x4
Scroll of Alarm x2
Scroll of Endure Elements x2
Scroll of Orb of Fire, lesser x4
Jewelry consisting of gold choker, brass earrings with red quartz, pyrite druzy bracelets, and a flame signet ring

Total weight: 6.175 lb. (including coins)
Cash left: 5p, 3g, 9s

-Name: Virkum
-Gender/Sex: Male
-Race: Alynthi Elf
-Age (Human Equivalent): Equivalent of age 22 in human years
-Birth Place: Unknown
-Appearance/Clothing-
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t28/Lydyn_Whirlwind/VirkumAvatar.png) (http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t28/Lydyn_Whirlwind/Starfang2.png)

-History/Background/Motivation/Goals-
Virkum lives to fight, he lives for the battle, but no one but the gods above know why. It has been two years since he's awoken in a peaceful field with nothing but the clothes on his back and the ancient longsword beside him. It has been two years filled with bloodshed, coin for his services, and endless wanderings. Where he learned his skills, his abilities over his own body, and where he acquired such a potentially powerful blade is lost in the fog of forgotten memories. He is quiet and keeps to himself, but it's hard to take a step in any town or city without being recognized, let alone noticed. He's built a decent reputation for himself, but he only knows one things and it's the only thing that keeps him going - he must fight. For what? He hopes he'll find that answer someday.

-Combat Style: Tends to wear clothing with very little leather in select areas (still counting as clothing). While Virkum almost exclusively wields Starfang into battle, he is more than capable to battle without any weapons at all. He seems more agile than should be normally impossible and has almost inhuman reactions paired with the ability to stand toe-to-toe with a knight in full armor while wearing little more than clothing. He is known to throw Starfang in battle as a substitute long ranged weapon.
-Religious Affiliation (if any): Unknown

Items bought:

Backpack (2 GP, 2 lb)
8x Ink (8 x 8 GP)
Inkpen (1 SP)
Iron Pot (5 SP, 10 lb)
14x Rations (14 x 5 SP, 14 x 1 lb)
10x Parchment (10 x 2 SP)
10x Tindertwig (10 x 1 GP)
Entertainer's Outfit (Not Worn, but used for shows; 3 GP, 4 lb)
Soap (4 SP, .8 lb)
Waterskin (1 GP, 4 lb)
Pouch with Belt (1 GP, 0.5 lb, stores ink vials and soap)

Money Used:
92 Gold

Money Left:
695 - 92 = 603 Gold

Gear Weight:
35.3 in gear

Coin Weight:
603 / 50 = 12.06 lb

Total Weight:
47.36 lb

And with everyone geared up, it's off to... adventure!

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_buO8uWcNOq0/TKChdoYunXI/AAAAAAAAAAQ/drW0XGIXnoI/s1600/1284156180944.jpg)

Alright then. Time to get this show on the road finally. Apologies for the delay up to this point. I have no excuses, I've just been lazy.

---

     Your stay at the Bovine Bell has been a mostly uneventful one, which is unsurprising considering it is the biggest inn in a rather small town. The town itself is unremarkable enough not to even end up on most maps of the region, despite its location near the Highland/Verun border on the Verunian Trade Road. The most interesting thing that has happened to you during your stay here was being approached by one rather distinguished-looking gnome who introduced himself as Berus Lejun, a trader in fine goods.

     That chance meeting is what has led you to being in the inn's common room this late evening, sitting around a large table with what may be one of the most unlikely, motley group you've ever encountered. Standing on a chair at the head of the table is Berus himself, smiling proudly at the assembled party before him. Short, dark of hair and eye and dusky of skin, Berus is a fairly generic specimen of gnome. He speaks with a manner you've noted as common among his kind - cheerful with a sense of trying to hold back exuberance about everything, "I do thank you all for meeting with me here tonight. I do try to make sure the folks I hire on get a chance to meet formally before they have to work together, though I apologize for the short notice required currently. As I'm sure I mentioned previously, I'm rather behind on my delivery schedule as it is and as we're past harvest now, its only a matter of time before the weather changes again and makes my deliveries all but impossible." He pauses only momentarily to catch his breath and flash what he must believe is a winning smile to everyone at the table. "Also, with the hostilities that seem to be flaring up between Highland and Verun, I don't rightly trust my wagons to cross the border safely with only myself and my teamsters on hand. But that's where you all come in, aye?" He pauses again to bring his gaze directly onto the slim fellow sitting directly to his right, "All but you, songster. I need you intact when we arrive to the city so you can sing the praises of my workmanship." Berus lets his gaze again pass over the group and concludes his monologue, "Well then. I'll leave you to getting acquainted. I've already paid up on your rooms and we leave at first light." Hopping down from the chair, the energetic gnome excuses himself unceremoniously and retreats up the stairs, presumably to his own room for the night.

---

---

From here on out its in your hands. Try to stick to the format as mentioned in the OP. Since this is just a quick opening and introductory Scene, I'll be closing posting on it in about 24 hours (Thursday, Nov 10th, 1am EST) so that we can get everything moving. Battle Panes and future Scenes should have longer posting times allotted.

Upon the departure of the gnome, Hogarth slams down her now-empty tankard of ale and wipes froth from her mouth using the back of her mighty hand. "By the frosty eyes of Bullokh!" She bellows, making nearby candlelight flicker, and lurching forward a little. "3 tankards of ale, and I didn't even have to nail someone's hand to a wall!" Leaping up from her seat, she shakes her animal hides, and roars with laughter. "I'm going to take a Highlander in my left hand, a Verunian in my right, and SMASH their heads together!" Sitting down heavily upon her chair, she digs into some more meat provided by the generous host.

   The tiny, golden haired pixie woman has yet to take a seat at the table. (1, 2, 3) Instead, she flutters around the general area, occasionally alighting upon random surfaces only to take flight again mere seconds later. A shimmering trail follows her every move as though her gossamer wings were shedding crystalline fragments, though no physical evidence remains.

   At a glance, she appears not to have heard a word the gnome said as her attentions seem scattered at best. However, "Good night, sleep tight, don' let the pyrebugs bite!" she calls in a sing-song voice after her apparent client leaves. (4) She now lands on the back of the chair Berus just vacated. "Hello!" she calls, holding up a hand in greeting to the assembled caravan guards. "Yvonne Scintillae Incendam's the name an' fire's the game. Pleased ta mee'cha!" Her eyebrows knit as she cocks her head to the side like a bird. "Say, who let the critter in here?" Upon hearing the barbarian's bellows, she corrects herself. "Uhm, *critters,* it would seem."

Actions:
1: Flies around the table and lands on the edge to pause for a moment.
2. Flies under the table, out the other side and up behind a male Human of Corinthonian decent.
3. Flies around the table again.
4. Flies over to the chair Berus vacated and perches on its back.

Rhyhorn puts a piece of chalk into his mouth, writing on the dark slab of stone around his neck.  He finishes and stashes his chalk before spinning the stone over for the others to see.  On it are five crudely written words in Common - "Hello.  Not Critter.  Am Rhyhorn."

   "Rhyhorn, huh? Cute name, I like it." She giggles playfully. "Reminds me of something..." She thinks for a moment before giving up on retrieving whatever memory was escaping her. "Huh, maybe not..."

With deft movements, Hogarth scoops the fey into her tankard, clamps her hand over the hole, and quickly slams it, mouth down, on the table. "Don't like the bug bother you, friend Rhyhorn. I, Hogarth, scourge of Carpathia, conqueror of the frozen north, destroyer of small, helpless things understand your pain! She is small and weak, but with big brain! She TAUNTS those made of sterner stuff, like you! You and I, we are the same." She drops her hand heavily on the stone creature's head and cracks her knuckles on it.

   "Kyaa!" Yvonne yelps plaintively as she finds herself surrounded by a tankard recently soaked in booze. The sound of the metal striking the hard wooden surface of the table makes her ears ring and she shakes her head to clear it. (1) She curses loudly in dwarven before starting to laugh. Without further hesitation, she slams herself upwards against the bottom of the mug, shoving it violently out of the barbarian's unprepared grasp. "Yer lucky I used all my magic today already." She sneers. "Else you'd all 'a been peppered with shrapnel." She holds her hands out in a shrug. "Then again, I didn' wanna pay for a new table either." Her expression immediately returns to the happy one from before. "Tha's good ale, by the way... I wonder if they've got a pixie sized mug I c'n use..." she glances over towards the bar "or perhaps they'll fill mine... hrm..."

Actions:
1: Flies strait up and shoves the tankard out of the way so as to hover about two feet above the tabletop.

Rhyhorn can't help but let out a deep laugh under his breath, rubbing his chalkboard clean with his cloth rag before attempting to sloppily sip from a cup of ale that was set down for him on the floor.

"MAGIC?!" Hogarth roars, whipping out two of throwing axes and howling at the roof. "No one said anything about working with a cowardly, tricksy, impossible WIZARD she snarls, readying herself against a whole slew of imagined spells and light shows.

   Yvonne's face sours. "I. Am. Not. A. Wizard." She says flatly and firmly. "Wizards are old fogies who hole themselves up in towers for years on end trying, often vainly, to perfect their craft. *I* am a sorcerer. *I* don't need to study. *I* am magic incarnate. Magic flows through my veins as blood and I wield it as easily as I breathe. I am Lirai." She closes her eyes and breathes deep before opening them again. "Geez, fer someone who's complainin' 'bout me supposably 'taunting' you an' the critter, yer certainly getting' in a few a yer own." The fey girl's lips curl up once again. "Tell ya what, why don' I buy ya both 'nother round?" (1) She extends a tiny hand towards the Alynthian woman before her. "Le's let bygones be bygones."

Actions:
1: Prepares to dodge should her attempt to placate the barbarian fails.

"A sorcerer, you say... and bring me ale! Then I welcome you, friend bug! Let us drink away our anger!" Hogarth greedily laps up the ale, and leans in close to Yvonne so she is nearly touching her with her own eye, as big as the fey's head. "But if you ever turn out to be a wizard in disguise, by the hoary beard of Yggral, I will flow that magic out of your veins."

   Yvonne blinks and holds back a gag. "The heck is that smell?" she thinks to herself, hoping her face continues to belie her disgust. "When's the last time she bathed?" She smiles as warmly as possible. "I'll, uhm... go get tha' ale then..." she forces the words up through her contracted throat and out her clenched jaw. (1) "Hey! Wench!" the sprite calls, flying out of the barbarian's aura. "Ale fer my two friends here!" Hovering in place, she spins back towards the table, the movement causing a small storm of short-lived sparks to spray the immediate vicinity. "I di'n' catch yer name."

Actions:
1: Flies a few feet past Hogarth.

Rhyhorn watches with vague interest as the pixie and barbarian argue, before turning back to his own ale, comically toppling the cup over as he tries to finish it off and letting out a small huff at the bit of ale that spills out.  Not having arms or opposable thumbs kind of sucks, sometimes.

Seap blinked and yawned.  As his eyes gradually adjusted to the low torchlight, he glanced at the grease-stained mug underneath his nose.  It was empty.  Despite having drained the mug of its contents hours ago, the taste of ale still coated his tongue.  Worse, the hangover left the top of his skull throbbing in pain, which spread in pulses to his eyes.
The day had been too long for him; just finding this hamlet had taken hours.  Closing his eyes again just avoid the pain, Seap produced his fife and began to play a soldier's medley.

Hearing the music begin to play from the table, Rhyhorn begins playing with his empty cup, sliding it back and forth between his feet very vaguely to the same beat as Seap's fife-playing.

Xun Huan has been quietly taking in the... antics of his friends, with a vaguely amused smile.  He leans forward and bows faintly in his chair, his ale all but untouched.  "Xun Huan.  Pleased to make acquaintance."  He settles back again, hands folded on the table.  "We are move... food?  Little man very... not clear on cargo.  Hope food.  Food left too long after harvest go bad, terrible waste.  Many go hungry."

   Yvonne turns towards the Corinthonian man. "Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?"

"I do not know this... Willis person.  Sorry for dissapoint, little fire spirit."

Elia sits holding her ale in her hands, idly looking at the ale debating. She listens to the others around her talk and engage in conversations. She loses the conversation when the music starts, and gets lost in her thoughts.

Ale... Not once has she partook a drop of this elixer. Said to be the creation of gods at times, and a curse of the mind to others. I'm not technically a priest anymore, one sip shouldn't hurt. But, the others around her have drank it, look how they are, or is that how they always are? Elia frowns.

   Yvonne doesn't hear Xun Huan's reply as she has already moved on to the next target of interest. Someone is frowning... She floats down and hovers over the human woman's left shoulder. "Lick it... Lick it... Li~~ck i~~t..." She whispers, then after a pause, she giggles. "Or jus' drink it, bu' don' waste it 'cause tha'd be alcohol abuse. An' it's too tasty."

Elia hears whispering to lick the ale. She brings the mug to her face, but before she can lap some up, a giggle is heard. Elia puts the mug down. "You almost got me to drink some...." Elia pauses for a moment before speaking again. "Pardon me. My name is Elia Cyronae, wandering Priest of Odin. Who might you be child?"

   "I am not a kid!" Yvonne says, sticking out her tongue. "An' di'n' you hear my intradukshun 'fore Ms. Chug-a-lug over there grabbed me? I'm Yvonne Scintillae Incendam." She puts her hands on her hips and puffs her chest out proudly. "I am fire incarnate! An' I'm serious 'bout not wastin' yer ale." She holds up her own tiny mug. "If ya don' want it, I'm sure one a' these other fine folks'll drink it for ya."

Elia looks over at the fairy. "Yvonne... I like you kid." Elia smiles. "But pardon me calling you 'child', It's generalization I use, I call everyone that." Elia glances down at her ale. "I do not see to this ale at the moment. Would you like to take it off my hands?"

   "Can do!" Yvonne grabs one of Hogarth's discarded tankards and pours half of Elia's ale into it, careful not to spill a drop. She drains her own stein before dunking it in into the tankard to fill it and set it aside on the table. (1) Wrapping her arms around the tankard's wide handle, she manages to awkwardly lift it up and flies over to a dark-skinned, elderly man at the end of the bar. "Hey, old man!" she says as though familiar with him. "Compliment a' the lovely priestess o'er there." She explains setting down the tankard and jerking a thumb in the direction of said holy woman. The drunkard mumbles something unintelligible and nods. (2) The sprite giggles and returns to the table. "Samson sends 'is thanks." She says with a grin and picks up her mug again.

Actions
1: Flies over to bar.
2: Flies back to table.

Elia glances at the guy and back at the half filled ale in front of her. "Well at least half is going to use." Elia looks at  the fairy. "So what can you do? I did happen to catch a bit of conversation about wizards and magic."

   "Half?!" the tiny woman exclaims before giving an exasperated sigh. "Fine..." (1) She grabs Eila's mug and flies over to dump the rest into Samson's already drained tankard. "That guy drinks more'n anyone I know..." (2) she murmurs half to herself as she makes her way back to the table. "Sorry 'bout that, but it's jus' too good ta waste, ya know. But to answer yer question, I c'n cast all sorts a' spells but I'm best with fire. An' I c'n fly." She accents her sentence by looping backwards. "But tha' should'a' been obvious, right?" She laughs lightly.

Actions
1: Flies over to bar, again.
2: Flies back to table, again.

"Would never have guessed." Elia pauses for a moment, and looks at Valknut amulet around her neck. "I myself, cast magic. But I am not magically innate as you are. I get my powers from lord Odin." She then pulls her spear off her back and rests it on her lap. "I use this, to do my lords wishes, nothing more, nothing less." She looks back up at the fairy. "I'll do anything he says, even if it requires my life in doing such."

   "An' Odinn is tellin' ya ta help this Lejun guy?" Yvonne raises an eyebrow.

a magical force called plot
"Well, to put it short, I need to get my name known to everyone, and I'll start anyway I can. For reasons that will take too long to explain." Elia smiles at the fairy. "What brings you here?"

   Yvonne smiles strangely. "Do you wanna know how I came to be in Sephyr, in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere? Well, I'll tell ya. Back in the Plane of Fire, my parents were murdered by water Lirai, because, as everyone knows, the Lirai of each element hate the others. There is a constant battle between the four factions of Fire, Earth, Air and Water. I came to Sephyr to seek answers and find the whereabouts of those responsible for my parent's deaths. Mr. Lejun said he has information, but I must pay for it by guarding this caravan thing he's got going' here." She clenches her fists. "I will find those water Lirai, and when I do, I will burn their very souls." She smiles again. "But 'till then I'm gonna have fun hangin' out with all a' you guys! Bottoms up!" She says, holding out her mug. "Oh, sorry, nevermind..." She falls silent and starts emptying her cup.

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Update coming soon.

"interesting... I did not know about that." Elia looks out to window. "Oh my! Its late!" Elia looks at the fairy, "Best be seeing you off, time be now to get rest, if one were to wake at such an hour as we have been given." Elia grabs her spear off her lap and stands up. She puts the spear on her back and turns to send her goodbyes to the fairy. Bowing to the fairy she says: "It has been nice meeting a fairy folk for the first time. I wish you a good rest Madam Incendam." With that Elia walks up the stairs of the inn to her room.

           Before setting out from the Bovine Bell the next morning, Lejun quickly introduces the party to his assistant and sole teamster remaining with him for this leg of the journey, the taciturn Gref. Gref is another fairly nondescript gnome though unlike his employer he shows none of the exuberance or joie de vivre you've come to expect from gnomish folk.
          Lejun's caravan consists only of a pair of large, covered wagons pulled by a single ox each. While you can see into the wagons through the canvas flaps when they blow open, you still have no better idea of his cargo as everything inside is sealed up in boxes big enough to be coffins with only the words "Lejun C. Berus - Fine Goods" printed on the outside of each one. Lejun settles himself on the bench of the forward wagon, gesturing for Rhyhorn to take the lead ahead of him with his smaller cart of goods, and Gref does the same bringing the second wagon out onto the trade road behind them both. Over the course of the first day you find yourselves keeping a fairly leisurely walking pace as set by slow-moving oxen. With clement weather for the season and a level road under your feet, the hours creep by slow and uneventful.
         Your employer does call a halt long enough for a modest lunch he provides from a chest under the bench of his wagon; A small cask of cider and spicy meat pies that he must have gotten from the inn the night before from the look of them. Over the course of the meal he gives a warning about the section of road ahead. "Those of you that haven't traveled this way before should know there's no waypoint of any kind between here and the border. What's worse is the Highland Guard tends to not run their patrols this far out and the Verunian Border Patrol keeps their watch strictly on their side of the border. All of that adds up to this being a prime location for bandits and highwaymen. Keep your eyes peeled and ears sharp."
          Several hours further down the road, as the sun is nearing the horizon far to the West, it seems as if Lejun had been predicting the future. Something about the trees up ahead of you seems wrong and on closer inspection you see a small band of orcs (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG203.jpg) and a single hobgoblin (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG153a.jpg) trying to hide among the plant-life bordering the road to either side. However, it appears as if they are waiting for you pass them before they act and they seem to be unaware that you have noticed them.

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Bonus! - Due to the overall level of Perception present in the party, you are all fully aware of the enemies hiding in the brush ahead and you get 2 Bonus Actions to use before they can take any Actions at all. Use them wisely!

Objective: Repel or destroy the gang of bandits.
Bonus Objective: Keep the wagons, oxen and gnomes from taking any significant damage.
Weather: Dusk, clear.
Terrain: Grassland, some trees.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane01-01th.png) (http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/2585/battlepane0101.png)

Terrain Notes: Only the center trunk of the tree tiles impede movement. You can move freely through/under the branches. The small shrubs scattered about function the same, stopping movement so plan your movement to go around them. The rocks you see on the map are small enough to walk/run over without slowing you down any.

NPC Notes: Orcs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are actually up IN the branches of the trees. All other enemies are on the ground. Lejun and Gref will not fight unless threatened at Melee range by an enemy and then only to defend themselves long enough for one of you to help them. It is not recommended to let that happen.

Reminder! Your Movement score isn't a limit to how far you can move but rather a measure of how fast you cover ground. There is no limit to how far you can move between your actions but if you try to move too far and then act, your actions are likely to come at the very end of the Turn.

Posting for this Turn ends in about 72 hours (Sunday, Nov. 13th, 4am EST). As stated in the OP, if you don't have your actions in by then you'll forfeit your Actions for this Turn.

Allies Condition

   "Watch Out!" Yvonne says just loud enough for Rhyhorn and Eila to hear.

Bonus Action 1: Turn right and use Stomp in the direction of the tree, hitting the tree's trunk and Hobgoblin in the hopes of sending the Hobgoblin prone and sending the Orc from the tree.

Free Action: Slip out of my Cart harness and dig my foot into the ground.

Bonus Action 2 + Action 1: Charge! at the tree to my left, containing Orc 1 and Orc 3, aiming to smash into the base and send both Orcs toppling out.

Action 2 + Action 3: Turn back to the right, again Charging!, this time toward the Hobgoblin I attempted to topple with my Stomp earlier.  I let out a powerful Roar as I descend upon him, striking him with the full force of my Horn Attack.  (Focus Lost.)

Action 4-A: If the Hobgoblin remains alive, hit it with another Horn Attack.

Action 4-B: If the Hobgoblin is defeated, pull back to defend the Cart and the front of our formation.  (If Cart, Oxen, Wagon, or an ally in the vicinity of the front of our formation is under attack while on this Acton, move to attempt to intercept the enemy's attack instead.)

   "Look!" Yvonne calls, loud enough for the rest of the caravan to hear. "There's more orcs behind those four trees!" She points at the outermost orcs. "Right then," (B1, B2) Snapping her wings, the pixie flies strait up. "I'm lookin' to the sky to save me!" She pauses for a fraction of a second to survey the battlefield below. "Lookin' for a sign of life." (1) As she positions her hands as though holding an invisible sphere at its north and south poles, ashes fall from her upper hand and a tiny, molten pebble appears at its center as though she had summoned a fragment of Sephyr's own core. The heat it produces warps the air around it and the fire Lirai can't help but grin. With a loud crack, the rock bursts forth towards an orc, dragging a trail of sparks behind it. "Lookin' for something to help me burn out bright!" (2) Without even waiting to see the results of her first spell, the fey woman swaps the position of her hands and repeats the small ritual, this time with a new target. She laughs, "Fly high!" (3,4) as she increases her altitude.

Actions
B1, B2: Fly strait up 12 squares
1: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt at Orc 1
2: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt at Orc 3
3, 4: Fly strait up 12 squares

Xun gives the oxen behind him a firm pat on the head to stop it and then darts off, sandalled feet barely leaving an imprint on the grass as he rushes towards a lone orc (bonus).  His sword comes free with a rasping hiss while his footwork suddenly shifts, his attacks coming fast and aggressive (1-2).  A quick flurry of cuts, a feint, and then a downward slash to the orcs leg followed by a spinning backhand cut at its face, and Xun holds hsi blade out to the side, as if inviting the enemy to strike him.

bonus actions) move towards the orc, to B9
1-2) draw sword and enter Punishing Stance
3) Word of Binding
4) Regular attack.

Elia takes note of Yvonne's warning.

1-5) If at any point an orc is taking an action on me, or the cart. Go to them and punch(non-lethal).

"I didn't sign up for this!"

Seap scampered away (1), clutching his fife in his hand.  "Why are orcs even here?  They're a terrible audience with no taste and horrible manners!"  His eyes now staring into the distance, Seap began to sing in his mezzo-soprano voice (2-4).

"March of the men
Strike of the blade
Watch as the beasts
Flee back to their glades
Tell me ye men
O why do you fight...

1) Retreat to K2
2-4) Sing Inspire Courage.  If anyone tries to attack, Seap will climb into the wagon.

"BLOOD AND THUNDER, COMRADES" howls Hogarth, running towards Orc 5 (Bonus Action 1) and unsheathing her axe (Bonus Action 2). Upon arrival, she leaps and cleaves the orc (Action 1). She hacks at the orc again for good measure (Action 2). She hurls a throwing axe at Orc 3 (Action 3) and another at Orc 1 (Action 4).

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          "Look!" Yvonne calls, loud enough for the rest of the caravan to hear. "There's more orcs behind those four trees!" From the middle of the caravan Seap cries out, "I didn't sign up for this!" as Rhyhorn turns to the right and strikes the ground with a thunderous force, rattling the tree there causing a rotten orc-fruit to fall to the ground with a satisfying thump, though the Hobgoblin steadied behind the trunk seems unaffected. Xun barely pauses as he darts away from the caravan to a distant orc, drawing his hand-and-a-half sword free from the scabbard, the evening sun making the blade glow like fire in his hands. In the opposite direction, Hogarth's long stride is devouring ground as she brings her huge axe up and around to bear down on another orc, her battle cry heralding death, "BLOOD AND THUNDER, COMRADES!"
          Elia takes a defensive stance, awaiting anyone foolish enough to come into her reach as Rhyhorn makes a full-about and charges the orc-filled tree. "Right then," Yvonne mutters and shoots skyward, "I'm lookin' to the sky to save me!" Seap on the other hand is retreating to the rear of the wagons, fife in hand, "Why are orcs even here?  They're a terrible audience with no taste and horrible manners!" Finding himself a safe space backed up against a wagon he begins to sing a war chant, "March of the men, strike of the blade..." Xun closes the gap between himself and his target just as Hogarth brings her heavy axe blade down and clean through an orc, bifurcating the animalistic creature from crown to crotch, rewarding her with a spray of grey-black blood across her body.
          As that orc topples into a pair of inanimate pieces, Rhyhorn connects solidly with the tree, forcing both orcs to fall from its branches, knocking one out cold on impact with the ground. From high above, Yvonne conjures up a ball of fire and stone, aiming it at the still-moving orc that fell from the tree, saying, "Lookin' for something to help me burn out bright!" as she hurls the conjuration down and clean through the orc's back. With a laugh she begins to cast another spell to follow the first. Nearby the fallen orcs, the Hobgoblin shouts something harshly in Orcish and points at Rhyhorn as he does so, then lunges forward towards the stony beast, sword held high. A pair of orcs still up in the trees lob javelins down at Rhyhorn, one missing completely but the other grazing his hide, taking a small chunk of stone with it.
          Across the field, Xun takes a dangerous stance with his blade held high above, leaving his sides open to attack. The orc he is engaged with tries to take the opening, but his heavy blade only glances off the young man's armor with no ill effect. Meanwhile, Seap's song continues to drive his allies on through the battle, "Watch as the beasts flee back to their glades..." Spurred on by the Talent infused in his song, Hogarth brings her axe around in another arc, mutilating the orc corpse beyond any hope of even magical aid.
          Turning suddenly once again, Rhyhorn roars defiantly and charges the Hobgoblin but is interrupted by the same who brings his sword down and he sidesteps the beast's deadly horn, only chipping the granite hide. By now the first fallen orc has regained his footing and begins to close the distance between himself and Rhyhorn only to completely overlook Elia, getting cold-cocked with a fist to the face for his efforts. Beside her another tiny ball of flame strikes the unconscious orc beneath the tree, killing it outright. Above her the pixie continues to laugh and shouts, "Fly high!" as she ascends even higher above the battlefield.
          As the still tree-bound orcs climb to the ground, Xun makes a few hesitant motions with his sword before he strikes his foe with bone-splitting force, hacking the orc's legs out from under it and following with another cut across the beastman's throat, ending its life with no more than a quiet gurgle of blood. A brief moment of stillness covers the battlefield as the bard's song continues, "Tell me ye men, O why do you fight..." But that stillness is not meant to last as Rhyhorn and the Hobgoblin continue to battle. A sword swing goes wide and Rhyhorn quickly drives his horn up into the goblinoid's side with enough force to puncture both armor and flesh. However, the last pair of orcs have advanced and now the stone beast finds himself facing off with them, three on one...


Objective: Repel or destroy the gang of bandits.
Bonus Objective: Keep the wagons, oxen and gnomes from taking any significant damage.
Weather: Dusk, clear.
Terrain: Grassland, some trees.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane01-02th.png) (http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1299/battlepane0102.png)

X = Unconscious
X = Dead
Posting for this Turn ends in about 72 hours (Monday, Nov. 14th, 4am EST). As stated in the OP, if you don't have your actions in by then you'll forfeit your Actions for this Turn.

Allies Condition

Hogarth, getting into the full swing of battle and infused with the power of the blood of an enemy,no longer speaks and just screams incoherently. She rushes in on Orc 2 (Action 1), swings her axe in a wide circle (action 2), and uses the momentum to hurl it at Orc 6 (Action 3). She flings her throwing axe at the Hobgoblin, hoping to catch him off guard while it is dealing with Ryhorn (Action 4).

Rhyhorn shrugs off the Orcs' and Hobgoblin's feeble weapon attacks, his sturdy natural armor holding fast against their assaults.

Action 1) Rhyhorn quickly shifts backwards to K13, trying to create some space between the three enemies threatening him.

Action 2) Quickly after stopping moving, Rhyhorn Stomps the ground again, unleashing a diagonal shockwave toward the Hobgoblin and Orc 6 with an angry snarl.

Action 3-A) If Hobgoblin has moved into my melee range, Horn Attack him to death.

Action 3-B) If Hobgoblin is not in melee range but an Orc has moved into it, Horn Attack the Orc to death instead.

Action 3-C) If Hobgoblin is prone from Stomp or otherwise alive and no units are in melee range, rush up to that Lord of the Rings reject and doesn't afraid.  If the Hobgoblin is somehow already dead, rush the nearest Orc instead, they're all rejects too.

Action 4-A) If Hobgoblin is alive and in melee range, Horn Attack him.

Action 4-B) If Hobgoblin is dead, KO'd, or otherwise not in melee range but an Orc still is, Horn Attack that instead.

Action 4-C) If no enemies remain in melee range, use 1 charge of my Healing Belt to restore some HP.

   "Do it if you dare" Yvonne chants, "Leaping from the sky" (1, 2) she lets gravity help her decent. "Hurling through the air" She stops short just above the rocky rino, while white-hot sparks dance among the fingers of her right hand. (3) The arcane energy leaps from her pointed index finger to strike the her intended target as green ooze forms in the palm of her left hand. "Exhilarating high!" (4) Switching hands and choosing her target, she lets the viscous puss slip through her fingers and drip down upon her foe. Grinning wickedly, she holds her right first digit in front of her lips to blow away the acrid smoke rising from it. Turning up her left hand she casually brushes off the residue, causing a spray of harmless goo that dissipates before falling more than a few inches. "You guys done down there?" she asks as if suddenly bored now that the battle appears to be nearing its conclusion.

Actions
1, 2: Fly down to hover 3 squares above J,14
3: Cast Electric Jolt*
4: Cast Acid Splash*

*Target priority: Hobgoblin, Orc 6, Orc 2, Orc 4 If prior target dead, choose next. If all dead, do not cast.

Quote from: st4rw4k3r on November 10, 2011, 04:52:24 pm
Elia takes note of Yvonne's warning.

1-5) If at any point an orc is taking an action on me, or the cart. Go to them and punch(non-lethal).

not much of an eventful fight for me :D

Xun bends down and cleans his blade on the fallen orc, finishing by wiping the blade clean with a small piece of cloth.  He turns to watch his companions deal with the few remaining enemies as he moves back towards the wagons.  They are surprisingly skilled.

(( Looks like the rest of the team has this all locked down, so Xun is taking it easy. ))

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Update forthcoming.

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         Roaring like an untamed beast, Hogarth leaps the corpses of orcs between her and one of the pair circling Rhyhorn as she closes the distance to her target. Hearing his ally approach, Rhyhorn quickly steps back and raises himself up to strike the ground again, sending another thunderous shockwave at his foes, felling both the hobgoblin and one of the orcs. High above, the pixie chants a little poem in sing-song to herself, "Do it if you dare, Leaping from the sky, Hurling through the air..." while plummeting towards the earth at a slight forward angle, magical sparks of electricity creating a comet-like trail in the sky behind her. Below her, the fallen combatants slowly regain their feet while the unaffected orc steps forward, swinging his heavy blade around to strike at Rhyhorn.
         However, unfortunately for the orc, Hogarth runs like a cheetah and strikes like behemoth. Her axe comes around high in a murky sweep of blood-coated steel, decapitating the pig-nosed orc in a single clean sweep, the head spinning high up into the hair and getting caught in the branches of the nearby tree. The orc's sword clatters uselessly against Rhyhorn's stony hide, having lost any kind of guidance to strike meaningfully as its owner lost his head. The remaining orc, hesitant to advance with the seemingly insane barbarian charging across the battlefield at them seems to have made a fatal mistake in doing so as the elven-made greataxe is loosed from Hogarth's hands and carries forward and clean into his side, toppling him over and spilling his guts out onto the trade road.
         Seeing the last of his underlings subdued so easily, the Hobgoblin curses in Orcish and turns tail and runs. Rhyhorn begins to give chase, horn lowered to skewer the cowardly highwayman, but the Hobgoblin begins to quickly open the gap between them as he bolts, giving no thought to his own defense now. A burst of light from above and behind Rhyhorn heralds the end Yvonne's decent as she cries out, "Exhilarating high!" and a tiny bolt of lightning leaps from her extended hand to strike the fleeing goblinoid in the back, singeing his armor and evoking a howl of pain and sending him tumbling to the ground. Without missing a beat, Hogarth draws one of her throwing axes and hurls it at the fallen beastman but in trying not to hit her ally, the axe passes just high over the Hobgoblin's body.
         With his quarry temporarily fallen, Rhyhorn lines up his horn and drives it deep into the Hobgoblin's body, lifting it clear off the ground with the force of the blow and rending the torso asunder, causing the body to look as if a storm giant had taken a bite out the side. When it hits the ground, the bloody mess moves no longer. Behind him, Yvonne applies an unhealthy dose of caustic acid to the last unconscious orc in a show , ending its suffering before she quips, "You guys done down there?" with boredom coloring her tone.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane01-03th.png) (http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/7608/battlepane0103.png)

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~Spoils~
418 GP
3,412 SP
3,876 CP

A silver chalice with tiny zircon gems embedded in the stem.
A pair of heavy black leather gloves of exquisite quality, with metal studs set over the knuckles.
Jade gemstone
Amber gemstone

Objective Bonus! - 600 GP

(The remaining gear used by the orcs is either damaged beyond use or of such poor quality you'd likely not even be able to sell it for more than scrap.)

~Stat Bonuses~

Elia: No bonus.
Hogarth: Melee Skill +1!
Rhyhorn: Stomp Power +1!
Seap: No bonus.
Xun: Melee Skill +1!
Yvonne: Electric Jolt Power +1!

(Don't lynch me if you didn't get any bonuses. Things like defense and performance skill advance slower than combat skills.)

Lejun hops down from his wagon to inspect both of them and to calm the oxen while those of the party minded to do so look over the corpses for anything of value. The gnome nods appreciatively and grins, "I can see you lot will be worth every coin I promised you. A job well done and I thank you. Now, let's not hang around here too long. Last thing we want to do is answer a bunch of questions should anyone else show up. Grab your things and let's be on our way. There's still daylight left."

---

Consider the travel time to a camping site a short Scene. Feel free to roleplay while walking on the trade road. I'll probably leave this open for the next 24 hours or so for posting, then I'll fast-forward to the next major Scene/Pane as the dice or your actions dictate. (This might also be a good time to heal up for those of you that took any damage.)

Rhyhorn grabs Hogarth's thrown Throwing Axe in his mouth, bringing it back to her and dropping it at her feet before slipsping back into his harnesses. He begins leading the wagons down the trail again, using a charge of his Healing Belt to heal the small chips in his hide from the previous battle.  (2 Charges Left)  Rhyhorn closes his eyes as he walks, taking a minute to regain his Focus as well since the path currently seems safe and easy enough to navigate.

(Noted: Healing Belt 1 charge used - HP restored to full. Focus regained.)

(Ruling Idea: When not in combat, you can choose to have healing rolled like normal or just take the average outcome for whatever healing ability you activated. Sadly for Xun, because of the nature of his abilities I have to say he has to be IN battle to make use of his healing. Otherwise its endlessly broken no matter how I rule it. I'll take a vote on this Ruling Idea: Yea or Nay?)

(Yea)

   Yvonne starts to descend to help the 'larger-folk' look for things of value among their fallen foes, when a shadow passes from something overhead. She looks up quickly. "Kyaaa!" she squeaks. "Bird!" She points at a hawk circling lazily above. "Kill it! Kill it! It must die! Make it die! It's evil!" She continues to shriek as she makes a beeline towards Rhyhorn's cart. In her panic, she misjudges the angle and impacts the bottom of the 'ALL THE THINGS' sign, ricocheting back a full foot as she tumbles the rest of the way to the ground. "Ah!" she cries in surprise. However, the pixie recovers quickly and scrambles to her hands and feet. "Loose your arrows and fire your bolts! Make it into a pin cushion!" She scurries along the ground to get under the cart whereupon she quickly assumes a duck and cover position. Her hands cover her downturned head and her wings provide feeble protection to her back as she attempts to make herself appear smaller than she already is.

Walking over to the sign, Seap retrieved the curled up pixie.  "There's nothing to be afraid of."  Cupping the pixie in his hands, Seap returned to the merchandise cart and gently placed her inside.  "You'll be safe in here."

Xun raises an eyebrow at the panicking fire spirit.  "Surely one such as yourself has little to fear from an ordinary bird.  Are you not a living piece of flame?"

   "Bird?" Yvonne asks, her head popping up. "Did I say bird? Oh..." she laughs as she gets to her feet. "I thought I said 'dragon.' Yeah, I thought it was a dragon." The fire Lirai dusts herself off before taking to the air and exiting the wagon. "Of course, one such as I is not afraid of a stupid bird." She flies back toward the front of the caravan, keeping close to the wagon side and other objects along the way. "Why, I used to hunt arrowhawks back when I visited the Plane of Air." She makes her way over to Elia and alights upon the healer's shoulder. "Let me tell you, Four-wing Fricassee is absolutely delicious."

Elia picks up two stones and throws them near the hawk to drive it away. The hawk annoyed by the stones flies away from the area, to hunt somewhere else. Elia then heads back to where she was walking.

((Yea))


Hogarth strides forward and reclaims her greataxe from Rhyhorn. "Ah, a truer friend I've never had! And thanks to you, Rhyhorn, for your might and power in today's battle!" She guffaws as she kicks the orc guts over the bubbling, acidic remains of the hobgoblin, using the guts as a stepping stone to retrieve her throwing axe. "The fools didn't even have a chance to run away in fear! Did you SEE that head? BOOOOOSH" She grabs a few stones from the ground and offers them to Ryhorn. "Tell me, firebug, about this flamed bird! I've never had a meal on fire before." Her eyes shine like a shark's. No attempt is made to wipe any of the orc blood away from anything but the axe, and even then, only the blade. The hilt remains stained.

Hefting the coin bag onto Ryhorn's cart, she takes out 10 SP and puts it in Ryhorn's money chest. "I figure the orcs can cover the bother of having you haul away all their blasted coins!" She walks over to Seap, and rests a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You may be small and cowardly, but your song is enough to make me like ya!" She laughs mightily, and slaps Seap on the back a bit too hard for the lad to take. Nodding to Xu and Elia, the only way a fellow warrior can properly recognize others of her talent, Hogarth stomps toward Lejun, and flashes a wide, toothy grin, speckled with orc blood. "We should be safe, for now. I look forward to any other detours!"

Placing the axe back in its holster on her back, and slipping the recovered throwing axe on its well-worn spot on her belt, she takes her place at the caravan, utterly content with the thrill of battle.

   Yvonne laughs. "Flamebird? Ya' mean a phoenix, right? I don' think ya wanna eat on'a them. Might give ya a bad case of heartburn, ya know? Bu' as for the arrowhawks, lemme tell you, the chefs of Mistralia in the Plane of Air make the best use a' the four-winged vermin. From their amazing fricassee stews to the mushroom demi-glace they use on some a' their signature dishes, they truly add the only elegance the critters will ever get. Because, le's be honest, the only good bird is a dead bird. An' the only great bird is a cooked one, well seasoned... maybe a nice glass of Starfall's finest vintage..." The sprite drifts off as thoughts of food fill her mind. "Ya' know, the main reason I came to this plane was ta sample the wine from the vineyard on Starbane Isle. The finest wine in Sephyr they say."

Hogarth, upon realizing she wasn't going to eat a bird that was on fire, spaces out through the rest of the fey's speech. Her glazed stare penetrates dimensions and realities until hearing about fine wine, when Hogarth snaps back to this reality.

---

---

          The rest of the evening continues on uneventfully, leading to Lejun calling a halt and pulling the wagons off the trade road at nearly full-dark. "I want to be moving again at first light. I'll leave it to you all to decide who goes on what watch through the night." Seemingly weary with the day's travel, the gnome climbs into a small space behind the wagon bench where he curls up in a bedroll to sleep, as does his assistant in the other wagon without a word.
          Morning dawns without incident and the small caravan gets moving again without much sound beyond that of the ever-verbose Yvonne and the creaking of wagon wheels. The temperature is still mild enough for everything to be coated in a thin layer of dew and not yet be frosted over, but even that doesn't last long under the force of the sun.
          The second day of the trip is blessedly quiet, the only other living things the party sees being a few wild deer some distance from the road and another trade caravan coming back North, but the teamsters seemed disinclined to say anything more than a cheerful greeting as Lejun pulled the wagons aside to let them pass. Stopping earlier in the day to break for camp, Lejun calls everyone around to give them a short warning. "Stopping here for the night should put us at the border to Verun come about mid-morning. I'd keep on for a bit longer but I don't want to reach the checkpoint there too early in the day." He directs his gaze to Elia, saying, "And you lass might want to slip that holy symbol of yours away somewhere before we get there. I'm afraid your god isn't looked well upon by the officials of that kingdom. If you don't want to bring more trouble down on yourself than necessary, I'd hide your faith for the time being." Nodding to himself, he continues, "Alright. You all get a good night's rest. I don't trust the Border Patrol as far as I can throw an orc, and with us coming down out of Highland with the way things are I trust them even less."
          Your gnomish employer does see fit to open a case of food from one of his wagons that has some preserved meats and a couple loaves a bread which he hands over for you to share amongst yourselves, perhaps as an apology for the extended travel and short camp of the night before, but he seems otherwise disinclined to discuss matters further, waving off any questions with a vague answer of "You'll see why on the morrow."

          As promised, the morning of the third day did in fact bring the party to the border checkpoint. The lightly forested area near the trade road gives way to clear-cut land on both sides and far ahead, even from nearly a mile away, the high walls of a fort can been made out on the horizon. The trade road widens here, easily wide enough now for a quintet of full-sized wagons to pass each other unrestricted, and it leads straight ahead into a set of huge gates through the fort. Most of that space on the wider section of the trade road is occupied by all matter of cart, carriage and wagon trying to continue their journey South. As you get nearer, up behind the crenelated battlements, you can make out Guards in the colors of Highland carrying what look to be powerful longbows. Below them by the gates are several functionaries with the look of clerks - boards and parchment in hand with small tables beside the hewn stone walls to hold ink vials and quills. They are questioning people in each caravan coming South through the checkpoint and taking down notes as they do so. Occasionally, they pull someone's wagon or cart aside and escort the driver through a small door into the fort for a few minutes, but it seems they always return unharmed to continue their journey forward through to the Verunian side of the border.
           As the queue slowly advances, Lejun produces some paperwork out of a scroll case beneath his wagon's bench and holds them ready for the clerks. He indicates to Rhyhorn to stay to the leftmost side of the road as they near the gates, then begins waving his papers at the elderly clerk there while calling out, "Seid! Seid! You old goat, come get these so I can move on. I've got a schedule to keep!"
          Seid, a human with graying hair, wrinkled skin and a seemingly calm demeanor calls back with little emotion, "You and everyone else here, Master Berus. You and everyone else." The old man signs the paper on his board and hands it up to the driver of the wagon beside him and waves him along. "Last trip of the season, I assume. You have all your forms in order I'll wager." He walks up and takes the paperwork from the gnome, looking over each sheet quickly, nodding and murmuring to himself as he does so.
          "Don't I always?" Lejun says with a grin. "So, what's the word around here on things? I'm surprised to see so many people headed into Verun right now. Usually there isn't this much traffic here this time of year. I don't suppose you've got any information for an old friend such a me, would you?" You can see a small pouch slip from the gnome's hand into the human's pocket, jingling softly. If the clerk noticed, he gave no sign of such.
          Seid speaks in a low voice, "Almost every person that has passed these gates in the last two weeks has claimed their destination is Kellem. If I have to say more than that, then its a wonder you've stayed in business these many years, Master Berus." With a flourish of his quill and a snap of the papers, Seid hands the short stack of forms back to the gnome. Raising his voice, he continues, "It appears everything is in order, as usual. I wish you well on your journey and safe passage on your return." A practiced smile comes to the old man's face as he makes the same waving motion to Lejun as he did to the wagons before, which you belatedly realize is likely also a signal to the guards above.

          Once inside the gates, you can easily see that the fort is really more of a stone-walled tunnel, some thirty feet high on either side and a good five-hundred feet deep. The traffic is still nearly at a standstill between the walls, for at the head of the queue are Verunian Patrolmen inspecting paperwork and even searching wagons, some few teamsters being forced to unload their wares and open crates and chests for further inspection. You note that there are another set of small doors at this end of the fort, but those few wagon masters you see get taken into those small doors don't return, their wagons instead being driven ahead and around the outer walls of the fort by one of the Patrolmen.

---

I feel there is plenty of potential in this Scene for something to happen. But then I'm also known for setting my torch too close to a fuse to be healthy. ^_^ Since this will likely require some interaction from me as well for the NPCs I'll try to keep updated as I can with responses. Let's try for a longer Scene this time and some more in-depth interaction. Feel free to post questions to me in OOC/(()) tags as necessary if you want to make observations about the surrounding area or anything else for that matter. Remember, you can attempt anything, just like in battle. Success or failure is all dependent on your character's abilities.

Posting for this Scene will close in about 48 hours. (Thursday, Nov. 17th, 2am EST)

Hogarth contemplates how far she can throw an orc.

   Yvonne sighs. "Stupid tunnels..." she grumbles, not caring who hears her complaint. "If I wanted ta go through tunnels, I'd'a gone ta the Plane of Earth..." She fidgets around, flitting back and forth around the caravan. She glances loathingly at the ceiling. "Stupid tunnels..."

The ceiling of the tunnel is arched down the entire length of it, unornamented and very utilitarian in appearance. High up in the walls on either side are balcony-like walkways manned by both Highland Guards at the North end and Verunian Patrolmen at the South, most armored and armed with longbows. There are a few unarmored soldiers up there that you would assume are possibly cowardly wizards or some other form of magic-user. Clerestory windows set into the walls behind those walkways shed no little light down into the tunnel, where some magical torches are affixed to the walls at regular intervals, further illuminating the stone passageway. The air is hot and stuffy, stinking mostly of horse, donkey, the leather of their harnesses and their droppings on the ground.

   "Esra's taint, this place reeks..." the fire sprite continues to bemoan the situation. "How much longer we gotta stay in 'ere? I swear to Bel that the Maggot Pit smells better'n this stupid tunnel... "

Rhyhorn slowly leads the caravan of carts through this Ye Olde Boston Tunnel checkpoint, keeping a close eye out for members of the crowd with... stickier fingers than one should reasonably have.  He then peers around the high walls of the checkpoint, taking note of the security on the catwalks high above.  Rhyhorn's gone through several checkpoints in his time, but something about this checkpoint seemed... off to him.

(OOC: I'd like to perform a Knowledge Check, trying to remember if I've been through this specific checkpoint before and if there's anything in particular I remember about it, based on my history as a transporter.  If I've not been through this particular Checkpoint, I'd like to alternatively Knowledge Check based on the kinds of Checkpoints I have been through for particulars about how this one differs from them, again focusing on any suspicious differences if possible.)

(Knowledge Check answered via PM)

Even desperate cutpurses aren't stupid enough to try anything between these walls with no quick escape and under the watchful eye of both Guards and Border Patrolmen.

   When a particularly large caravan approaches the Verun checkpoint, the line behind it grinds to a halt. Boredom reaches a peak as Yvonne realizes her group will not be moving for a good while, so she flies up toward the walkways above. Paying no heed to the guards' tabards that display their kingdom, she instead selects one of the 'prettier,' unarmed guards and approaches with a smile. "Hello, fellow mage-type-person!" She greets warmly. "I'm Yvonne Scintillae Incendam. You look 'bout as bored as I am. I hope yer a bit more used ta this smell than I am though..." she laughs lightly. "So, what kinda magicks do ya do? Me, I like fire. But, I've seem all kin'a caster-types in my days. Mentalists, elementalists, illusionists, disillusionists... uhm, I mean... Well, in any case, what sorta magicks you use?"

The mage approached by Yvonne, wearing Verunian colors, immediately begins to make arcane gestures with one hand while pointing downwards to the stalled traffic below, a deep scowl shaping his features. "Get back with your caravan, pixie. You don't approach a Patrolman like this unless you want to forfeit your freedom or your life. If I see so much as a spark out of you I promise you I'll personally put you in an anti-magic cage until you go mad from magical deprivation."

Rhyhorn, stuck in the South-bound line, pulls up his chalk and chalkboard, beginning to write on it, recalling the warning that Lejun gave earlier and combining it with knowledge of his own.  After a moment, he places the chalkboard into his mouth, turning to Elia and nudging her with the chalkboard to get her to turn down and read it.  Rhyhorn gives her an extremely serious look as he holds the chalkboard for her to read, and sloppily written on it are the words "Trust Rhyhorn.  Give him Symbol."  He notices Yvonne fly up toward the catwalks, and his eyes flicker a panic for a moment before regaining their seriousness and waiting on Elia.

   (1) Yvonne's eyes are drawn to the guard's hands. "Alright, alright I get it, I'll go." she says disheartenedly. "Ya don' gotta be rude about it though." She huffs disapprovingly.

Actions
1: Spellcraft check on guard.

(Spellcraft answered via PM)

You can't help but notice that your group now has the mage's undivided attention while waiting in the queue.

   "Wa'n't gonna cast anithin' aniway..." the fire sprite grumbles, flying back to the group. "No love 'mong the mages 'ere in Sephyr, eh?"

Xun sighs softly.  "No bother guards.  That job very important, niceness not...", he founders for a moment, "... not needed.  Best to just wait, line will move in time."  He folds his legs beneath him, suiting deed to words as he perches on a cart.  "No cause trouble, get through faster."

Elia turns to see who is nudging her, only to face Rhyhorn, with a chalk board in his mouth. Elia pauses for a moment pondering if she should give Rhyhorn her holy symbol. She then notices panic in Rhyhorns eyes, she turns to see Yvonne flying to the catwalks. Elia turns back to Rhyhorn, and takes her holy symbol off, and passes it to Rhyhorn. She whispers to him, "Trust... If you need anything tell me."

Rhyhorn nods, thankful Elia listened as he drops his chalkboard and accepts the holy symbol with his mouth discreetly.  He turns back to facing toward the front, lying it on the floor gently and moving a step forward to obscure it from view with his body.  Rhyhorn then opens his mouth widely, carefully swallowing the holy symbol whole without damaging it before wiping his chalkboard clean and continuing to stand in line as if nothing had transpired.

   "I wa'n't *tryin'* ta bother 'im. 'E jus' looked bored, ya know." Yvonne explains, holding her hands up innocently. "No' my fault 'e wants ta be Mr. Crabby-pants. Meby the smell really is getting' to 'im. Meby guardin' this place is used as some sorta punishment fer the guys who've misbehaved. I mean lookit 'im, 'e's all scowly 'n' grumpy lookin' now. I bet 'e di'n' get enough hugs as a kid. Ya know what Sephyr needs? More hugs. I hereby precribe eight hugs a day for each denizen of this plane. I guarentee it'll make this place a lot happier."

[Spot and Listen check]

Utterly bored, and not wanting to fight stupid cowards who use magic from the balcony, Hogarth idly peels off bits of dried orc blood caked on her skin. She decides to listen and look in the crowd for any bit of information/persons being shady, hoping to maybe get some wagers going in the caravan to see who gets taken into The Room next.

[spot and listen check for unsavory, nervous looking characters]

   "Hug, hug, bored, hug..." Yvonne starts singing to herself. "Bored, bored, hug, bored..."

"Bored... BORED! That's IT!" shouts Hogarth, looking as if she's had a wonderful idea. She grabs her grappling hook and tries using a sharp end to bore through the wall. "This ought to.. WHITTLE away the time!" She pulls out a tankard and puts a little bit of standing oil in it, gathering the dust in the oily tankard.

"There was a sprite who was so bored
She couldn't sing or strike a cord
She really wants a hug
And not called Firebug
Trebek, five hundred for the swords"

   The Lirai raises an eyebrow. "Hrm... tha' doesn' sound qui' right... it shoulda been 's words' I think..." she thinks for a moment "but tha'd be too many syllables..."

(Spot and Listen answered via PMs)

          As the queue slowly rolls forward, you eventually find yourselves faced with another clerk - a female half-Telluri elf from the look of her dusky skin and pale hair - who is accompanied by a pair of burly Patrolmen whose features are nearly indistinguishable beneath the heavy armor they each wear. The woman looks disdainfully at Rhyhorn before approaching Lejun. Her voice is sharp and high-pitched, "Names, trades and destinations, all of you." She holds an actual inkpen ready to scratch down information, her very stance projecting total annoyance.
          "Lejun Berus, purveyor of fine goods and crafter of timepieces for the social elite. My destination, madam, is Tevinar to make a final delivery of these water-clocks before the Winter cold makes it impossible to do so, at which point I will find myself a nice inn to weather the season at. As for my companions, they've been hired as protection for the final leg of my journey and I can't speak for their intentions after we part in Tevinar." The gnome rattles this all off with ease, as if it were a speech he had practiced many times before. The half-elf simply nods and her pen scribbles shorthand notes across the form on her board. She looks to each of the humanoids in turn, awaiting a response to her initial inquiry.

"I am Yvonne Incendam
Lirai is my race, no sham
Here to guard the clocks
And a bunch of rocks
Very pleased to meet you ma'am!"

Elia looks at the half-elf "It is quite rude in ones view if you were to ask about another with out an introduction first." Elia sighs. "Elia Cyronae, Traveling Pr-" She pauses for a moment. "Erm. Traveling Prostitute... I am with them." Elia looks down at her feet.

Hogarth thumps just above her breasts, causing a deep resonating bump. "I am Hogarth! I hire myself out for protection, and to hunt for a fee. I intend to protect my gnome friend here until Tevinar, then find the nearest tavern and inn for meal and rest. After that, I shall journey for parts unknown even to me!" She chortles at this last bit, because, for all the guard knows, it's true, plus it actually is. "Please forgive my prostitute companion's back talk, brave guard, for she is of low birth!"

Hogarth then puts one foot up on Rhyhorn, leans forward, and jerks her thumb at the rocky beast. "And this is my pet rock! I have named him Rhyhorn. I was drinking rye when I had found him, and he has a horn. He hauls around stuff I was given by my tribe. He is quite harmless, and most certainly mute!"

"I am Seap, player and bard of the late Baron Emal."  Seap withdrew his silver fife.  "If you value the arts, then you will know my place.  I seek only a decent employer."

          The clerk continues to make notations while listening to Yvonne and Elia, frowning deeply at the response of the latter. "You, lirai. Your kind is expected to register with someone at a Temple of Astinus if you're going to be in the kingdom for more than a month. Lord Vormir doesn't look well upon fey mucking about in his kingdom with no record of their coming and going. If you haven't by then, we will know of it." The menacing look she gives Yvonne implies more about the repercussions than words ever would. As Hogarth speaks, the half-elf noticeably winces, but continues to scribble down her notes, giving Rhyhorn another measuring gaze as the barbarian makes mention of him.
          She faces the bard as he speaks and her eyes go wide momentarily. "Excuse me a moment." Leaving her guards behind, she quickly steps over to the closer of the two smaller doors, knocking lightly before it is opened - only slightly - from within. She exchanges some whispered words with somebody inside before the door opens fully. Ducking as he steps out of the door is a giant of a man, a Goliath (http://files.meetup.com/278834/male_goliath.jpg), wearing a long cape bearing the dark colors of Verun as well as a cold-iron breastplate and a matching helmet adorned with bull-like horns. Insignia hanging from his shoulders indicate he is a man of some importance here and he follows the clerk to where the party waits. His gaze comes to rest on Seap as he speaks, his voice a deep bass as if the words were being summoned up from beneath the surface of the earth before passing from his lips. "I'm Patrol Captain Lagrand. You there, minstrel. I'd like to ask you some questions about this late Baron Emal. Come with me." With his final words he gestures to the room he exited from as one of the Patrolmen standing by puts a hand to the hilt of his weapon to indicate refusal would be less than wise.
          Lejun looks as if he is about to say something in protest, but seeing the patroller ready to draw steel causes him to hesitate momentarily. "I do hope this won't take too long, Captain..." he says entreatingly, "I am sure you are a busy man and I would hate to think that any of my companions would be keeping you from more pressing matters." Unfortunately for the gnome, the Captain catches him with a withering gaze that causes Lejun to turn visibly pale.
          "When I'm done with him, you may go. Or you may go on without him. The choice is yours, trader. You may pull your wagons around while you think on it." The goliath jerks his chin towards the Southern gates, "Evelyn, show them to the waiting area over there. Bard, you come with me." The hulk of a man stalks towards the small door, obviously expecting his demands to be heeded. The half-elf woman simply nods to the Captain before she begins directing Rhyhorn and Lejun through the large outer gates of the fort, her notes and presumably Xun having been completely forgotten at this point.

"So, register, it sounds, I must
To keep within this kingdom's trust
Curious of cost
And of the time lost
But for now, Tevinar or bust!"

Taking this as an opportunity to push Rhyhorn and his cart into the zone of safety, fearing for whatever thoughts barbarians identify with "reason" that self-aware stone rhinos are illegal, Hogarth waits outside the check point for Lejun's word, and to see the fate of the bard whose song made her so keenly mash up the remains of that one orc.

Elia turns to Yvonne. "Madam Incendam, I must inquire on how you create such Rhyme so fast and adequately?" Elia, with slight movement with her head jesters to the wooden door that Seap was taken into. She begins moving closer to it to try to make out any sounds from the other side.
[listen check]

"When I'm bored, my mind will wander
Off into the great blue yonder
To think of lines
Rhythms and rhymes
A feat of which I can't be fonder"

Seap gasped.  "You...you have news?  I thought no one knew of my master's...untimely demise."  As Seap entered the interrogation room, his eyes darted from corner to corner.  The room looked more like a closet, with only one torch illuminating the corner furthest from the door.   Cobwebs hung from all the corners as SEap was led into a moldy chair.  Across from him, in an equally worn chair, sat the giant of a guard.  His very grimace was enough to terrify, but the thought of him knowing a secret sent shivers down Seap's spine.
"Sir, why am I here alone?  Was there a conspiracy against my former master?"

          "That is something I would like you to help us figure out...Seap, was it? You claim to be from a barony we have no knowledge of here and that poses a bit of a problem. Most notably because we know of all the baronies in Highland, in detail, from the linage of the ruling Baron and Baroness down to the operating forces of their individual armies." The Guard Captain reaches into a chest behind his chair and pulls out a rather weighty tome, setting it on the table between them and opening it to a page listing the names and locations of various landholders all across Highland. "But among these there is no Baron Emal. So now minstrel, since you claim to have played for this man, you are going to tell me everything you know about him and his estate. I want to know where it is, I want to know what other royals attend his Court, I want to know what their fighting force is like, I want to know what is produced on his lands and how much of it is exported. I want you to tell me every last thing there is to know about this Emal."

Xun watches the comings and goings with some concern.  When ordered to identify himself, he gives a polite nod of his head.  "Xun Huan.  Cook, traveler, priest of Way.  Honored to make acquaintance."  He watches Seap be led away.  "Hope no trouble.  Seap kind boy, play music very good."  He offers a friendly smile to the clerk and guards, hoping for a peaceful resolution even as he readies himself for conflict.

"Be there a way to check on Seap?
Since from wait zone can't hear a peep
Why'd they just take him?
Was it just a whim?
How long do they want us to keep?"

"You ask more than this humble player knows.  My master had a summer villa in the port of Depstan and a manse in the wine country of Highland.  His fortune came from fruit of the vine, from which we players received the most generous patronage.  During the summer festivals, our performances would attract everyone, high and low, native and foreigner.  Even the Prince of Highland himself attended one year, and before the war, so did many nobles of Verun.  In winter, we performed for the Baron, his knights, and the young Master.  Sometimes a dignitary from the Crown would discuss matters of state with my master, but their names escape me."
Seap sighed, as he tried to decide his next set of words.  There was no point in telling the truth, but there was no way to lie.  "That...that was my life, until last year.  The Baron...he...last year, he simply vanished."

          "What do you mean he vanished? You already implied he was dead. Which is it, boy?" Lagrand demands angrily. "I'm beginning to think you play me for the fool and you're simply seeking a position above your station in life. A nobleman doesn't simply vanish without a trace. No, I think perhaps we've never heard of this Baron Emal because there never was such a man and you're simply trumping up your own image in hopes of being hired into a House and not playing for pennies on a street corner where you belong." The huge man scowls darkly at Seap, "Come now, out with the truth, minstrel. Or I swear by Toroth's wrath I'll beat the truth out of you myself."

          One of the Patrolmen sees Elia trying to inch her way closer to the door of the interrogation room and shouts at her to stay with her caravan, ruining any attempt to get close enough to listen by the door.

Elia looks at the guard, and just decides to lean against the wall, to wait for seap.

   Yvonne has spent the last several minutes making a game out of drawing random symbols in the air with the sparkling fragments of magic flung off her wings as she flits around. "Why are they keepin' Leaky so long?" she wonders aloud, forming the word for cat in Corithonian. "Are they so enthralled by 'is music that they're getting' a private performance?" she makes several sharp angles to produce apple in Draconic. "How much longer we gotta wait?" she arcs gracefully through the curves of water in Alynthi.

"Well Madam, he said 'When I'm done with him, you may go. Or you may go on without him,'." She pushes against the wall to stand up completely. "I doubt we will get Seap back. I think the man will get what he wants out of him, or not. After that, Seap maybe killed, or used for more info. So from what I see that man means, we may wait here, or leave sooner." She pauses for a moment, watching Yvonne make crazy symbols. "You are quite amazing at flying Madam Incendam."

   "Killed?!" the flame fairy exclaims in surprise, cutting short a Celestial word for which there is no Common translation. "Why'd they wanna kill Leaky? 'E wou'dn' 'urt a fly!" She pauses for a moment before tracing out one of the many words for fire in Ignan. "And of course I'm a good flier." She says pridefuly as she draws another Ignan fire word. "I'm a Lirai."

"Its not a matter of what harm the bard would do, it his use, and how much he knows." Elia looks around the area. "This place seems.... As though it is hiding something... Or maybe its just me." She turns to face the fairy. "Liral? I don't believe I have heard much at all about them. Where do they live?"

   "Huh..." Yvonne utters, scribbling out her favorite dwarven curse. "Leaky di'n' strike me as the knowledgeable type..." and following it with an orc one. "Well, in any case, I hope 'es alright." She slips through giant in Giant. "As fer us Lirai, we hail from a far off plane known to some as the Lofty Dominion. Regardless of our elemental affiliation, we are all born of various flora in the Irikok jungle. Early in life I was tasked by my progenitor, the Ancient Uked Shrub to 'elp a young woman named Splice in 'er mission ta kidnap the prince Adlez." She accents her story by tracing key words she says, usually in Common. "It was a grand adventure, lemme tell ya." She smiles as she recalls the events. "We hunted bonenid spiders an' explored the Air Temple and the Earth Cavern. I'd 'elp 'er by providing key infermation tha' was given ta me by the Ancient Uke Shrub, and a' night she'd serenade me wi' lovely melodies from 'er magical lyre. We made a great team. But after we kidnapped the prince, she started spendin' all 'er time with 'im. So I go' bored. After a while I left withou' warnin' and wandered som'a the other planes fer a few centuries. Now I'm 'ere. Does tha' answer yer question?" She finishes by scribing the word question in Sylvan.

"Above what I asked, but not a problem. Although, I am quite amazed! You were wondering around other planes, for centuries, yet you don't look a day over twenty!" Elia looks at the ground and picks up a small rock off the floor. "I have heard many stories of alternate planes, but..." She looks up at Ryqo. "I grew up on stories. All I have to image the planes I hear of, are words." She tosses it in the air and catches it. "oh! How it would be amazing to see them with my own eyes!" Elia looks around to see if guards are nearby.
[spot check to see if a guard is watching me]
Elia whispers to Yvonne. "I want to get in that room, but it appears as though there are many guards. And that guy that yelled at me is in front of the door... I don't think we can get in. Without of course, a distraction. Or a fight."

   "Twenty?" Yvonne laughs, forming the number in Common. "You humans and yer short little lifespans..." she writes short in Halfling. "I suppose you don' know that we Lirai are nigh immortal. Sure, I suppose we c'n be killed and such, bu' really the Ancient Uked Shrub woul'n'a even thou' 'bout given me a big quest like that at twenty." She rewrites the number several times in . She lowers her voice so only Elia can hear. "I don' thin' this is the best place to be fightin'..." she says as she continues her run through various forms of twenty.

Whispers to Yvonne. "I agree with you there."
[Spot check for a hole thats big enough for a fairy to fit in]
Elia says aloud. "How hard, would you gather it to be for a human, such as myself, to learn a language from the planes?"

   Yvonne cannot contain her amusement and chortles wholeheartedly. "You, a human? Learn the languages of the planes?" She laughs so hard her wings miss a beat and she falls about a foot before catching herself. "It took me decades ta learn all the languages I know! And why..." she cackles "why do you even wanna know?" She tries to calm down a little. "Alright fine, fine, I c'n try ta teach ya a little Sylvan, but honestly, I'm not expectin' much..."

Elia face brightens up at Yvonne's offer. "Thank you! This will surly be interesting." She glances over at the cart. "I think, we should move onward. To an Inn while we wait?" Elia walks over to the man standing in front of the wooden door. "Hello good sir. I am quite parched, do you happen to know of a good Inn?" She says with a big fake smile.

          The guard has his hand to the hilt of his sword before Elia is even within a pike's length of him, a testament to the rigid training of the Verunian military. "Return to your caravan, harlot, or forfeit your life." He draws the blade with frightening speed, the blade flashing in the early-morning sun. "I know how sluts like you only understand being on their backsides with a man betwixt their legs but I'll try to put this in words even your feeble mind can understand. You've already been warned once before. Unless you want this blade through your guts and your pretty little head on a pike, I suggest you stop trying my patience. I'll not warn you a third time." The man raises the blade a bit, as if ready to strike in an instant.

Elia turns around and walks toward Yvonne. "Well then! Looks like the Inn is not an option today!"

   The fire sprite laughs and falls to the ground, rolling and giggling up a fit.

"I wouldn't be on the ground for two reasons Madam. Dirty, and you might get stepped on." Elia walks over and picks Yvonne up off the ground, and holds her in open palms, so she can easily get up. "Shame too, I was hoping to get my first drink too..." Elia looks at Yvonne. "Got any ideas? I'm open to anything."

As we're are nearing the cut-off time for the Scene and Seap has gotten himself into a bit of trouble, I leave it to party vote for how we continue. The options are currently Wait, which means I add another 24 hours to the time limit on this Scene to attempt to let Seap get out of this situation and rejoin the group before they continue South; or Leave, which is as simple as it sounds - the game continues and the party leaves Seap behind, which likely means the rest of his Scene may continue 'off-camera' in PMs. I'll take majority rule on this one. 4 votes either way will decide how things progress.

Other suggestions will also be taken under consideration.

(leave)

(Going to vote for leave here, there's nothing we can do here and if he gets off in any reasonable amount of time, our shitty caravan moves slow enough for him to catch up with a bit of sprinting.  I have no vested interest in fucking with people we can do nothing against, or standing around twiddling our thumbs like idiots.)

((Leave. I can't see Hogarth getting to chop any more things into tiny cubes anytime during this scene.))

((Leave. The time limit is up for the scene. I know Yvonne is impatient, but I am not. I can amuse myself posting about her boredom or posting about her battles. It truly matters not to me. However, the time limit has still been reached. It is time to move on.))

Alright, that's majority.

          "Blast it all, I can't be waiting around here all day." Lejun curses irritably. "Much as I hate to leave a man behind, the world will not wait. I was late enough getting on the road as it is and I don't have more time to waste here." The gnome calls out to the rest of the party, "We're moving out. The bard will just have to catch up to us. Come on."
          As he pulls the first wagon away from the clearing beside the fort, he notices a young man in the uniform of a military aide tending to a line of warhorses with barding and saddles fit for soldiers. "You there! Ostler! If your Captain deems to let my man free, you be sure to tell him that Master Berus'll be wintering over in Tevinar if he wants to collect his pay." The merchant flips a gold coin to the young man who deftly catches it in one hand and nods his agreement.
          "Easily done, ser merchant. Fair tradin' to ye." he responds, pocketing the coin quickly before returning to his duty. Lejun just cracks the reins to urge the oxen forward onto the trade road and into the slow moving traffic headed South.

---

---

Next update will hopefully be up before I head to bed in the morning.

---

---

         After only a few more hours of travel, your party arrives at the border-city of Tevinar. Certainly not the largest of cities, it is still a fairly bustling community mostly contained within stone walls that stand a fair bit shorter than those of the fort on the border. You find yourselves cresting a small hill as you approach the city, giving you a good view of the expanse of it and making it clear to you that the Verunian Trade Road bisects the city fully, continuing South straight on through. A modestly large river cuts across the city perpendicular to the trade road, easily explaining why Tevinar is located here.
         Lejun guides his wagon along the wide city streets, following the majority of the other traffic down some stone-paved lanes to what appears to be an entire section of the city devoted to places serving food and drink or offering lodging. Pulling up in front of a large, four-story inn with a freshly painted sign hanging over the door that reads "The Silver Coin" with a picture of the same beneath the words. "Gref, go find the stableboy and get the wagons settled." the merchant says, opening the heavy chest beneath the driver's bench. He collects a few small leather pouches before re-locking the chest and hopping down from the wagon. He approaches you with a wide smile on hi face.
         "For having not worked together before, you lot managed well enough. As promised, here's your pay." He quickly distributes the pouches of coins to each of you while Gref is busy leading the oxen and wagons into a stable behind the inn. "If you find yourself still around here after the Spring melt, you've got guaranteed work with me as guards should you want it. Its an offer I find myself making each year but rarely does anyone take me up on it. You adventurous types never do hang around." He sighs resignedly but his smile persists. "It has been a pleasure and I hope you each can find somewhere to stay warm for the Winter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to be checking in with my contact here and setting up meetings with my buyers. Safe paths to you all." With a little wave, the gnome departs for the interior of the Silver Coin.

---

Job Complete! Payment: 200 GP Each!

Welcome to Tevinar! A bit different from the last Scene, this is a City Scene. What does that mean? Well, you now have options to do and move about freely. There are various things to see and do in a city and you're welcome to investigate any of them. Here is a short list (in no particular order) of major points of interest in the city:

- Mercenaries' Guild: Pretty much the go-to place for hireswords looking for work. There are various forms of work to be found here, for a fee.
- Temple District: Many of the major religions of Sephyr have representation here in one form or another. Go here to get your piousness on.
- Marketplace: All sanctioned public trade takes place here. Not the place for the private sale of goods. Many kinds of shops can be found, just ask.
- Slums: Only ne'er-do-wells, the brave or the foolish go here. If you're looking for something illegal, it can probably be found here - as could a knife in the gut.
- Mages' Guild: The center for all things magical, locally speaking. If you require a spellcasting performed or a specific magical trinket made, this is where to go.
- River Port: Small trading vessels do come up the Tevinar River from the coast with various trade goods while others with export go out from here.
- Traders' Guild: With the exception of maybe Rhyhorn, this place is nothing more than a moneychanger for most of you. Yes there is a fee, no I won't tell you how much because it changes depending on how much of what you're getting changed. Just remember that ashop owner likely isn't going to accept 200,000 copper pieces for something.

You can also go looking for other things that may be of more pressing importance to your characters so don't be afraid to ask for things or places not on the list. You never know what will be available in a city unless you ask. Because of the nature of a City Scene, you can and likely will split up to do your own things. When I respond to individuals or groups with things going on, your name(s) will be at the top of the post so keep an eye out for those. Another thing about a City Scene is there is the chance for a combined set of Scene and Battle Panes happening simultaneously should anyone run into trouble.

Due to the unique and somewhat awkward nature of the City Scene, this one will be open for posting for one week (Thursday, Nov. 24th, 4am.) or until the party is assembled and ready to move on collectively to somewhere else. If you all decide you want the Scene to end before the planned end, let me know. As I think I said at the outset of this mad gaming experiment, I run a player-driven game. You tell me what you want to do and I'll let you know what the options are. I have no grand over-arcing plot for you all to follow, no railroad tracks to ride - you write your own story by interacting with the world you're in. So by all means, go and interact! ^_^

   "Bye-bye Mr. Lejun!" Yvonne calls, waving childishly. "May the fire's warmth always be with you!" She then turns to look down the street and her eyes go wide. "Such a pretty city!" she practically squeals. "I wonder if they 'ave a flower shop..." She swings the leather pouch happily, only to have its momentum pull her off course. "Eh-heh..." She lets out an embarrassed laugh. "Maybe a money changer first..."

Rhyhorn nods to Lejun as he accepts his payment, stowing it away on his Pack Saddle.  Remembering the earnings from the Orc ambush earlier still sitting in his cart, Rhyhorn sets out for the Trader's Guild to trade in the hundred and fifty some-odd pounds of Silver and Copper for Gold to make splitting them between himself and the others easier in addition to checking in to see if he could find any more decent work.

   Yvonne blinks as a thought occurs to her. "Hey! Rhyhorn!" she calls after the departing sentient rock creature. "Listen! I thin' we all ou'tt'a check in 'ere fer t'night so we c'n wait fer Leaky an' give 'im 'is share. Plus we still gotta figure out what ta do 'bout those pretty gems and ot'er stuff, ya know. Or mebe we c'n leave Leaky's share with Mr. Lejun, 'e seems trustworthy 'nough, don'cha think?" She smiles winningly.

Rhyhorn stops, taking a minute to write on his chalkboard in reply to the pixie.  "Still need trade in coin first.  Too heavy to share now."  He holds it in his mouth long enough for the pixie to read while beginning his walk to the Trader's Guild again, letting it drop to its usual resting place after being sure Yvonne read it.

   "Oh believe you me, I know we gotta do some money changin.'" the flame fairy says, holding up the leather coin purse from Lejun that is easily a quarter her own size. "I don' know why 'e coul'n'a paid us in platinum..." She grumbles "Tell ya what, why don' I check us in, then I'll catch up wi' ya at the money chanin' guys. I'ma gon' share a room with Elia so's I c'n start teachin' 'er Sylvan. Then I'ma gon' ta see if I c'n find me a flower vender. Work fer you?"

Rhyhorn nods in agreement, taking a second to wipe his chalkboard clean before continuing off toward the Trader's Guild to cash in ALL THE COPPER and ALL THE SILVER into some much easier to carry ALL THE GOLD and/or ALL THE PLATINUM while the pixie goes off to check us in.

Hogarth has always hated temple districts in major hubs. In her decades of travel, she has never found one that has recognized her barbarian gods. Not the revered God of Blood Domogn, the respected Goddess of Pillage Esaliya, not even the much-jeered at "god" of the harvest Sven. She avoids the area out of pure spite. "I will catch up with you later, friends! Friend firebug, make sure to stop by the place to do the thing. I have important business I have to see to." She actually has no such business. She heads to the Marketplace, looking for a fruit vendor for apples, so that she may throw the apple cores at the Mages' Guild.

   "Ro~~ight..." the supposed 'firebug' says with a raised eyebrow as the barbarian departs as well. She makes a mental to have Elia's room on the other side of Hogarth's with the others in between.

Elia walks over to Yvonne after her talk with Hogarth. "Madam Incendam, is there a plan in set yet for all of us? Such as to get money, or goodbyes?"

   "G'bye?" Yvonne stares, confused, at Elia. "Who said anithin' 'bout g'bye? We still gotta divi up the loot!" She laughs before turning towards the tavern. Her mental note is promptly forgotten as soon as she flies through the doors. "Ooooo... Fancy..." she marvels at the decor in the lobby. "I'll bet they got baths here..." she says softly to herself meandering towards the innkeep's desk. She sniffs her arm and wrinkles her nose. "At least I hope they do..." She looks up and finds a smiling young women behind the counter. "Hello!" she greets warmly but doesn't wait for a reply before immediately announcing, "I'd like five rooms for the night!"

Elia looks around, to see what the town looks like. Nothing to interesting... Elia then remembers she hadn't prayed to Odinn all day! She quickly rushes into the Inn behind Yvonne. "I'll pay for my room Yvonne." Elia says to her.

   "Suit yerself." The sparkling pixie giggles. "The rooms are... uhm..." She turns to the innkeep. "I di'n' catch how much they were..."

          The woman working reception at the inn informs Yvonne that five rooms will cost a total of 20 gold pieces for the night and that since you are new customers at the Silver Coin you will regrettably be required to pay for the rooms ahead of time. She does note that with the rooms come both dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning as prepared by their cook who was awarded a small honor by the city council for the quality of dishes he prepares.

          Elsewhere, Rhyhorn slowly navigates his way across town to the Northeast quarter where the marketplace is. After a while of following simply labeled signs, he finds himself in front of a tall and narrow brick building that seems to almost support the buildings on either side of it, both of which are much shabbier by comparison. From the signage over the door, there can be no doubt that this is the local branch of the Traders' Guild.

I hope nobody minds me kind of glossing over generic-NPC interactions for this bit.

Rhyhorn parks his cart in front of the Trader's Guild, unharnessing himself and slipping a small key from his saddle.  He moves over to the chest on his cart, popping the lock open and turning it to the side gently with his mouth before opening it.  On top a large pile of ALL THE THINGS lies an adamantine medallion on a string that Rhyhorn pulls into his mouth and rests on the cart, before switching back to his key and re-locking his chest.  Stowing the key, he spends a minute fiddling around before slipping the medallion around his neck and writing on his chalkboard.  Rhyhorn then walks up to the wide double-doors of the Trader's Guild, knocking on it firmly but gently with his face, trying to be loud enough to be noticed without actually damaging the doors by accident.

          After only a short moment, one of the doors opens slowly to reveal an armored guardsman with a short sword on his hip inside the building. He notes the guild token around Rhyhorn's neck and peers quizzically at the beast and his chalkboard.

Rhyhorn pulls his chalkboard into his mouth, holding it up for the guard to see.  "Can watch Rhyhorn's Cart please?" is written on the chalkboard, as cleanly and neatly as Rhyhorn could get it written.

   "Twenty?" Yvonne blinks. "Why does tha' number sound familiar?" she thinks a moment before giving up. She sets the leather pouch down on the counter, opens it and starts pulling out coins. "Uhm, le's see... tha's... sixteen... tha' leaves four fer you ta pay Elia." The Lirai looks up at the young human woman. "No, two," she corrects herself, "since I'm stayin' wit'choo t'night." She pulls out two more coins and adds them to the stacks to cover everyone else's rooms. "Say, Elia, ya wanna help me make sure everyone knows we're gettin' dinner t'night?"

          The guard reads the chalkboard, inspects Rhyhorn's guild token again and simply responds "Yes, sir." in an even voice before taking up a station next to the cart of ALL THE THINGS without further inquiry, leaving the door ajar for the stone beast.

Rhyhorn nods thankfully, walking with the guard back to the cart so that he could pull out the giant sack of ALL THE COINS with a SIDE OF GEMSTONES that the party obtained from the Orc battle, dragging it into the Trader's Guild and looking for a place where he can exchange currency and other such things.

Elia pulls out 2gp. "Inform the others about dinner? Can do." She places them on the counter next Yvonne's stack. "Anything else needed before I head off?"

          The lobby immediately inside the guildhall is fairly small and consists of more brick walls, a stone floor covered with various eye-catching carpets, a couple of small, barred windows and a pair of heavy, metallic doors on the far wall. One of the doors is labeled with 'Guild Members Only' and the other is unmarked, though opened briefly as another guard exits it to presumably replace the one now outside. Three other guards also stand vigilant in this small room, presumably both for the safety of the guildhouse and its patrons. A few people are standing in line for one of the windows which has a sign for currency exchange over it. The other window, currently unoccupied, has a sign beside it listing fees for various trading permits available.

          The innkeeper smiles cheerfully as she scoops up the coins and drops them into a lockbox before producing five keys each with a numbered tag attached to it and setting them on the counter. She politely waits for the priestess and the pixie to finish their conversation before directing them to the stairs at the far side of the room which will lead them to their rooms up on the third floor.

Rhyhorn looks around, taking note of the various things in the Guild Hall and drags his sack of ALL THE LOOT into the line for Currency Exchange, fidgeting around some as he waits for his turn at the window.

   "Jus' our key." The fire sprite says with a grin. "I'll take Rhyhorn's to 'im." With that, she grabs what's left of her pay and heads for the door. "Uhm... which way did 'e go again..." She glances up and down the street. "Hello!" she calls to a boy in a green tunic passing by. "'Ave you seen a rocky rhino 'round 'ere? Didja see which way 'e went? I gotta give 'im 'is key for 'is room t'night."
   The boy nods and points in the direction Rhyhorn went.
   "Thanks!" Yvonne says happily and hurries on her way. Upon reaching an intersection, she stops. "Hello!" she calls to an elderly woman selling apples. "'Ave you seen a rocky rhino 'round 'ere? Didja see which way 'e went? I gotta give 'im 'is key for 'is room t'night."
   The woman smiles gently and tells the little sprite the direction Rhyhorn went.
   "Thanks!" the fey girl says cheerfully and continues on her way. However, upon reaching the next intersection, she once again looks around for someone to give directions. "Hello!" she calls to an elven woman of considerable beauty. "'Ave you seen a rocky rhino 'round 'ere? Didja see which way 'e went? I gotta give 'im 'is key for 'is room t'night."
   The elf seems a bit put off by the interruption of whatever she was doing, but nonetheless points out the direction she saw Rhyhorn travel.
   "Thanks!" the Lirai says and heads towards the next intersection...

Gather Info Check: Forced Success, it seems. *facepalms*

Elia uses her amazing powers of thinking back a few minutes ago to remember that Hogarth said she was heading to the marketplace. She turns to the Inn Keeper. "Might I inquire where the market place is?"

"Oh how you toy with me sir! I appreciate the compliment, but I really am in a bit of a pickle right now," said a young woman, both arms awkwardly holding clunky, somewhat heavy items, "I'd love to join you for dinner, sir, but I'm in need of a place to stay at the moment..I need a good foundation, you know?" The good sir seemed to respond to her, but her eyes wandered to a very merry rhinoceros standing out in the bustling hall.

"I am so sorry sir, but I'm afraid I must leave you for the time being. I've found a..business partner," she left, but not before leaving her pitch for the now enticed good sir, "I almost forgot! My name is Nathalie, sir. If you're ever in need of help, I offer my services--any time!" The man fumbled on his own words and stood awkwardly with his legs crossed though Nathalie was already away from him and edging closer to the pony-sized rhino.

"Rhyhorn! You're looking rough as ever!" Nathalie said, attempting to make a gesture to pat his back, but quickly slipped her back.

Rhyhorn reacts happily, glad to see a familiar face after that horrid ordeal at the checkpoint and lets out a small, happy roar before dipping his head down to his chalkboard.  He quickly erases the message there and writes "ELLO NATHALIE" in quick, big letters, holding it up to her, his happy eyes quickly wandering to the huge pile of god knows what she's carrying all over her as he tilts his head a bit.

Elia

The innkeeper quickly rattles off directions to the marketplace for Elia, repeating them again to make sure she's got the route correct.

Meanwhile, Hogarth is furious. There is not one easy way to tell where the Marketplace is! Everytime she asks someone, they point to these wooden things with paint on them. Or they just hold their hand over their mouth and nose, turn away, and cough a lot. She punches one of the signs, splintering it and leaving it half hanging off the other half. Feeling better and more confident, she walks around aimlessly, hoping that Goddarth, the God of Luck, will allow her to find the Marketplace before more humiliation.

   "Hello!" Yvonne greets an elderly woman selling apples. "'Ave you seen... wait... di'n' I come this way before?" she glances back the way she came. "Uhm..."



((Request "Official" Gather Info Check to find the Rhyhorn and the money changers.))

((Double that order. Definitely need a Gather Info check to find this damned Marketplace))

          Rhyhorn eventually reaches the front of the queue, handing over the coins and gems for changing and sale. The moneychanger notes his guild token and asks him to wait while the gemstones are appraised. After maybe half an hour passes, another guildmember comes out from the unmarked door with a heavy pouch jingling with coins and hands it to him with a small receipt of exchange.

"Hello Rhyhorn! You look like a busy fellow--all that stuff you're carting around! Are you here with anyone?" Nathalie asked, flashing a smile before setting down her backpack and blanket on the ground. With a little luck, she'd just need to hoist it on his back and walk almost completely unencumbered. "And the gold you've acquired! Busy boy!"

Rhyhorn wipes his board clean, writing another message on it as the guild members run around and change all his gold and goodies around.  "With many people!  Staying in fancy Inn!" he writes, holding it for her to see again before turning to her bag.  He erases his board knowingly, and writes "Today's on Rhyhorn." as he hoists the bag onto his back and collects his now much-lighter sack of coins and loot and places it onto his back as well, turning to leave the guild hall.

After being directed to the Marketplace, Hogarth does indeed come across a fruit stand. She notices that there's a small bin for the rotten or mealy fruits. "Hail and honor, shopkeep! I require apples. I need them for reasons." She just stares right at the shopkeep, not moving or saying anything else.

The shopkeep eyes her wearily, and silently hands her 6 apples. "20 copper, please." Hogarth produces a few coins and puts them on the table, snatches the apples, and giggles madly to herself, darting her eyes back and forth to herself while holding the apples close, making sure no one is noticing her (despite this making her stick out like a sore thumb). She helps herself to some of mealy apples in the trash, putting them in her sack, to which the shopkeep seems passively annoyed, as if he were counting down the minutes to when he could go home.

   "Rhyhorn!" Yvonne cries, tackle hugging the sentient stone. "I finally found you!" she laughs elatedly. "You woul'n' believe those folk ou' there on the streets! They 'ad me goin' in circles for I don' know 'ow long! But then there was this nice man, oh what was 'is name... Horus, I think it was, yeah, Horus. Well, 'e gave me proper directions 'ere insteada jus' pointin' like all the other people did. He was so nice an' kind an' friendly, an' 'e asked 'bout you an' me an' the others an' said tha' if we need healin' we c'n always stop by 'is 'ome town... uhm... what was it called again?"

"You always know how to please me big fella!" She replied, gleefully walking to his side, "So where are your friends? Are they in need of some trinkets? I've got..none to sell, but that hasn't stopped me before! Nathalie walked with him for a bit before a floating, red orb collided with the rhinoceros.

"Is this your traveling friend?"

   The fire sprite looks up at the human woman beside Rhyhorn. "Who is she?" she asks the rhino.

Rhyhorn nods affirmatively to Nathalie's question, the pixie tackle-hugging his horn and making him look like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Rhino.  He walks with Nathalie out of the Trader's Guild and sets himself back up into his harnesses, erasing his chalkboard and trying to write some more while Yvonne's neverending Micro-Machine's-Man explanation of her ordeal chews off his nonexistent ears.  "Rhyhorn go Mage Guild.  Two come with?" he writes, trying to hold it so both can see.  He hears Yvonne's question right after he finishes writing his, but erase and write, erase and write, even a rhino can only do that so many times, so he leaves Nathalie to answer the pixie's question for herself.

   "Awww... you already gon' an' made another group, Rhyhorn?" the fire Lirai pouts, not letting go of his horn.

Nathalie stares at the peculiar creature and closely examines it as if to find a face of some sort, "I usually am not this forward, but I generally like to see faces when I talk to others," Nathalie pressed her face closer to the light and found it was a well-proportioned woman and began to speak, in whisper, "I am Nathalie. I'm an old friend of Rhyhorn's..we used to peddle..trinkets. Would you like to buy any?"

Having finished her apples while walking around, and had someone lead her to the Mages's guild because she is, in her words, "Too distracted eating apples and definitely nothing else" to find it on her own, or even with directions, she finds a nice bale of hay to sit on. Without regard to who is watching, or who it might offend, she starts tearing off bits of the apple cores and hucks them at the door of the guild. Passerbys glare at her, but say nothing because you really don't say anything to an over 6ft tall barbarian wearing a WOLF and has a bloodstained axe.

   "Kyaa! So close!" Yvonne pushes off the rocky horn and hovers a good half foot away. She recovers her composure quickly and puffs out her chest. "I'm Yvonne Scintillae Incendam, fire Lirai and sorcerer extraordinaire." She smiles warmly. "And I'm 'ere ta give Rhyhorn 'is key fer 'is room. And ta drop some a' this coinage weight down a bit." She holds up her leather pouch. "Horus said this'd be the right place ta do that."

Rhyhorn places the sack he just received back from the Trader's Guild on the ground, popping it open and pulling out 32 Platinum Pieces, placing them on the ground near Yvonne and taking the key she offered him in trade, slipping it into the pouch to make sure it doesn't get lost and placing the pouch onto his back.  He erases his chalkboard and writes "Going to Mage's Guild, get gloves and cup checked.  Come?", before holding the chalkboard in his mouth and moving the question between each Yvonne and Nathalie, asking both of them.

"Of course I could! You are carrying my stuff after all!"" Nathalie replied. Feeling it was appropriate to do so now, she patted the rhino's head, scratched it, but the rough exterior felt nothing like how he apparently thought it was good to feeling and rubbed the area she scratched before removing her hand from Rhyhorn completely.

"Which way is it, exactly?" She asked, hoping to become more friendly with a sorcerer extraordinaire.

   Yvonne stares at the stack of coins, then at the leather pouch in her grasp, the back at the stack. "Well, a' least they're platinum..." she says after a moment, more to herself than to anyone else. She looks up to see Rhyhorn holding his chalkboard towards her. "Uhm, I was actually gonna go find a flower-vender-type-person. I'll join ya, but if we find a cart or shop or person or thing that sells flowers, I wanna buy one, or two. Oh, and a needle with thread too! Do you know where I coul' find one a' them?"

Rhyhorn erases his chalkboard again, this time writing "We go shopping trip then.  Mage Guild and Market."  Under his breath, one could swear the words "Typical women..." could be heard, but that's crazy, he's a pony-sized stone rhinoceros.  He begins pulling for a minute, then stops, erasing his chalkboard again, writing "Give Rhyhorn 200 Gold." and motioning toward Yvonne as he pulls another 20 Platinum out of his pouch.  Once the transaction is complete, Rhyhorn begins leading the girls, following the signs to the Mage's Guild, which seems closer to them than then Market Place.

   "200? Why?" Yvonne blinks. "I only have 185 gold pieces 'cause I gave the innkeep some a' Lejun's payment."

Rhyhorn blinks, not having realized this, then pulls 2 of the Platinum Pieces back into his pouch, hoping he won't need to write out what to do now instead since his writin' jaw was gettin' kinda tired.

   "Oh... 'I see,' said the blind carpenter as 'e picked up 'is hammer and saw." Yvonne laughs as she transfers some gold from the leather pouch into her backpack and shoves the stack of platinum in behind it. She then holds the leather pouch in front of Rhyhorn. "Keep the pouch, fer yer troubles, good sir."

Rhyhorn gratefully accepts the pouch with a nod, adding it and the sack of coins onto his pack saddle as he takes a moment to wipe his chalkboard clean and continues to lead the ladies down to the Mage's Guild.

Elia, now standing in the market place begins her search for Hogarth. After a few minutes of walking around, she notices and apple stand. Walking up to it she asks the vendor: "Hello sir. Might a large, smelly, axe wielding person come by here in search for fruit?"

          After a few false starts, Elia eventually finds the vendor that sold to Hogarth and points her in the general direction that the barbarian stalked off to.

          Time passes and you find yourselves all near and around the Mage's Guild, as if fate had somehow guided you back together. The guildhall in question stands separate from the buildings around it, a high stone wall surrounding the magically-erected building, a wide metal gate held open during the daytime to allow patrons to come and go as they please. Some small bits of apple adorn one of the walls, a tiny pile of cores below it, across from where Hogarth is idling on the side of the street. Massive pillars that appear to be made entirely from a solid piece of marble support the roof over the front terrace. The rest of the building, also crafted in marble of various shades and patterns, is fairly large compared to most of the other structures you've passed in the city thus far.
          The foot traffic in and out of the gate is rather impressive but not unexpected considering the size of the guildhall. Many people of all race and description seem to have various business here with the guild. Mostly leaving are people carrying various scrolls, bottles, potions and tinctures for who knows what. Its obvious that the services of the guild are open to the general public, though it seems as if you need to know what you're looking for to get any assistance.

Elia spots Hogarth and dashes over to greet her. "Hello friend. I have been sent by Yvonne to notify everyone that we have an Inn to stay at for the night, and dinner." Elia smiles waiting to see how Hogarth replies.

Rhyhorn looks around, noticing the apple-adorned Mage's Guild wall before turning to see Hogarth and Elia, letting out half-amused sigh.  He slowly saunters over to see what his other companions are up to, introduce his old-new friend, and to see if he could get Hogarth to watch his cart while he's inside the Guild Hall on his rhino-errands since his memory makes him pretty sure Hogarth would want nothing from within the Guild Hall's walls.

Seeing that Rhyhorn is next to Hogarth and her, Elia turns to greet him. "Hello Rhyhorn. Did Yvon-" She cuts off her sentence as she notices Yvonne and someone else are with him. "Ah good you found Rhyhorn." She turns to the unfamiliar person "Hello my name is Elia, traveling priest of Odinn. Speaking of which..." She looks down at Rhyhorn. "Unless now is not a good time, might I inquire the obtainment of my holy symbol?"

Rhyhorn nods, moving to ensure no passer-by would easily see what he's about to do as he slowly pukes the Holy Symbol up and gently onto the ground, as dry and undamaged as when he first received it... possibly even a bit shinier and newer looking.  He then turns his head and hacks a bit, a tiny bit of what appeared to be rock-dust also coming up and out.  He then reaches into his pouch of ALL THE MONEY, slowly pulling out 38 platinum for each Hogarth and Elia, their respective shares of the loot from the Orc battle previous.

"Thank you for hiding my symbol. I can't believe people would even hate Odin so..." Elia grabs her Symbol off the ground and ties it around her neck. Then she picks up the Platinum Pieces and places them in her money sack. "Thank you Rhyhorn." Elia turns to face Yvonne. "So that leaves Xun to be notified. assuming you haven't already meet up with him."

   Yvonne shrugs, "I ain' seen the guy since I left the tavern." She starts darting around excitedly. "Now, it's time fer a shopping spree!" She cheers, holding her hands up before preparing to speed off towards the guildhouse to buy scrolls.

           As Yvonne is about to fly into the guildhall there is a blood-curdling cry from up above, along with a bright light and the smashing of glass. Bursting out of a window in the guildhall up above the entrance comes what appears to be a waterfall of flames pouring down into the courtyard, sending people shouting and running for cover. In mere moments, the flames have swirled together and coalesced into a huge, humanoid figure - the upper half resembling a head, torso and arms, the lower half being just a solid column of flames.
           The heat rising off of the fire elemental (http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/4443/fireelementalh.jpg) feels intense even at this distance. The rush of people trying to get into the guildhall to escape the creature is also effectively cutting off the most likely source of help by making it impossible for anyone to get out. A quick assessment of the area reveals that of all the people present, the only ones not running for their lives is your party. If something isn't done to stop this rogue elemental, or at the very least delay it, the courtyard will be filling with corpses.

---

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Objective: Delay or destroy the fire elemental.
Bonus Objectives:
- Defeat the fire elemental before anyone from the Mage's Guild can arrive to assist.
- Prevent the fire elemental from harming any of the innocent bystanders.
Weather: Early afternoon, clear and sunny.
Terrain: Cobblestone.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane02-01th.png) (http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2664/battlepane0201i.png)

Knowledge Check: Moderate Success - You can tell by the elemental's size that it has Natural Reach. This means it can attack anything at Melee Range or at Reach Range (1 or 2 squares). If you try to approach it recklessly, it can get a free attack on you as you pass through it's attack range from Reach to Melee. Staying at Reach distance will not give it a free attack against you. You can spend 1 Action to approach cautiously, or you can Charge it (2 Actions, -2 Defense, +8 Melee Skill for the turn - also requires at least 2 empty squares between you and it and you must move in a straight line) to get into range before it can strike you. You are also aware that this creature has some natural resistance to non-magical damage.

DM Fiat: Since NinjaWeazel has been a little sick lately and unable to post frequently, I'm declaring he was quietly following Elia since I promised him I'd keep Xun on autopilot for him. Hey hey the gang's all here.

Terrain Notes: Those walls on the map are a good 15 feet high. You can't see through them, nor attack through them. If you can get on top of them though, you can stand up there since they're a good 5 feet wide. I won't say I'm recommending this, since the elemental will also be able to reach up that high to attack, but the option of high ground is there assuming you can make use of it.

Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Sunday, Nov. 20th, 8pm EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.

Allies Condition

((Request Knowledge Check on the creature's fire resistence and spells known.))

Rhyhorn steps back a moment as the fire elemental enters, looking around at the fleeing people, only one course of action entering his mind as he slips out of his harnesses.  He digs his foot into the ground, Expanding in size before Charging at the beast with all his might, letting off a powerful Roar as he closes the distance.   After his powerful charge allows him to make melee contact with the elemental, he moves quickly to grapple and pin the searing flame elemental underneath him, trying to buy enough time for all the people around to flee and hoping his allies will back him out before his rocky hide gives out.

Free Action) Slip from my Cart's harness.

Action 1) Use Expansion.

Action 2 and Action 3) Charge and attack the Fire Elemental, boosting my attack with a powerful Roar (Focus is lost.)

Action 4) Grapple and Pin the rampaging Fire Elemental with my enlargened, 1-ton stone rhinoceros body, likely taking large amounts of searing fiery pain from so much direct contact with it.

Confronted with a magical elemental, which is basically a naturally occurring wizard, and seeing Rhyhorn has distracted it, Hogarth's temper boils over and activates her (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif)Rage(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) (Action1). "BY THE HOARY FROST OF N'LGGN!" she howls, dashing straight toward the elemental, leaping, and drawing her axe in seemingly one smooth, deft movement (Action2). She brings her axe down on the living flame (Action3), and upon landing, swing her axe around for another slice at the foul creature (Action4).

1)Activate Rage
2-3)Charge/leap/unsheath/slice
4)Attack again

Taken aback by the sudden burst of danger, and the almost immediate response of her rhino friend and the enraged woman near to her, Nathalie rushes to the guild hall gate (14, H) (Action 1). "Careful everyone! Don't panic! It'd really suck for me if you died!" She shouted, as she readied her crossbow (Action 2) and let bolts fly toward the fiery abomination. Brimming with adrenaline, Nathalie quickly reloaded her crossbow and shot at the elemental two more times (Actions 3, 4).

(still sick, will edit this to make it properly weeaboo fightan awesome later)

1) enter Punishing Stance
2) move to I12
3) smack the fire elemental with Divine Rune of Thunder
4) smack it again with Word of Binding

   "Dwaa~~w... It's so cute!" Yvonne coos as she sees the fiery behemoth. "Wait, why is ev'rione runnin'? It just wants ta play!" Her eyes widen as the stone rhino's size increases. "Mega-Rhyhorn!" (1, 2, 3) she cheers and laughs before flying strait up to clear the wall, then over to go even higher and end up above the living flame. From this vantage point, she can easily watch the barbarian charge as well. "Go Hogarth!" she shouts before noticing a new arrival. "Xun! Where ya' been? Elia's got yer key fer yer room! Make sure ta get it when we're done playin' 'ere!" Finally, the fire sprite turns her attention to the fire elemental. "Alright, big guy, ya wanna play with fire?" she says, moving her hands into position to hold her imaginary globe. "Le's play!" Ash drifts down from her palm to gather in the center, creating a molten pebble. "But I gotta warn ya, yer gonna get burned!" (4) The fire Lirai does what she loves best and sends a mini-meteorite screaming towards her foe and anxiously anticipates the crater it could make.

Actions
1, 2, 3: Fly up and over wall to end up 10 squares above I11.
4: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt

    "Oh my!" Elia says in awe at the sight of the fire elemental. "I can't believe! An elemental!" She then notices that it is burning shit down. "Oh"
   Rhyhorn begins to expand, Elia runs to him. ¹⁾ and before he can take off, places a hand on him. "May faith protect you!" ²⁾ She then places her hand on her chest and casts another spell. ³⁾ "Play... I can't help but to kinda agree with Yvonne here, sarcastic her comment or not." She says as she moves closer in. ⁴⁾

1) Run to J16
2) Cast Shield of Faith on Rhyhorn
3) Cast Resistance on Herself
4) Run to J14

---

---

          "Oh my! I can't believe! An elemental!" Elia exclaims as she examines the towering pillar of humanoid flames. Being somewhat less in awe, Yvonne chimes in cheerfully, "Dwaa~~w... It's so cute! Wait, why is ev'rione runnin'? It just wants ta play!" The elemental roars, a sound like a burning building collapsing on itself, the beast lunging at people fleeing as if it was taking some perverse pleasure from their fear. While it seems content for the moment to just terrorize the bystanders, the party is not so idle. Hogarth gets a wild look in her eyes and cries out "BY THE HOARY FROST OF N'LGGN!" as an extraordinary power fills her, the berserker's madness taking hold as she rushes the fiery monster. Beside her, Rhyhorn steadies himself as his innate power manifests, causing him to grow to the size of a small wagon, displacing his cart and making the cobblestones beneath his feet crack under his weight. Seeing this causes the pixie to senselessly blurt out, "Mega-Rhyhorn!" before she begins a rapid ascent over the courtyard.
          "Careful everyone! Don't panic! It'd really suck for me if you died!" Nathalie calls out as she dashes to the side, grabbing her crossbow and finding a good location to snipe the elemental from.  Nearby, Elia has closed the distance between herself and Rhyhorn, her hands aglow with divine power. Speaking a short prayer of "May faith protect you!" she touches her ally's stony hide gently and for a brief moment a shimmering barrier of light flickers into existence around him before the magic settles into place and is ready to turn aside the dangerous flames. Dashing past around them both, Xun silently closes on the burning behemoth, his oversized sword held high. Yvonne cheers on Hogarth as the barbarian woman draws her axe in mid-charge and lunges at the elemental, bringing the heavy greataxe down into the center-mass of it, tearing away a chunk of what looks like burning pitch which quickly burns out on the ground. The beast howls with a sound like a wildfire consuming a forest, its former sadistic glee now replaced with burning anger. It brings the full fury of its attention to focus on the elf, slamming her with one of its huge arms, setting her alight in the process. High above, Yvonne's words get lost in the cacophony of the battle as the newly-enlarged Rhyhorn tears across the courtyard, sounding much like a whole stampede of beasts with the cobblestones crunching into sand under his magnified weight. With a mighty roar,he drives his powerful horn directly into the beast, tearing another piece of primal fire out of his target and getting burned for his efforts.
          Having found herself a place beside the courtyard gate to snipe from, Nathalie lets fly with her crossbow, before quickly reloading and firing again. The small bolts glitter with magical power and while they strike true, they leave only tiny holes in the beast's body which quickly close around the enchanted projectiles. The lirai having reached an acceptable altitude taunts the beast, "Alright, big guy, ya wanna play with fire? Le's play! But I gotta warn ya, yer gonna get burned!" while gathering arcane energy between her hands. She looses the firebolt down, striking the beast directly in the head, but to her dismay it seems to just absorb the small fireball into its own body. Upon hearing the pixie's taunts, Elia quips "Play... I can't help but to kinda agree with Yvonne here, sarcastic her comment or not." as she lays a small protective spell upon herself and moves up to a position where she can better aid her allies.
          As Xun finally works his way around the fire elemental, the burning hulk takes a swing at the swordsman for carelessly approaching. The massive arm connects with a resounding thud, staggering Xun and making his blade unsteady. Even as he summons up his martial power to infuse his blade with power, the swing goes wide and the power is wasted. However, while the beast is distracted with Xun's attack, Rhyhorn takes the opportunity to put his weight to good use, rearing up and crashing down onto the elemental, attempting to pin the beast to the ground. The delicate sound of thunder fills the courtyard as stone and flame meet and it appears as if Rhyhorn is attempting to catch the elemental in a tie-up. With the beast temporarily bound with Rhyhorn, both Xun and Hogarth have an easier time making their weapons connect, each one striking solidly into the beast's flaming hide. Runes flare with power as Xun's blade connects, creating a field of binding power to constrict around the behemoth. With a roar of outrage the beast strikes wildly at Rhyhorn with both arms, each blow driving straight through the protective ward around him and taking a sizable chunk out of his stone body, igniting him as well.

Objective: Delay or destroy the fire elemental.
Bonus Objectives:
- Defeat the fire elemental before anyone from the Mage's Guild can arrive to assist.
- Prevent the fire elemental from harming any of the innocent bystanders.
Weather: Early afternoon, clear and sunny.
Terrain: Cobblestone.

(http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/191/battlepane0202th.png) (http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7219/battlepane0202.png)

Warning!: Two of your allies are on fire! (Indicated by the red glow around their tokens) If they are not extinguished before the end of the Turn they will take additional Fire damage equivalent to a Power 14 attack.
Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Monday, Nov. 21st, 10am EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.

Allies Condition

   "Well I'll be an Azer's uncle..." Yvonne utters as she realizes her attack was ineffective. "I guess ya can't really fight fire with fire..." She pauses for a moment. "Very well then." She points her right index finger accusingly at the elemental. "You, who hurt my friends; Must Parish!" she intones gravely as brilliant white arcane energy coalesces to roughly resemble an arrow bigger than her that floats parallel to her forearm. (1) "I cast a spell!" she announces, releasing the luminescent bolt. Despite it not being her favorite evocation, the flame fey knows full well its effectiveness and thus immediately swaps arms and prepares it again. (2) "I'm casting Magic Missile!" she cries joyously, unleashing the second mystic projectile. The shear pleasure of utilizing the magicks within her makes it hard for her to contain her excitement.  (3, 4) "I am Yvonne, Sorcerer of Fire!"

Actions
1, 2, 3, 4: Cast Magic Missile*

*If target is dead, stop casting.

Xun hisses furiously through clenched teeth, pretty sure the elemental just cracked most of his ribs in a single shot.  Realizing his paper and ink would simply burn in the heat of the elemental, he runs his fingertip across his bloodied lips and reaches out to draw a series of mystic runes on the rhyhorn's stony hide. (1)  "Forgive, rhyhorn.  Unsanitary but neccesary."  He then takes a moment to focus on himself, drawing up a wellspring of personal energy (2,3) before inscribing the same runes on his chest. (4)

1) Rune of Mending on the rhyhorn, punishing stance gives +4 power to everybody in Close range.
2, 3) Vital recovery.  Heal 6 HP and restore used maneuvers.
4) Rune of Mending on myself

Rhyhorn roars in agony and anger as the Fire Elemental's attacks sink in, beginning to assault the beast in a frenzied rage, his primary goal to keep it pinned so Hogarth and the others can continue to commence RIP AND TEAR duties.

Action 1) Use Healing Belt (3 Charges) to recover some HP.

Action 2-4) Attempt to Fully Pin the Fire Elemental.  If Rhyhorn can act and the Fire Elemental is Pinned, use Horn Attack.

Slightly miffed that her arrows did nothing more than tickle the magical beast, Nathalie sprinted to the elemental's side (9,E; 1) and quickly shot three arrows at its lower back (2, 3*). Fearing she would be slightly hurt, and also out of sheer panic, Nathalie escaped from the heart of the battle (8,D; 4).

"You get 'em, guys! Girls! People!" She yelled, offering verbal assistance.


*If target is dead, stop attacking.

Elia seeing that Hogarth and Rhyhorn are on fire, she runs over to them places her hand on Rhyhorn, "Heal!" ¹⁾. She then creates a pool of water above Rhyhorn, "2 Hydrogen and 1 Oxygen? Screw that. Faith plus time. Water!" ²⁾ & ³⁾ Lastly she places a hand on Hogarth and yells. "Heal!"

1) Step to J13 and Cast Cure Light Wounds on Rhyhorn
2) Cast Create Water on Rhyhorn
3) Cast Create Water on Hogarth
4) Cast Cure Light Wounds on Hogarth

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Turns 1-4: Hack away at the beast.

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              "Well I'll be an Azer's uncle...I guess ya can't really fight fire with fire..." Yvonne muses aloud as the battle below rages on. "Very well then. You, who hurt my friends; Must Parish!" With some small arcane gestures, she summons up an arrow of arcane energy and announces redundantly, "I cast a spell!" as it hurtles unerringly at the fire elemental, blasting a small piece of flame from its amorphous body. Enraged by the assault and the stone rhinocerous attempting to pin it to the ground, it roars and flails wildly, shoving Rhyhorn off at the same time the stone beast's belt shimmers faintly causing his stone hide to magically mend itself. Beside him, Xun draws runes of healing on Rhyhorn's hide, "Forgive, Rhyhorn. Unsanitary but neccesary." says the foreigner as the runes flare to life and even more of the creature's earthen form regenerates as the markings fade.
          Dashing through the gates behind Xun, Nathalie shouts half-confusedly, "You get 'em, guys! Girls! People!" to encourage her new allies as she stops to take aim at the flame behemoth, driving a bolt into the side of its head and being rewarded with a roar of pain. To the opposite side of the elemental, Hogarth appears to be channeling the powers of some God of Wrath as she shouts almost nonsensically, "RIP AND TEAAAAAAAAAAAAARR!!!" as she hacks away at the elemental with her axe, dismembering the beasts left arm which - possibly to her dismay - begins to slowly reform with fire welling up from its torso. The fiery beast's wail of pain completely drowns out Elia as she steps forward and focuses her healing powers on Rhyhorn, their effect somehow muted by his strange anatomy. Now in a better state of repair, Rhyhorn brings his full expanded bulk down upon the injured elemental, but is shrugged off by the beast who takes a swing at the rockbeast, but fails to penetrate the mystic wards previously put in place by Elia. Another shimmering bolt of magic rains down from the pixie, taking a smaller wedge out of the elemental, but pales in comparison to the elven barbarian's rage-fueled strikes. With another animalistic, unintelligible bellow her axe swings around high and comes across hard to the creature's back, cleaving the elemental about halfway down its body and causing the magic binding it to this plane to finally dissipate.
          With the beast banished, Elia easily puts out the fires on her allies with some conjured water and infuses Hogarth with some healing as well while Xun applies his healing runes to himself before the battle high wears off totally. Moments later, Rhyhorn reverts to his normal size as his Expansion power fades along with the magic shielding. As the rage empties from Hogarth, the few wounds she sustained make their effects felt as well as the fatigue common to berserking.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane02-03th.png) (http://img840.imageshack.us/img840/3766/battlepane0203.png)

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Objective Bonus (Fast Win): [Surprise Token] - You can choose to get 2 Free Actions at the start of any one future battle. Use of this token must be a majority vote by the players.
Objective Bonus (Save Innocents): For keeping destruction of the grounds to a minimum and stopping the elemental from killing anyone, the Mage's Guild offers you each 750gp worth of lesser magic items (potions, wands, scrolls, tools) or that much value towards an armor enchantment (normally 1000gp, so you can get +1 to your Defense for 250gp).

~Stat Bonuses~

Rhyhorn: +2 Fire Resistance!
Yvonne: No Bonus.
Xun: +2 HP!
Elia: +1 Magic Skill!
Nathalie: +1 Ranged Skill!
Hogarth: +2 HP!

Allies Condition


          As the dust settles and the fleeing crowds thin, an elderly woman in fine scarlet robes of silk exits the guild, smiling appreciatively. Her hair, tied up in a tight bun, reminds you of polished steel and her eyes are a dark color near enough to black that you can't tell otherwise. "Well done and my thanks, warriors. My apologies that we could not more swiftly grant you aid in your battle. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sari Novell, head of the local branch of the Mage's Guild." She pauses to bow her head respectively to you all before continuing. "Please, come inside. I would like to reward your efforts on behalf of not only the guild but the people of Tevinar as well. Such heroic efforts should not go uncompensated." She beckons for you to follow her inside the guildhall.

---

We now return you to our previously scheduled City Scene. Posting will end at the predetermined time (Thursday, Nov. 24th, 4am.) unless more madness ensues.

Hogarth stands firm for a moment, staring right into the guild member's eyes, and getting off a good 8 second scream at her. That might not sound like much, but try it, it's harder than it sounds. Weary, she reluctantly follows her friends and the mage into the guild hall, grabbing a small bit of apple from the wall and rubbing it into one of her wounds, its sweet ichor reminding her of her victory over magic. "Friend Rhyhorn.. The orcs will pay you another few silver pieces for allowing me to sleep in all the things" she mumbles, trailing off, head drooped.

   "Hope tha' doesn' come back ta bite me..." Yvonne mutters mostly to herself as she watches the last of the banished elemental's flames flicker out. Her ears ring with the echo of the beast's roar, so she is unsure how loud her own voice is, however. "He di'n' look too happy 'bout goin' back..." Despite this, her mind hones in on a particular word spoken by the newly arrived Sari Novell. "Reward?!" the sprite perks up. "I git a free shopping spree?!" The battle instantly shoved to the back of her mind, the fey squeals with delight and speeds on ahead of the others.
   "Every little thing I do is magic." Yvonne sings contently as she makes her way over the crowded halls of the mage guildhouse. "Everything I do just turns me on." The very air seems charged with arcane energies, and it is... glorious. "Even though my life before was tragic." She spies a rack stuffed to the brim with scrolls and descends to take a look. "Now I know my love for me goes o~~~n." She finishes her little ditty before turning to the person she assumes is the the vendor. "Hey! Ya got any Lirai-sized scrolls 'ere?"

[Knowledge check on Black Eyes, mostly check my lore knowledge...]
Elia looks at the Elderly Women greeting them. She quickly takes note of her eyes, and becomes curious, and suspicious. The lady bows, and Elia does the same.

Rhyhorn heaves, his body still searing hot from the battle with the Fire Elemental.  He looks around for a bit, before turning to the nearby Xun and nudging him to gain his attention long enough to produce a fairly warm stack of 38 platinum pieces for him.  Rhyhorn then walks back to the cart, hooking in and dragging it up past the Mage Guild's outer walls and parking it somewhere safe-looking and obscured before following the others inside.

"It honor to be of help."  He bows deeply to Sari Novell and then receives his money from Rhyhorn. "Ah yes, thank you.  Was coming to find this."  He examines his sword for any damage before slipping it quickly back into its sheathe, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his robes and following the mage into the building.

Nathalie pants wildly after the ensuing battle and bends over, putting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. "What? I would've much preferred gold instead." She replied, a bit dissatisfied with the elderly woman's gift before walking over to her stony rhinoceros friend.

"So, Rhyhorn, is this all normal for you and your traveling mates?" Nathalie asked, thinking of what exactly she could do with her free, store credit.

Rhyhorn nods affirmatively in reply to Nathalie's question, slowly at first.  He'd only been with his traveling companions a few days... but the trend was fairly obvious.  He wasn't spending much time thinking about his reward though, as he was coping with the fact his body was still smoldering at a temperature high enough that he could probably be used as a sentient frying pan.  Hopefully being in a nice and cool Guild Hall would remedy the problem quickly.

Magic Item listing is up in the second post of this thread. I spoilered it and the original shop post so they're not just taking up space. Here's a link for you lazy people. Click! (http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=7984.msg158911#msg158911)

Rhyhorn mulls over his options in the Guild's Shops, and though he has a few ideas running around in his rocky nogging, he looks around, trying to find a suitable counter to employ the help of a casterfolk with Detect Magic for the time being.

"You think there's any room for me here? The opportunity of treasure, and money, it's promising!" She pitched to Rhyhorn, examining the wares of the magic guild's shop. She came across a wondrous item named the "Third Eye of Improvisation," and even though her store credit didn't cover the entire price, decided she'd shell out the extra 250 gold pieces for the item.

"This is why I'm broke," She mused, having the eye put fashionably on her forehead before sadly looking at her empty purse, "So what do you think? I'll come with?"

          With little effort, Rhyhorn does find an apprentice tasked with simple spellcasting for a fee. He charges only 5 gold pieces to Detect Magic on the loot collected from the orcs, but requests another 110 gold pieces to have anything magical in the lot Identify'd.

Rhyhorn nods, giving the apprentice his requested 110 Gold, curious to see what kind of magic items those mangy Orcs had gotten their mitts on.  While the apprentice is Identifying, Rhyhorn turns to Nathalie and quickly scribbles onto his chalkboard:  "Should be room if want." he writes, nodding affirmatively.

"Yes, I want!" Nathalie replies, hoping that this room would be much better than the rest and run methods of travel she'd been making use of, "So are you guys staying somewhere?"

Rhyhorn nods, receiving the now-Identified goods from the apprentice and stashing them back onto his saddle before erasing his chalkboard and writing: "Yes.  Nice hotel.", holding it for Nathalie to read for a minute.  He then clears the board and seeks aide in enchanting his rocky hide in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the battle with the Fire Elemental.

"Is your stoneskin still hot? I'm afraid to touch it but I sort of dabble in my practices, I could perhaps try and help you if you'd like?" She says, thinking of how to actually cure the rhinoceros, "How /do/ you heal yourself, exactly?"

Rhyhorn nods, glad for any help he could get on the repairing front.  In reply to her question, he merely motions to the Healing Belt around his waist as best as a rhino could do so.

Elia walks into the Mages Guild and begins to browse for items she wants.

Elia takes out 40pp and 50 gp, and gives it to the vendor. She grabs her items, and puts the bracers on, then places the Pearl on her tongue.

   "But of course, milady Lirai." The kindly old man replies, pointing out his supply of special sized scrolls. "I do cater to fey of 'shorter stature' from time to time, but my selection is quite limited, I'm afraid. One needs small hands to scribe such fine characters, and there are a few others such as yourself around here I could persuade to assist me. So, if you are willing to wait a day per scroll, I can have them make just about any scroll you want."
   The fey of 'shorter stature' in question laughs and repeats the phrase before extending a hand. "Yvonne Scintillae Incendam, sorcerer extraordinaire." She introduces herself.
   The elderly man accepts her hand gently between his thumb and forefinger. "Cozwin Thropper, retired wizard and now 'vendor extraordinaire.'" He mimics her prideful tone, earning another laugh from her. "Pleased to make thy acquaintance."
   "Likewise." Yvonne replies, grinning broadly.
   "So, any particular spell you had in mind for the scroll?"
   "Uh-huh." the fire sprite says with a nod. "On'a my friends out there got 'urt pretty badly when we fough' tha' rogue fire elemental guy, an' it looks like normnal ol' healin' spells don' work good on 'im, ya know."
   "I see, so you're the Lirai from that group."
   "Yup yup! That I am!" A singsong reply.
   "Word has it the Lady Novell has granted each of you seven hundred and fifty gold in credit here."
   The flame fey's eyes widen. "Tha's a lotta scrolls..."
   Cozwin chuckles. "Indeed." He agrees. "Thirty, to be exact. But for that price, you may as well invest in a wand that has fifty charges, thus, effectively giving you twenty free uses."
   "Ooooo..."
   "Or, you may get one with only ten charges for one hundred and fifty gold, giving you four free charges. However, bear in mind, they both weigh the same."
   "A'ight."
   "I shall assume the friend you mentioned is the stone rhino who so bravely pinned the elemental."
   "Uh-huh, but how'd you know?"
   "Word travels fast around the guildhouse."
   "I see." She pauses before knocking the side of her head. "Oh yeah... magic..."
   "Yes, well, if normal heal spells do not work efficiently, perhaps the spell that the warforged use would be more appropriate."
   "Repair?"
   "Exactly."
   "Ya' got any repair wands?"
   "But of course."
   "Lirai sized?"
   "I am afraid not, all my wands are the same size."
   "Awww..."
   "Just think of them as quarterstaves."
   "Hrm..." Yvonne considers the idea for a moment. "Alright, fine, lemme see wha'cha got..."
   "With pleasure." Cozwin says, retrieving his stock of various wands so the Lirai may make her selection. "I shall inform the other vendors that you have received your reward."
   "Awww..." the pyre pixie pouts playfully. "Do ya gotta?"
   The two laugh at the joke.
   "On another note," the retired wizard starts, "rumor has it your first attack against the elemental was with fire."
   "I fight everithin' with fire." The sorcerer huffs. "Or at least I *did*..."
   "But, surely, you, a fire mage, should know those things are immune to fire."
   "Oh, they are?" She blinks. "Well, tha' explains a lot..."
   "You've never seen one before?" the old man seems surprised.
   "A'course I have *seen* one, I jus' never 'ad ta *fight* one before. I was usually friends wi' 'em, back home." She explains, her eyes turning upward and left as she recounts the events. "My best friend growin' up was a fire elemental by the name a' Monte-Blanc, though I got along wi' 'is older sister, Imo, as well. Their mother, Halifax, would invite me over to their place for meals and sleepovers all the time. Those were good times... Looking back, the whole Harbour family was amazing."
   "A family?"
   "Harbour."
   "Of fire elementals?"
   "Yeah, why?"
   "Nothing, I'm just... surprised is all." Cozwin seems incredulous but doesn't press the issue.
   A thought occurs to Yvonne and she thumps a closed fits into an open palm. "I shou' find the guy who summoned tha' beast an' see if I c'n 'ave 'im teach me how to summon Monty so 'e c'n meet my other friends. I think they'd like 'im. 'E's a lot friendlier than the one we just banished."
   The elderly vendor looks like he is about to say something before thinking the better of it.
   "Welp, thank ye' fer the stuff!" the fire Lirai says cheerfully after a moment of silence.
   "Of course, thank you for your business, milady Incendam."
   The flame fey clutches her purchase tight, reveling in the in minute auras they give off. She turns and sees a rocky rhino across the way. "Hey! Rhyhorn!" She calls, flying over. "Looky, looky!" she holds a small stick in front of his face.

Elia, with her new equip, looks around for her friends. She spots Yvonne and Rhyhorn talking, so she casually walks over to them. "Hello. I'm all done with my shopping. How about you two?"

"That is certainly a useful belt!" Nathalie says, "So, in exchange for..." Nathalie was interrupted soon after she began her sentence by the rambunctious fairy and a new face, female, running toward them.

"You're quite popular with the ladies, Rhyhorn," She said, absolutely astounded.

Rhyhorn nods about his Belt's usefulness, before Yvonne flies right up to his face, waving the stick at him.  He stares at it quizzically, furrowing his non-existent rhino brow to try and figure out what she bought.  Not being a wand-user, he hadn't even given them a cursory glance-over, more pre-occupied with getting the loot Identified and finding out about setting up an appointment to get his armor enchanted in the 'morrow, since he knew that to be a long process.  He tilts his head, looking at the wand in Yvonne's hand curiously as Elia walks over, her greeting not breaking his wonderment at all as he waited for Yvonne to explain the usefulness of the stick to him with a child-like curious expression.

   "It's a wand!" Yvonne proclaims proudly. "A magic wand! It does magic things!" She spins it in one hand like an oversized baton.

Rhyhorn continues to tilt his head quizzically, now tilting it to the opposite side.  Even he wasn't oblivious to the fact it was a wand, but he had no clue why the pixie was so enthralled and happy to show him specifically.

Elia looks at the cheerful Fairy. "My you see happy Madam, what magic might that wand have enchanted on it?"

   As the wand is ill-suited to be twirled in such a fashion, she quickly loses control of it and the heavy end clips her in the jaw. "Outh!" she utters, before scrambling to keep the thing from tumbling to the floor. "Bith ma tongth..." she whines, hugging the wand close. Her movements, however, loosened the four other similar sticks she had jammed between her backpack and her back. "Mohhh..." she continues to complain, shifting to straighten them so she doesn't lose them as well. After a moment, she looks up at Elia. "Wha' wath the quethion?"

Trying to stop from laughing at the poor Lirai, Elia restates her question. "Oh Madam, I was just wondering what types of magic wands you got."

Nathalie taps her foot quietly, and with rhythm, to the cheerful banter between the pixie and the new girl, which is her way to vehemently express frustration of being ignored. Drudging up all the lady-like behavior in her, she interrupted their conversation. "Well! I'd just hate to break up this magical reunion, but it is to my knowledge you all have rooms at an inn somewhere?" What she mistook for feigned politeness was mostly just a sharp tongue, however.

"It appears this conversation will have to be finished later, perhaps in our room?" Says Elia to Yvonne. She then turns to face the lady that interpreted her conversation. "Yes? We have inn rooms, but I do not believe that you have a room with us or a place to sleep if you are with us. Seeing as you came with Rhyhorn and Yvonne I assume you know one of the two." Elia crosses her arms. "If you are with us, I would assume that you go sleep with them, unless that is you want to buy your own room."

   Yvonne moves her sore jaw like a cow chewing cud and making several other strange faces in the process.

"Rhyhorn. We're old friends; business partners, even," She replied, her lips pursed and narrowed and her responses curt, "Just as long as everyone's kept up to speed. And acknowledged."

Nathalie dropped one hand by her side, and another firmly on her hip, staring the other girl down, ""I'm Nathalie. And you are?"

Not getting a response from Rhyhorn, Hogarth wanders around, and notices a leather, heavy belt. "SHOPKEEP!" she bellows, causing the vendor and potion jars to rattle and tremble. "I demand to know what this belt does." Nervously, the vendor stutters out the magic properties of the Belt of One Mighty Blow. It's not the one she pointed at, but the vendor decides, from the look of her, it'd be the one she'd want anyways. "Give to Hogarth." she says through gritted teeth, narrowing her eyes and plunking down 75 platinum to cover the difference after store credit is applied. Grabbing the belt and fitting it on, she climbs in Rhyhorn's cart, flips a single gold coin at the chest, and falls asleep, exhausted from battle, muttering "I am one of all the things..."

Her snoring is loud and obnoxious.

Rhyhorn, having had enough experience with women in his short lifetime, begins to slink away from this situation between Elia, Nathalie, and Yvonne, and goes find a mage with whom he can set up an appointment to get his armor enchanted tomorrow, as there's likely not enough daylight to get it done today.

(Yes, I actually want a Stealth Check to get away before this bitchfight begins.  Rhyhorn no want involve.)

Elia shows her teeth in a sort of smile. "You amuse me Kid." She puts her arms down, and holds her hands together. "Elia Cryonae, Travelling Priest of Odin." Elia lets go of her hands to bow. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out 4gp, and hands them to Nathalie. "Her take this to the Inn, tell lady at the counter that you are with Elia and Yvonne's group.  Get yourself a room." Elia asks a walking by mage for a paper and pencil. He looks at her puzzled, by hands her some. Elia thanks him and begins drawing a quick, detail-less map to the inn that they are staying at. She passes it the Nathalie. "Here you go."

Nathalie takes the gold from Elia, and pockets it slowly. "Well, Patsy, the feeling is mutual," Nathalie brushed off her arm, and kicked the toe of her boot on the ground before continuing to respond, "And, I think I might just save the loose change, take this clearly-drawn-with-the-skill-of-the-most-talented-artists-of-the-nearest-orphange and bunk with an already paying occupant of the inn--Rhyhorn, how does that sound?"

Nathalie smiled wide, though her eyes were akin to hawks', transfixed toward Elia.

   "Hey! Rhyhorn! Where ya goin'?" Yvonne calls after the departing rhino.

Meanwhile, Rhyhorn steps on the feet of several people and nearly knocks over a poor mage by accident trying very, very poorly to sneak away from the entire situation, leaving a very obvious and easy to follow trail in his wake.  Eventually, he reaches a mage able to enchant his armor, more than eager to agree to do so after some chalkboard-exchange just to get the rhino to stop breaking everything.  It doesn't help, though, as Rhyhorn continues to "sneak" around the outer wall of the Mage's Guild to try and get to the front door in utter desperation.  He hears Yvonne's call and blows it off, flinching for a second, but continuing his poor attempt to sneak away.

   "Mohhh..." the fire sprite flies after Rhyhorn.

Elia raises her left eyebrow. "Alright. Suit yourself." Elia turns around and rolls her eyes. "You're either going with Hogarth, or Rhyhorn." She begins walking away. "I'll see you later, maybe then we can correctly introduce our selves then." Elia turns the corner and walks out the door of the Mage Guild heading for the Inn.

Rhyhorn just keeps trying to sneak away, trying his best to not deal too much collateral damage in the process.  His eyes are obviously filled with fear.  Far, far more fear than something as dangerous as the previous Fire Elemental could have ever hoped to evoke, despite the fact Rhyhorn was nearly killed by it.  Even a stone rhino like Rhyhorn knows that hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn.

"Of course!" She called, gingerly making her way toward where Yvonne and Rhyhorn were headed, "Wait up! We're still shopping, you goofs."

Rhyhorn pauses in his tracks upon hearing Nathalie's voice.  He waits a moment, then quickly scribbles on his chalkboard.  "Rhyhorn done, need come back tomorrow."  He finishes writing, showing it to Nathalie before continuing out the door.  It was the truth - enchanting his armor would take 8 hours and the Mage's Guild wouldn't be open that long today.  He then quickly erases it and writes "We go marketplace for today."

   "Marketplace?" Yvonne repeats. "Flower shop! Yay! Le's go!" she cheers. "Le's go! Le's go! Le's go!"

"Sounds good enough to me! So what's on the agenda?" She asks, walking casually beside him, "I don't have much gold to spend after my last splurge." Yvonne's excitement for the florist seemed an exciting dear as any, though, and Nathalie nodded in agreement to the idea of buying some lilies and daisies.

"Flowers would be nice."

Rhyhorn sighs in relief, getting a bit of life back into his step as he leads the way out of the marketplace, only to find the slumbering Hogarth in his cart.  He picks up the gold coin, stuffing it into his money purse before hooking himself into his cart harnesses and setting off with whoever else is following him in tow.

Snorting awake for a second, Hogarth throws an apple core she still has at the sound of the nearest, loudest noise and goes back to sleep, her snore just as loud as before.

Rhyhorn grumbles in annoyance, feeling the apple core smash against his hide, trying his best to resist waking up the Barbarian and getting her to clean the apple stain off for him.

"What in the...?" Nathalie asked, voicing her confusion out loud before looking around at the various civilians walking about, "What just happened?"

Rhyhorn just keeps walking, not saying a word and hoping they reach the marketplace soon.

   "Shopping spree: Round two!" Yvonne cheers holding both hands up in celebration. "Flower shop, flower shop, oh flower, flower shop!" she starts singing merrily. "Flower shop, flower shop,  oh flower, flower shop." She glances around the marketplace. "Flower shop!" she points to a cart overflowing with plants of various types before making a popping sound with her cheek. "Badum dum dum." She starts repeating her song as she flits around the cart, checking out the selection. However, it doesn't take long before she finds what she wants; a single, large, white lily and a tiny bouquet of forget-me-nots secured with some white lace. "Hey! Gimme these!" she tells the vendor, handing over a silver piece.

Hogarth sleepily reaches over and grabs one of the plants, chomping on it before realizing it's not edible and spitting it out. "Your food is awful" she mutters and drifts back to sleep.

Frightened by the sudden appearance of the barbaric woman, Nathalie let out a blood-curdling shriek before catching her breath and calming her demeanor. "What IS that!?" The flowers in her hand, a few petunias, were crushed and wilted in her hands.

Hogarth throws her last apple core at the shrieking woman, roaring "In the name of Mollock, WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!!! Hogarth is trying to sleep!" She eyes the woman wearily, recognition edging its way into the stone-thick barbarian skull, before she shakes away the feeling.

   "Found this little flowers shop, tell you why, flowers are sweeter than apple pie. And Rhyhorn does his shaky rockin' dance, man, I haven't got a chance!" Yvonne remains ignorant of the happenings nearby, lost, as she is, in her own little world.

The apple core hit Nathalie on the forehead, though frozen with fear (and still in shock), she didn't quite feel the initial sting, or pain from it at all. "Y-yes. Right." She replied, before circling round to Rhyhorn's front and coaching herself back into thinking clearly, "So, uh, in any case, time for me to buy a chest here if I'm going to be traveling with you all, right?"

   "Needle and thread time!"  Yvonne cries, turning away from the flower cart. "Hello, Hogarth!"

"THEY ARE BITTER! They taste nothing like apples baked into a pie." Hogarth shouts at Yvonne, remaining lying down and clutching her forehead. "Sorry for loud making. Rage make brain hurt bad. Makes me sleepy, but happy I cut off that demon's arm" she chuckles to herself.

Rhyhorn nods affirmatively to Nathalie, mortified at his companions and hoping none of his regular customers are in the crowd and seeing this spectacle of awful between Nathalie and Hogarth.

   "Bitter? Why ya' eatin' the flowers? Silly Hogarth!"

"I had no idea the burly woman helping us fight the elemental was some sort of miniature ogre.." She whispered to Rhyhorn, before looking around for the shop that sells chests and the like, "This is perhaps the literal definition of "motley crew."

"because I barely knew her, friend yvonne" mutters Hogarth, half dreaming-half awake nonsense being uttered.

   "Girls, girls, girls, long legs and burgundy lips..." Yvonne sings, seeking out a place to buy a needle and thread. "Girls, girls, girls, dancin' down on Sunset Strip..." She finds a small cart with random junk and purchases what she needs. "Girls, girls, girls, red lips, fingertips..."

Walking swiftly away from the cart, which most likely is garnering much attention from all the townsfolk now, Nathalie saunters over to buy a chest, and in the meantime, a nice stack of crossbow bolts to last her until she's able to buy more things. (one chest and fifty bolts, 7gp)

She returns back to the cart, slowly dragging the bolt stuffed chest toward Rhyhorn, using all her might to pull it to "safety." "I should really invest in some sort of muscle-mass building techniques.." She said to herself, panting heavily.

Rhyhorn slips out of his harnesses, helping Nathalie to safely pile her chest into his cart, then looks around to see how Yvonne was doing with her shopping... Rhyhorn himself has completely forgotten what the hell he even wanted to get at the marketplace by this point.

   "She hates time, make it stop. When'd this motley crew center Rhyhorn rock?" Yvonne starts to head back to the others. "And when did Ozzy become an actor? Please make this stop, stop, STOP!" she halts in front of them. "All done!"

Rhyhorn blinks, hearing his name but having no clue why.  His memory is then jogged, as he quickly scampers off to a tool-laden stand and purchases a set of Masterwork Artisan's Tools (55 GP), stowing them onto his Exotic Pack Saddle before returning to his harnesses. With everyone seemingly finished shopping, Rhyhorn begins pulling the cart back to the Inn.

Elia enters the Inn and heads straight for the baths.

   Holding her flowers, Yvonne practically dances through the air as she flies along side Rhyhorn and Nathalie. "Gonna go and take a bath!" She strides along as though upon an invisible walkway. "And get all nice and clean!" She spins around. "I'll wash away the grime and dirt!" She holds her arms out grandly. "And get a soapy sheen!"

Rhyhorn stares at his pixie-friend dance through the sky in wonderment as his group slowly makes its way to the Inn, even Rhyhorn looking to get a bath of some kind to get the apple off his hide.

"Thanks Rhy!" said Nathalie, rubbing her aching muscles in order to recuperate some before walking again, "A bath actually sound fantastic too. Nice, warm, relaxing, soothing water. I feel wet now!"

A room to the left to store your clothes, a room to the right to wash up, and in the middle, a large open hot pool of water. And no one there. Elia dashes off to the room on the left to place all her clothing, and equipment there, but takes her soap out of her sack. She walks out and heads to the wash area. In the room is a bucket, and a small stream of water the pours out into a drain. She places the bucket under the stream and waits for the bucket to fill up half way. She picks the bucket up and pours the warm water all over her. Placing the bucket back under the stream, she then lathers herself with the soap, then picks the bucket up to pour over her again. She picks up her soap and leaves to the hot pool. She sets her soap to the side of the pool, and slides in the pool. The hot water takes all off her mind, making to world around her seem not there.

Rhyhorn pulls his cart into the Inn, parking it in the stables near Lejun's wagons before tossing some rocks and Hogarth onto his Exotic Pack Saddle.  He then heads off with the others, off to find the baths and get these apple stains off his hide.

Nathalie moseys over to the bathhouse, and slowly undresses herself, leaving her fine clothing stored in the dressing room while she slips into a nice bathrobe, takes a bucket over to the washroom and borrows the inn's complimentary brand and tucks everything into one steaming pot while lathering herself up with soap. Walking over to the hot pools, Nathalie hums a jazzy tune before timidly cascading into the water, the hot water relaxing her weary body.

"Ah..." She sighs, closing her eyes and tilting her head back, leaning up against the side of the bath.

Rhyhorn, being a far less cultured quadruped, slips Hogarth down for a moment and shakes his saddle of SOME OF THE THINGS onto the ground in the changing area, before hoisting the unconscious barbarian onto his back again.  Not particularly able to wield a bucket, Rhyhorn skips that segment of the process, setting a still-clothed Hogarth down gently next to the bath for the women to take care of.  He sets a stone rhino hoof-paw thing into the water, feeling it for temperature before excitedly scampering in, heading for the center and beginning to dogpaddle around after a long day of trading goods, shopping, checkpoints, and hauling ALL THE THINGS plus Hogarth.

   Yvonne pays no heed to the curious looks she gets from passersby and continues her song all the way to Silver Coin Tavern. "I tolerate the water when," she doesn't let up as she enters the lobby "It's in a bath and warm!" She follows the signage towards the bathing facilities. "Not as rain nor snow nor ice," excitement enters her voice as she spies the door "But when it's in steam form!" She glances about for a place to prepare and finds a cubbyhole to land in. The one below her is filled with clothes she recognizes as Elia's. She retrieves the needle and thread from her tiny backpack, quickly lamenting that she couldn't find a smaller one, as this one is almost as big as her forearm. Shrugging away the thought, she quickly shoves the thread through the eye and ties it off. Next, she deftly separates the lily's petals from its stalk and discards the rest. Setting one petal aside, she then lays the rest out flat and partially overlapping. The needle easily punctures through the petals and drags a trail of thread between them. After making several passes around the bunch, the fire sprite believes that is enough and ties it all in a loop. Holding the remaining petal up, she attaches the tip to its end with an adjustable cinch. Finally satisfied with her work, she moves her stuff down a cubby and behind Elia's items. She removes her jewelry and shoves it all in her pack from which she then retrieves a silver coin and exiting the storage place. "Hey!" she calls to one of the attendants. "Any chance ya' coul' wash this fer me?" she tugs on the gossamer fabric of her skirt to indicate what she means. The attendant nods. "Yay!" the fey girl cheers and promptly disrobes before dropping the garments and tip into the attendant's hands. "Thank ye!" she says happily before telling the human her room number. "Bath time!" she cries flying out of the changing room and into the bathing area. "Hello, Elia!" she calls to the human healer, speeding past, not waiting for reply. "Hello, Nathalie!" she calls to the human rogue, speeding past, not waiting for reply. "Look out below!" she calls to Rhyhorn before curling into a ball and plunging into the warm water.

Elia opens her I eyes to the sound of Yvonne greeting her. "Hello Yvonne. Where ever you might be."

Rhyhorn turns his head upon hearing Yvonne, before hearing the splash nearby.  He dives under the water, looking for the pixie for a moment before realizing he should stick to paddling above the water to prevent himself from sinking into the bath entirely.

   "Dhoom again and run away with me on a wild Rhyhorn ride!" Yvonne belts out, breaking the surface of the water. "Dhoom again and see your wildest dreams slowly come alive!" She begins dancing, her feet only touching the water lightly. "Dhoom again we gotta break the rules and party all the time!" She slowly works her way towards the bath's edge. "Dhoom again we gotta steal the show you know that ain't no crime!" Her progress is hindered by her elaborate and wholly unnecessary movements. "So steal what you can" She kicks a small splash of water out before her. "The magic you began" She pauses for a moment and throws her right hand out and sending a stream of sparkles from her wings to accentuate the movement as she sings "Let's shout!" She repeats the motion with her left to continue with "Break out!" then continues the last few feet "Come on once again let's here it!" she reaches up an breaks off a piece of scented soap from an ornate tray. "Dhoom machale!" she starts repeating the phrase several times as she lathers herself up. "Dhooooom!" she finishes and plunges once again below the surface.

Rhyhorn stares at the pixie in wonderment as she dances around, dogpaddling to keep himself above the water's surface.  For better or worse, when she dives under, he dips under as well and begins standing on the bottom of the tub, his one rocky fin that goes across the center of his back being the only thing sticking out of the water.  He begins walking around under the water, his eyesight obscured by it as he wanders about, his protruding back-fin-thing making him seem much like a stone shark in the bath.

"Someone is enjoying this." Elia opens her eyes to see whats going on. "Not just one, but two someones." She submerges into the water to view Yvonne and Rhyhorn.

Snorting awake, and hearing the pixie sing in the next room, Hogarth removes her belts and wolf pelt, drops her axe, and enters the water, just lurking in it on the edge, almost utterly submerged, and sits unmoving.

Rhyhorn continues romping around under the tub water, enjoying pretending to be a shark for no reason in particular.

   Yvonne jumps out of the water "Eeeeek!" she shrieks, pointing at the stone 'fin' sticking out of the water. "Rock shark!" she flies, squealing over to Elia, behind her head and tries vainly to hide in her hair.

Hearing Yvonne's shriek, Rhyhorn begins very slowly but playfully sauntering toward Elia and Yvonne from beneath the water.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif)"VICTORY ON THE HIGH SEAS"(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) roars Hogarth, charging at the shark, fists balled to deal gobs of pain.

Rhyhorn hears the cry from Hogarth and turns underwater, charging the Barbarian playfully from beneath the water.

Elia greets Yvonne in Sylvan tongue. (Magic freaking pearl \o/). "It appears we have a pest problem here. Hold you breath Madam." Elia gives Yvonne a moment to breath before she dives into the water, and away from the Rhyhorn, and its surprise attacker. She pops out of the water on the other side of the pool, just in time watch Rhyhorn and Hogarth.

   "Kill it! Kill it!" Yvonne trills, clambering up Elia's head to perch atop it. "It's evil!"

A mighty clash of titans ensues! Like Godzilla and Rodan before them, the stoned rhino and the angered barbarian attack one another, knocking each other back and causing HUGE WAVES OF STEAMING WATER to crash against the sides of the pool! The rhino holds the berserker's head underwater, she picks him up and slams him against the water! Both tear huge chunks out of each other, eyes glowing red from pure hatred and battle!

Or Hogarth slipped on a bar of soap someone dropped.

Rhyhorn holds in a giggle from beneath the water as Hogarth slips and falls, moving over to her and doing his best to help her back up... before realizing he should probably breathe, thrusting his head out of the water for a deep breath and trying in vain to get himself dogpaddling above the water's surface again.

   By this point, Yvonne can no longer keep a strait face and topples off of Elia in time to fall into a wave created by the combatants. Her tiny body is washed over the bath's lip where she scrambles to her hands and knees, coughing. "Ughn... I think I swallowed som'a the water Hogarth was in..." she laments.

Elia casts Create Water above Hogarth and Rhyhorn's heads, pouring cold water on them. The two different temperatures of water create a cloud of steam around the two "With all this, we might get kicked out of the Inn." She exclaims.

Rhyhorn stumbles under the hail of water Elia created above himself and Hogarth in his desperate attempt for air, slipping and falling onto his side, stopping his flailing and lying beneath the water.

   "Rhyhorn!" Yvonne cries, flying over to the spot where the rhino lies motionless. "What di'ya do ta 'im?" she accuses both Hogarth and Elia.

Rhyhorn lies motionless beneath the water, not a single breath bubble reaching the surface.

"Hogarth help me pick Rhyhorn out of the water!" Elia dives into the water and attempts to pick Rhyhorn out of the water.

Hogarth grabs the rhino and hurls him out of the water, and onto the ground, nearby where he had laid her. "Now we are even for rescuing me from the stone shark, friend Rhyhorn."

Rhyhorn bounces onto the floor outside the bath with a thud, still unmoving.

   "You killed Rhyhorn! You bastards!"

Elia hops out of the water and heads straight to Rhyhorn. "Alrighty. WE need to boil the water out of him, Yvonne start a fire under him, the rock will heat up and boil the water." She jokes. "Okay lets see, I need to get water out of a rock...." Elia's eyes get big and she turns to Hogarth. "Hogarth friend! Might you pick up Rhyhorn and shake him upside down? Else he might die."

Rhyhorn's eyes shoot open upon hearing what Elia describes, roaring and running far away from her, his cunning plow for a terrible prank swept out from under him as he begins coughing up tiny bits of water he actually did swallow.

   "Rhyhorn! Yer alive! Praise Karla! Praise Hiran! Praise... some... other diety!"

Elia stands up smiling boldly. "I seem to have the remedy for everything." She walks to the room where she placed her clothing and equipment to dry herself off, and get dress. Fully clothed, and geared up, she heads out of the room to the lady at the counter. "Has a man named Seap come by at all?" She asks. Then Inn keeper replies with a no. Elia frowns, "As I thought. Well I think my crew and I would enjoy a nice meal soon." The Inn keeper nods and walks to a table and begins setting it up for the group with mugs and utensils.

Rhyhorn continues coughing up some water, glaring at Elia as she walks past before moving back to Yvonne and the others, questioning in his mind whether the so-called priestess of Odinn was actually trying to kill him.

   "Well, I *was* clean..." Yvonne mutters, looking around for a body of warm water Hogarth has not entered yet.

Rhyhorn sighs before shaking the water off himself like a dog and heading off to the changing room to get his saddles back in order, having had enough fun in the tub for one night.

   Noticing that Elia left, Yvonne hurriedly rewashes herself before making a hasty return to the cubbyhole in which she had left her stuff. She shakes off the loose droplets and allows her high body heat to evaporate the rest. She hums her flower shop tune to herself as she pulls the ring of petals around her waist and cinches the other one around her upper torso. She unties the bouquet and uses the lace to hold her hair up in a ponytail through which she pushes the stalks of the tiny blue flowers. She then re-adorns herself with her favored jewelry. Lastly, she admires herself in her mirror for a while, making minute adjustments to make sure her appearance is perfect. Assuring herself everything is in order, she makes her way to the reception desk. "Hello!" She calls to the woman behind the counter. "'As a young, minstrel-type-guy stopped by fer our message to 'im?" A strange expression crosses the innkeep's face for a moment before she gives a negative reply. "Huh... Meby they're feedin' 'im back a' the border fort..." the flame fey mutters before seeking the dinner hall.

All the while, Nathalie had reserved herself to relax in the calm, soothing waters, blocking out the ensuing pool-time play. When she'd had her fill, Nathalie just casually got up from the pool, walked slowly to her tower, and rubbed herself dry of suds, water or renegade Hogarth filth. She tied the towel up just above her breasts, and thankfully it fell just to her lower thighs before attempting to change in the washroom.

Elia spots Yvonne talking to the lady at the desk, and calls her over. "Madam Incendam. Come over here its dinner time!"

Rhyhorn eventually straps his saddle back to himself properly, following the ladies out of the bath.  He takes a detour for his room to drop off the 15 pounds of rocks strapped to his back before the smell of food makes its way to his stone nose and he nearly gallops his way back down, hunting for the source with nearly child-like glee: good food could remedy any problem after all!

Nathalie drains the water of her hair, standing over a bucket and squeezing until it was at least relatively dry before putting her clothes back on and leaving the changing room. She follows the band to the kitchen, and feeling quite hungry, was left with no choice but to engage in the majesty of good, homecooked meals.

"I wonder what's on the menu tonight.." Nathalie mused, walking toward where Elia was.

Emerging from the water, Hogarth shakes herself dry, like a wolf, and in fact much like the wolf whose pelt she now wears. Dry enough, she puts her belts and pelt back on, straps her axe on her back, and stomps off towards ale. And also food.

Rhyhorn continues scampering around, ignoring everything around him, food being the one dominating thought in his mind.  He'd just realized he'd not eaten all goddamn day and he'd be eating something far more delicious than rocks!  Soon, he barely notices Elia and Nathalie, attempting to slow down but not having enough time to do so.  He ends up nearly skidding right past them, butting his hide against a nearby table and almost knocking it over.  He rears up onto his hind legs and places his front ones onto the table for a moment, as if to say "Dibs!"

Dodging the charging rhinoceros, Nathalie takes a seat on the right side of the table, somewhere near the middle, but not quite the middle because she enjoys being off-center and sits down, waiting for the rest of the band to sit together.

"I've yet to see such marvelously cooked food in my life!" She exclaimed, eying all the food with a ravenous lust, "What is this food here?"

"Too dead to eat." snorts Hogarth, ashamed to be seen in a banquet hall where all the food has been cooked so thoroughly. Not one rare or bloody hunk of meat to be found. She snatches some bread and a bottle of ale, and goes to find fairer game.

Rhyhorn shifts around, finding one of the table ends and gets back up onto his hind legs, resting his upper gently onto the table to feel more like one of the upright-standing hoominz and other hoomin-like companions.  Sadly, this is when he realizes he lacks hands with which to fill his plate with delicious noms, and has himself a sads.

Nathalie put a bunch of food onto her plate, nothing too fattening though, anything that looked less like it was slaughtered or cooked by a goblin and more like it was prepared for royalty, and eyed in lovingly.

"Shall we eat!?" She asked, speeding up the process to chow down on her food.

Rhyhorn merely stared at all the delicious food, his rhino-brain mulling over how to best move some of the delicious food from the main table to his plate.  Sadly, few ideas that wouldn't involve the destruction of the entire table came to mind.  Nathalie's hurriedness for eating only made his anguished dilemma even worse.

Hogarth is stomping her way out, when she notices a goblin prepared slaughtered pig. Grabbing the entire platter, she proceeds to eat her bread and drink her ale, while tearing out hunks of the pig and then tearing smaller bits out with her sharp teeth. "Grunt." she says.

Noticing the living rock's dilemma, she shovels food onto a plate and sets it on the ground for Rhyhorn. "Eat well, brave Rhyhorn, for the bravest fools need their strength!" Grabbing a fresh bottle of ale, she gulps the whole thing down with minimal effort. She is inspired to her own song, much like the sprite.

"I'm very well aquainted with the seven deadly sins
I keep a busy schedule trying to fit them in
I'm proud to be a glutton, and I don't have time for sloth
I'm greedy, and I'm angry, and I don't care who I cross

I'm Mrs. Bad Example, intruder in the dirt
I like to have a good time, and I don't care who gets hurt
I'm Mrs. Bad Example, take a look at me
I'll live to be a hundred, and go down in infamy!"

She roars with laughter, before dizzily slumping heavily onto a chair.

   Sitting cross legged on the table and utilizing a low, table-like construct about the size of a normal place setting, Yvonne cleans her tiny plate of roasted poultry quickly yet elegantly. Eyeing a quartered cherry tomato, she hovers over to add it to her plate before settling back down to carve away at it with her small knife.

Rhyhorn's eyes go alight at Hogarth's kindness, savagely nomming at his delicious, delicious food.  As he eats, the phrase "bravest fools" echos in his brain and his eating slows, as if to say "Wait a minute..."  He looks to Hogarth... but then the smell of delicious deliciousness reaches him again and he goes back to his food, blissfully ignorant.

Elia puts her head on the table, covers her head with her arms, whispering to herself. "If anyone asks, the brute is a drunk that randomly stumbled by..."

Even though Nathalie was too preoccupied with savoring the food she'd put on her plate, the barbarian woman will always startle her, and unfortunately, Nathalie had a bit of a coughing fit, and almost choked on some chicken before composing herself and breathing easily again.

"Where do you come from!?"

Rhyhorn finishes the noms Hogarth had placed before him post-haste, and begins reaching out with his face, slowly dragging a cooked bird toward him and ripping a leg off, dropping it into his plate and going for it.  Halfway through eating, he turns over to his cup of ale, holding it into his mouth and turning upward, downing the entire thing in one sip as not to spill it like the last time he was lucky enough to get a nice drink to go with his nice food.

   Yvonne fills her bowl with pottage and tears off a sizable piece of bread to dip in the soupy mix.

"I come from the frozen wastelands of the north!" she shouts, standing up and putting on a heroic, but drunken, pose. "From a tribe that separated from Alynthia, we forsook the cowardly arts of wizardry and forged ourselves in battle for blessings from our horrible, insatiable gods!" She flashes an even drunker grin, and tears off another piece of the pig with her teeth, as if to emphasize her point.

   Yvonne happily adds an entire strip of bacon to her plate despite it not fitting. She cannot remember the last time she had enjoyed the salty goodness of perfectly cooked and seasoned bacon.

"What interesting heritage," She says, shocked at her complete lack of etiquette, "Perhaps one day you'll have to tell me about your homeland?" Nathalie didn't quite know how to approach talking to this women, so niceness was decidedly the most effective choice in accomplishing that task.

"This..whatever this is, is quite delicious!"

   Once you start eating bacon, it is hard to stop. Yvonne simply cannot stop at one strip and decides to stack two more atop her mini-table.

Rhyhorn, meanwhile, polishes off the rest of his chicken leg, before reaching his face out for more.  Reaching... reaching... reaching... eventually reaching too far, the table under him creaking and snapping.  The legs remain standing, allowing the rest of the table to hold up fine, but the bit of wood under Rhyhorn splinter and give away like paper.  The resulting mayhem flips the chicken he was reaching for along with his ale cup high into the air, the bird eventually landing directly onto his face and the cup doing a lucky ringer onto his horn.  He grumbles for a moment, before tipping his face so the bird could slip off and tearing into it now that it was within nomming distance.

"You shall know THIS VERY DAY!" she bellows, raising her fists into the air. "We conquered a spot of tundra outside a forest, bountiful with its gifts of food and hardship. Half the village would go into the forest, killing and maiming all in our path for the other half's dinner, and the next day it was their turn to share in the glory. Those who stayed behind for the day made offerings to Crom, terrible god of Wrath, and Graalfag, honored God of Blood. We thrived in the ice of the land, carving our VERY HOMES OUT OF THE ICE AND ROCK!"

This looks like it might take awhile.

"Oh that is interesting.." Nathalie replied, though she seemed a little unsettled.

   Retrieving her mug from the kit in her pack, Yvonne dunks it in the 'normal' sized tankard she requested from one of the servers earlier. She drains it quickly and refills it again. Pursing her lips, she surveys what remains of the selection after the 'larger folk' have eaten a good majority. In a serving dish nearby she sees slices of cooked apples in a thick sauce and sprinkled with cinnamon. Stabbing her fork into a slice, she drags it to her plate so she can eat it.

Elia gets up from the table and walks over to the Inn lady. "I am so sorry about my crew." Elia pulls two pp from her pouch and hands it to the lady. "This isn't a bribe, it's in case you lose any customers or things break tonight..." She glances over to the table and back over to the lady. "Might I have my food brought to my room?" The Innkeep Lady nods her head, and asks what Elia would like. "A stew would be nice." The Innkeeper Lady nods and tells her it will be delivered to her room in a little bit. The Lady then walks off to the kitchen. Elia takes one last look at her group, and ascends the stairs to the her room on the 3rd floor.

Rhyhorn polishes off the remainder of the bird, leaving bones scattered on the ground as he lets out a large BUUUUUUUUUUUURP.  He then groggily begins walking under the remainder of the table, given his 3-foot stature, taking a shortcut between the legs of the seated womenfolk to get out from the table and slowly makes his way to his room for some rest, the ale mug still settled on his horn.

Hogarth staggers over to Nathalie, throws a heavy, scarred arm around her neck, and breathes her boozy breath at Nathalie, not meaning to or realizing she's doing it. "It got to a point where the forest held no challenge for me, and I decided to seek new lands to fight and kill. From the outskirts of Alynthia, I have marched and hired my services to many a folk. I have hunted, and felt the joy of the earth under my feet. I must've killed everything's that walked or crawled sometime or another on my journey. The THRILL OF LIFE" she howls joyously, raising her arms and stomping over for more meat.

   Finishing her second slice of the delicious apples, Yvonne decides to find more vegetables. She thought she had seen a stack of steamed asparagus, oh, there it is. She drifts lazily over to retrieve a couple stalks.

Nathalie quivered in disgust and fear as she shrugged her shoulders, and froze her body, hopefully to move the Hogarth's hand off her shoulder. Though she was immediately stunned by the potency of the boozy breath that she was left with no choice other than to sit there and take that verbal onslaught like a woman.

"Th...at...is...triumphant...?" Her mind started to fog and her words began to string together effortlessly, as if she were drunk.

Rhyhorn continues his slog back to his room... but stops at the bar, putting his front legs again on the counter to stand semi-upright and un-wringering the cup from his horn.  The barkeep looks for a moment from the rhino to the cup, completely confused out of his damn mind before eventually picking up the cup and sniffing it to see if he could tell what the... stone rhino... had been drinking.  The barkeep realizes it was a fairly cheap ale and pours the beast another cup, sliding it back to him.   "There you go... sir..." the barkeep says, giving the rhino a nod as he picks the cup up again and downs it, leaving it on the counter.  

Rhyhorn nods to the barkeep in tired appreciation, hopping back down from the counter before he ended up breaking ALL THE THINGS and finding the stairs, making his way slowly up.

Hogarth laughs at Nathalie's stuttering observation, but not in a mocking way. "Triumphant it is, friend Nathalie! I feel tired yet from our glorious battle with magic today. Gonna go sleep." she announces, rather abruptly and in completely jerking the conversation in an opposite direction. She marches upstairs, and knocks on several doors before being helped to her own room, herself unable to read the room numbers.

   Did any of the servers bring out dessert? Yvonne scans the table. Ah, yes, a fine selection of hand-crafted chocolates sits in the center of the rest of the food. The flame fey selects one with a red marking on top, hoping it has a cherry inside, but would happily settle for something else. She carves into it and is pleased to see a red, viscous liquid leak onto her plate. Indeed, floating in the fluid is a cherry.

Rhyhorn feels the Barbarian literally step over him as she rushes her way groggily up the stairs, too tired to give many fucks and keeping to his own slow pace.  His room... for better or worse... was also on the third floor, so this would be quite a walk for the little tired rhino that could.

Nathalie sits in her chair, a little dopey-eyed and staring at the various things around her. She feels like she thanked Hogarth for her speech, she isn't sure, but she sort of swayed back and forth lazily before her eyes drooped and she put her head down on the table, her hand spinning in a sporadic fashion as if to say she's going to sleep.

"It'llbeabout liiiiiike fiveminutes," she slurred, her hand falling gently on a piece of chocolate cake.

The Innkeeper lady, holding stew, walks up stairs to Elia's room, and knocks on her door. Elia opens the door and greets the Innkeeper with a smile. She takes the stew, thanks the lady, then closes the door. Elia walks to the middle of the room, sat down, and begins to eat.

   Yvonne hovers above her tankard of ale and looks down to see it is still half full, but that means she now has to physically enter the tankard to refill her own mug. Nonetheless, it is worth it for this brew.

Rhyhorn eventually makes it all the way up to his room, and begins opening the door with his mouth... before realizing something important.  He needs Nathalie's help to fix his rocky ass, and he needs to show her where his room is anyway since she'd be staying with him... damnit.  The rhino sighs and turns around, and begins an equally slow walk back down the stairs.

   Not quite enough... Yvonne drifts back to the plate of chocolates and pulls a green colored one over to her place, hoping this one is mint. From the smell of it, it certainly should be, but, like life, one never knows what one may get from a chocolate... At least, that's what mother always said...

Finished with her stew, Elia takes her bowl down stairs to the Innkeeper lady. As shes heading down the stairs she sees Rhyhorn going down, and he looks very tired. "You should go to bed Rhyhorn." Elia says to him.

Nathalie tosses on the table, her hair now slightly inching into some strawberry shortcake and her hand spreading chocolate cake everywhere. When she awoke, she was still slightly dazed, and got carefully up from the table and walked slowly to the lobby, where she saw Rhyhorn coming down the stairs.

"What time is it...", she asked, rubbing her eyes with the cake-covered hand, "Is it morning? ..What's on my hand?"

Rhyhorn grumbles and nods to Elia, too tired and lazy to write anything on his chalkboard.  He walks up behind Nathalie and just flips her onto his back, too tired to deal with this shit, collecting her as if she were a part of ALL THE THINGS and bringing her back up the stairs, as slow as his previous two trips were.

"Whoo! Oh you're so rough sir knight!" she mumbles, caring not for the discomfort of the stony beast's hide, "You'll really marry me if I do that...?" Though, her hands did spread a cornucopia of dried desserts over Rhyhorn's backside.

Elia walks to the Innkeeper Lady and hands her her bowl. "Thank you." Elia says to the Lady, before walking off towards Yvonne. "How are you Madam?" Elia greets her.

   "Delightfully full, thanks fer askin..." Yvonne replies to Elia's question and pats her exposed midriff between the lily petals. "But I order'd this delectable ale, an' I don' intend ta leave 'ere 'til it's gone." She leans head first into the tankard again to refill her mug.

Rhyhorn continues scaling the stairs back to his room, too tired to acknowledge the drunken rambles of the fair lady upon his back nor realize the cake scattered over him.  He eventually reaches his room, and begins fiddling at the door with his mouth until it opens, entering and tossing Nathalie up onto the bed.  He then moves back to shut and lock the door before curling up on the floor to rest.

Elia laughs. Well in that case you must drink that ale up! Elia orders some chocolate. "I'll keep you company until you finish it up." Says Elia as Chocolate is handed to her. She snaps a piece of and eats it. "I forgot to tell you, but you probably figured out when I greeted you earlier. At the Mage's Guild I bought a Sylvan Pearl of Speech. I can speak and understand Sylvan as long as the pearl is melted in my mouth." She snaps another piece of chocolate off and eats it.

"THIS IS A BAR NOT A BROTHEL!" She shouts, spooning the pillow.

Rhyhorn sighs deeply, covering his ears with his front rocky hooves to try and drown out Nathalie's drunken shrieks.

   "<Congratulations.>" Yvonne says in Sylvan, draining half her mug. "<Guess I don' 'ave ta teach ya.>" Her pronunciation is as casual in the fey tongue as it is in Common.

"<Thank you. I quite like the language, probably because it's new.>" Elia pops more chocolate in her mouth. Her eyes lock on the ale. "<How does it taste?>"

   "<Bah, Sylvan's a soft language.>" Yvonne grumbles. "<Decent fer some spells, but not fer curses, ya know? Oh, an' the ale is most excellent, one might ev'n say... delectable...>" She stares at the bottom of her mug. "Speakin' of..." She glances down into the tankard and sees mostly suds. "Almos' ou..." a yawn interrupts the word. "t... The food's makin' me tired..."

Elia nods. "You look tired Madam. Bedtime?"

   "Yeah, I suppose..." Yvonne agrees half-heartedly. "Say, ya di'n' 'appen ta notice if they brought my clothes to the room yet, di'ja? I mean I'd love ta wear this ferever, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna wilt in a day or two. Sad really..." She shrugs and waves her mug around in an attempt to dry it before replacing it in her pack. "A'ight, I'm done." She places a silver coin on her tiny table. "Le's go."

Thinking back on what was in the room. "Actually, I do think I saw an assortment of tiny colourful pieces of something on the bed, that might be it." Elia waits as Yvonne cleans off her mug. When Yvonne says its time to go, Elia stands up. "Lets." She walks up the stairs with her, and into the bedroom. "Okay." Elia started. "There is one bed. How shall we go about this? I personally can sleep without a bed."

   Yvonne blinks, dumbstruck, at Elia. "Yer serious?" She finally asks, incredulously, after a moment. "You, a human-sized-human, woul' give up this whole, human-sized-bed to a widdle, pixie-sized-Lirai li' me?" She can't help but laugh. "There're plen'y a'o'er places one such as I c'n sleep." She drifts listlessly over to the mantle above the fireplace. "I'm fine 'ere. You c'n 'ave the bed, silly human." She chuckles again as she removes her favorite blanket from her pack and sets both upon the dark oak shelf. She pulls out her ponytail and sets the flowers beside it all. Finally, she lies down on the blanket, wraps it around herself, curls into a ball and uses the pack as pillow. "G'night, Elia..." she murmurs softly, already feeling sleep approaching fast.

She says nothing as Yvonne laughs at her. When Yvonne says goodnight, Elia walks over to the candle and blows it out. "Goodnight." She walks to the center of the room and sits down, with her legs crossed and her hands put together as if to pray, and she does. "Lord Odin, I your faithful follower wishes to your bending. Tell me what I must do." She whispers ever so quietly, before closing her eyes. After one hour, she stands up, undresses, and goes to bed.

Looks like you all had some fun while I was gone. Good RP. You've made your DM proud. I'll post something for the next morning once I wake up a bit more.

Just a quick note: I've removed the coin counts from your character sheets and put them in the post above with the Shop listings. Its easier for me to modify from there, so if you're looking for how much you've got to spend, that's where it went.

Rhyhorn awakens far earlier than the others, the sun barely rising in the sky.  After a night of fun, Rhyhorn quietly - or at least, as quietly as a pony-sized stone rhino can - exits his room and sets off from the Inn, leaving his cart behind safely in the stables near Lejun's.  It was going to be another busy day of errands, and he had an appointment at the Mage's Guild to keep as well.  As Rhyhorn walks through town, he expends a charge of his Healing Belt to repair some of the damage from the Fire Elemental battle the previous day.  [Take the average roll for this heal, please.]

 This condition report accounts for healing when sleeping. All characters have also recovered their spells/powers for the day.

   "It's time to get up! It's time to get up! It's time to get up in the morning!"  Yvonne chants happily, as she stuffs her blanket and normal clothes into her pack. "It's time to get up! It's time to get up! It's time to get up today!" Her flowers survived the night quite well so she once again ties up a ponytail with the lace and adorns it with the forget-me-nots. She continues to hum the military tune she heard at some point along her travels as she dons her pack and shoves the wands, keeping the magic missile one out to play with. This time, she is more mindful of its balance, or lack there of, and uses both hands so as to avoid a repeat of yesterday.

Elia awakes to the sound of a song. She sits up in bed and looks around the room. "Morning Madam. What might you be singing?" Elia greets and questions.

Rhyhorn, meanwhile, heads to the Trader's Guild once more, off to cash in the non-magical portion of the loot from the Orc battle for more gold or platinum to split among his adventuring buddies.  He knocks upon the door with his face once more, this time not needing the guards to watch his cart as he heads inside and lines up in the queue.

   Yvonne grins. "Oh, jus' a little ditty I learned back when I's enlisted with M.A.S.S. - the magic artillery and support squadron - in the Hartman military." She explains. "While there ain' any 'official' lyrics, the recruits woul' jus' make up differen' versions."

"Interesting, I never heard of this M.A.S.S." Elia gets out of bed, gets dressed, and puts her gear on.

   "Hawah?" Yvonne balks, "You ain' 'ever 'eard a' M.A.S.S.? Don' the militaries a' Sephyr 'ave M.A.S.S. divisions in their ranks?" the fire Lirai puts her hand to her chin. "This plane sure is in'erestin' ... I'm glad I came."

"To tell you the truth, I don't know much about the Military... I have always been focused on my priest duty."

   "Nothin' wrong with that." The fire Lirai tells the human. "Not everyone c'n be an offensive magical power'ouse li' me. An' there's always need fer good healin' skills, ya know. Those who reca'nize the hurt in others and 'eal 'em right up jus' li' new. Ev'ry adventurin' group needs a goo' 'ealer, ya know."

"I do suppose you are correct." Elia looks out the window. "Are we going to try to stay together for another job, or split up? I hope not the latter, its been a boring year since that indecent...."

   "I'unno'" Yvonne replies with a shrug. "Di'n' really think about it much, ya know. Some'un said yesterday somethin' 'bout a mercenary guild 'round these parts, so I was thinkin' 'bout meby getting' a contract there or somethin'. I's been fun 'angin' out with this lively bunch so i'd be a shame ta part ways so soon, but I guess wha'ever'll be will be, ya know. Fer now, I'ma gonna check wi' the innkeep ta see if Leaky snuck in some time durin' the night."

"Mercenary guild? I don't think I could give my blade or skill for hire." Elia says with doubt. "Check on Seap? Alright. I'm going to get breakfast, would you like me to order you anything while you are finding out about Seap?"

   "Pancakes!!!"

"Alright! I'll see to it that you get some pancakes." Elia leaves the room, and heads down stairs to order their food.

Meanwhile, Rhyhorn eventually reaches the front of the line in the Trader's Guild, pawning the non-magical part of the Orc loot for its value in munnies before heading off for the Mage's Guild.

   "Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes!" the flame fey chants as she makes her way down to the reception desk. "Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes!" She stops in front of the desk. "Hello!" she greets the man there. "Has Leak... I mean, a man by the name a' Seap checked in yet?" The innkeep checks the registry and shakes his head. "Huh..." Yvonne furrows her brow. "Meby 'e di'n' really want 'is pay, gotta better deal already." Her expression brightens. "Yeah, tha's gotta be it." With that, her concerns fade and her general happiness returns. "Pancakes!!!" she cries happily, flying toward the dining hall.

"How many pancakes?" "I don't know, let me see." Elia turns around to see Yvonne in the dining area already. "Madam, how many pancakes do you wish to have?"

   "Gimme a whole stacka' 'em!" the flame sprite declares, holding her hands wide. "And sausage! And an egg! And BACON!"

Elia turns back to the waiter. "There you have it." "Your order shall be done in 30 minutes max."

   "Bacon! Gotta get that bacon! Smoky bacon! Crispy bacon! Tasty bacon! Where is it? Where is the bacon? Yummy, crunchy, bacon! Bacon! Bacon!"

Finally arriving at the Mage's Guild, Rhyhorn hunts down a mage via chalkboard-speak to help him with his Armor Enchantment... a long, 8 hour process.  Yay.  The rhino hunkered down and did the best he could to control his shiny-ball syndrome as the mages began their work.

Here you go, enjoy your food. Says the Waitress, as she hands the plates of food to the two. Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs, Sausage, Waffles, and fruit lay on the table in front of them now. Elia grabs the waffles, smears butter on them and pours syrup on them, before begining the nom-age.

Nathalie rolls out of bed, teases her hair around but it looks more like a stylistic, wild look (which of course lead her to give up), and stumbles downstairs, clutching whatever would keep her upright while she got to level ground. She wandered around for a bit before seeing Elia and Yvonne ordering food. Rubbing her head, she makes her way to the front desk and mumbles out what hopefully was heard as a "greasy breakfast," and went to sit down in the dining area to see the sprite and the priestess.

"Oh hello there.." She said, her voice dry and scratchy.

"You sound like you need water. But you look like you need coffee." Elia says to Nathalie. Then continues to nom the waffles.

"Coffee..ce n'est pas mon truc," She babbles, walking over to sit down with them, her hands rubbing her forehead intently as she looks longingly at the pitcher of water on the table, "I only need water."

   "Hello, Nathalie!" Yvonne greets the human rogue after swallowing and before shoving another forkful of delicious pancake into her mouth. "Try the pancakes! They're good enough ta make Jakar cry!"

"Jakar?"

   "By Karla's balance, ya know, I'd'a' thou' a priest woul' know the local pantheon." Yvonne says before biting into a juicy slice of bacon. "I ain' even from this plane an' I know 'bout Jakar, the deity of famine."

"Pancakes are too dry. I much prefer greasy eggs and bacon," She explains, smelling her food and it being set at her front, "And now, I eat." Nathalie digs in, and her headache seemed to go away and be replaced with an unsettling log in her stomach.

   "It's bacon!" Yvonne proclaims proudly. "I love bacon!" She looks up at the server who had brought the bacon earlier. "I love you!" she says happily. "I love bacon! I love you! I love bacon!"

"Oh! Jakar! Sorry this waffles seem to be too strong to think around. Must eat them." says Elia, before filling her face with waffle.

          The front door to the inn opens, filling the room with early morning sunlight and outlining a tall, thin figure in the doorframe with an aura that nearly seems to sparkle. As he enters and the door closes behind him - for it is most certainly a him, standing at over six feet in height with a very wiry build - you momentarily think he is human until you notice why he appeared to sparkle; its because he in fact was. The newcomer is a maenad, roughly humanoid in appearance but differing by having naturally occurring flecks of psicrystal - a kind of amplifying material for psionic powers - growing in their bodies and noticeably visible in the skin.
         He scans the room for a bit, as if looking for someone or something specific, giving you time to look him over while his eyes adjust to the dimmer light of the common room. He has long, dark brown hair tied back in a series of tight braids and his eyes are nearly the same hue. His slightly tanned skin would make him almost completely non-descript if it didn't glitter in bright light.
         After a long moment, his eyes alight on your table and he begins to approach with a brisk pace that seems to exude efficiency and self-control. He stops about three paces away from the table, waiting for a pause in the chatter between you all before he clears his throat and bows his head just a tiny bit. "Excuse me, ladies. My name is Xavier Charsson. I apologize for interrupting your breakfast, but there is a matter upon on which I should like to speak with you about and with due haste. May I have a seat?" His gaze rests on each of you for a brief moment as he speaks, his voice nearly monotone but not unpleasant.

"Oh? Someone with manners, please take a seat. We shall gladly hear you out Sir Xavier."

   "Hello, Mr. Xavier!" Yvonne says, not pausing her meal. "Try the pancakes! And the bacon!"

"Yeah." Nathalie agreed, as she still devoured her breakfast.

          He nods and the hint of a smile comes to his face. "Thank you. I will have to decline the offer of food though as I've already broken my fast this morning." Xavier pulls out a chair and seats himself with a certain dignity and grace that seems at odds with his rough-looking traveling clothes. He once again meets each of you with a measured look before he continues speaking. "Forgive me for dismissing with the pleasantries, but I'm looking to secure assistance quickly and if it turns out that you cannot help me then I must be on my way. I represent a master artificer in magical wares who has had some few of the magical apparatuses required for his research stolen by a pair of lowly thieves. I have been tracking them across the kingdoms now for a few months, recovering the various apparatuses they have sold to fund their travels, but it seems they have gone to ground somewhere nearby." He opens a satchel hanging at his side and produces a pair of sketches, both of remarkably lifelike quality, each depicting a Goblin  - one male, one female - but neither looking particularly familiar to you.
         After letting you look over the sketches for a minute, Xavier continues, "My dilemma is a simple one. I believe they have reached their destination nearby to this city. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of what to expect there or even if they have other allies at their home. I'm looking to hire some brave souls to infiltrate their headquarters and recover the last few objects of value to my master. I was present yesterday at the Mages' Guild when that fire elemental began to wreak havoc and I was quite impressed with the skill your group displayed in banishing the beast. My hope is that the compensation offered for this venture will be adequate to secure your services and those of your allies to aid me in my goals. If not, I do have other prospective contacts to meet with, but I don't feel nearly as confident in their teamwork as I do after the display I witnesses yesterday."

   "Sounds like fun. I'm in!" Yvonne says without hesitation.

"I'd like to see some coin first before I start risking my life playing fetch-a-goblin," Nathalie quipped, eating her meal and taking a hearty sip of water, "Tracking these little mooks would be no problem, though, sir." Nathalie smiled and twirled her fork on the plate, waiting for the man to respond in kind with a favorable offer.

Elia smiles. "Well then crew, it appears as though we don't have to part ways so soon after all. I will for sure take you up on your offer. Although three members of are team are not here to answer you."

"HAIL AND HONOR" Hogarth yells, forgetting her inside-voice, as she approaches, looking much like she just rolled out of bed which in fact she did. "Goblins, eh? Sounds like fun after dealing with those damned mages." It appears Hogarth missed half the conversation (or heard what she wanted to hear(killing goblins)) and doesn't notice that the man seated is SPARKLING. Slamming her fist upon the table, she puts on a huge toothy grin. "When do we eat? WHEN DO WE FIGHT."

   "Hello, Hogarth!" Yvonne calls to the barbarian woman. "Try the pancakes! And the bacon!"

"Roughly ten minutes ago," She said, sipping her water.

"Pardon my, friend, she has no manners what so ever."

          Xavier nods as you all speak, then looks at Nathalie, his gaze piercing and cold. "I can understand your skepticism and I, of course, would be willing to offer some payment up front as a deposit to secure your agreement if necessary." His eyes dart to Elia and he continues, "If need be I will wait for your allies to return and ask them each as well but I was hoping that perhaps you could endeavor to persuade them on my behalf. I have other interested to attend to in addition to this and my time is short."
         As Hogarth approaches and joins the others at the table, the maenad seems completely unaffected by her voice or demeanor, commenting simply, "That solves the issue of finding one of your allies at very least." Once again, that brief, almost undetectable smile curls Xavier's mouth just the tiniest bit.

Ignoring Elia, Hogarth greets Nathalie and Yvonne. "Glory to you, friend Nathalie and Yvonne." She grabs a few pieces of bacon and a pinch of eggs off Nathalie's plate. She narrows her eyes at the glittering guy, before shrugging and going to put in a proper order of sausage, sausage, bacon, eggs, sausage, bacon and sausage and a pot of coffee.

"Matters to attend to? In that case I'll gladly persuade them to join us."

"Yes, we'll find our other companions," Nathalie agrees, her eyes transfixed on Xavier, "Wouldn't want to have all of us tripped up by a couple of petty goblins stealing the best of goods."

"Why are we still talking about this. What more do you need? There are GOBLINS and we MUST KILL THEM. Seems simple to me." Hogarth ignores the silverware provided with the plate and grabs indiscriminate handfuls of food, shoving it in her mouth and speaking between and during bites. The coffee is taken black.

   "Ooooo... I knew I fergot something'" Yvonne says eyeing Hogarth's coffee. She hefts a mug over and pours the steaming liquid in, her arms barely making it around the handle of the pot. "It looks good 'nough ta bathe in..." she comments, dunking her own mug in and draining it quickly.

          "Your enthusiasm is quite refreshing, though I will note that I'm not asking you to kill anyone. Admittedly though, I won't lose any sleep over it should matters come to that end." Once again, Xavier reaches into his satchel and produces more sketches for you to look over, this time of various objects on strange design. "Here are some schematics of the few apparatuses I have yet to reclaim. I will leave these copies with you as well as those pictures of the thieves. You'll forgive me if I can be only so generous with an advance payment, but my master - and by the extension of his will, myself as well - are interested in paying only for results and not for attempts. I would be willing to give you a hundred gold pieces as a gesture of good faith for accepting my request. Should you recover any or all of the apparatuses, I am willing to pay you one thousand gold coins to each of you, per object recovered. As I said, these are considered to be of great value to my master and their recovery, intact preferably, is of the utmost importance."
          Looking over the sheets, you can count that there are only four of the magical creations to find. The notes detail them as follows: a staff made of blue-tinted ceramic, about 4 and a half feet long with a clear, sharp-edged crystal set into one end of it; a glass globe that glows blue-green and appears to contain a swirling mist. Its about the size of a small melon; a silver astrolabe with irregular crystals set into its surface, about the size of a dinner plate; and finally, a wooden statuette of a soldier with posable joints and a small steel spear held in one hand. It is roughly 12 inches tall.

Continuing her trend of ignoring that which she doesn't want to see or hear, Hogarth eagerly accepts the job. "Aye, stranger, you have a deal. We will get these things and deal with the dishonorable thieves!" She rattles her pelt and axe-belt in confirmation.

"Anything extra we should know about these thieves?" Nathalie asked, examining the sketches of the goblins, "I'd rather not go in blind."

          Xavier frowns slightly, the tone of his voice dropping a bit as he speaks. "I suppose that depends on how much you know about goblins. They can be a nasty, foul lot, making their homes in caves and warrens unfit for civilized creatures. They are cruel, ruthless and gather in great numbers because they mate and reproduce in such a way that would embarrass a rabbit." With a slight shake of the head, his previous calm overcomes him and he continues. "I've located what I believe to be where they have gone into hiding. It is a cave in the marshes West and South from here, maybe two days travel on foot." As he says this, Xavier reaches into the satchel once more and pulls out a map that is far too large to possibly fit inside the container. He unrolls a portion of it and you can see notations pointing out the location of the marsh cave in relation to Tevinar. "While I wish I could part with this map to aid you, I'm afraid I cannot. You are welcome to study it and make your own copies as necessary though. Also, I do have this which I can loan you to aid in your quest." Once more he reaches into the very-probably magic satchel and produces a fine bone wand, looking to Yvonne as he places it on the table. "I believe your talents will be sufficient in making use of this tool. I will require it back after you've completed the task at hand, though. I will instruct you on its use before I take my leave."

Elia asks the Innkeeper lady for Paper and charcoal. Elia begins drawing a copy of the map.

"Somebody draw this! I have the artistic genius of a mentally deranged ogre," She ordered, trying to memorize the map as it were anyways, "Well, at least there will be plenty of goblins to see and 'befriend' along the way." Nathalie cracked the knuckles in her hands and stood up from the table, pleating out her clothes as if to fix them.

"If anyone knows where Rhy is, I'll be glad to pick him up," She explained, "I need a more suitable outfit than this as well.."

   "Pretty..." Yvonne says, mesmerized by the wand before her. "Wha'sit do?"

"I think he left to do errands." replies Elia, trying to focus on what she is drawing.

"Oh that reminds me!" She shouted, returning to the table to find many empty plates, "Where..did I eat ALL of that?" Nathalie stood with a gaping mouth for a few moments before walking away and shaking her head in disbelief. She walked out to the lobby of the inn, wondering where Rhyhorn was. She remembered something about the mage guild, so decided that was as good a place as any to start.

"See you all tonight!" She called, and was never seen of againand walked gingerly out of the door to the mage guild. When she was looking around, nothing seemed to jog her memory until she came across a man talking about his armor being enchanted. With that, Nathalie rushed over to wherever that happens.

It took her a few minutes.

"Just let me know when Rhyhorn says he'll do it. I'll be at the marketplace, for I have business to attend to." This time, it totally is not to buy apples to throw at things. Hogarth is paranoid that the fruit merchant is on to her. No, this time she seeks weapons and items.

          Xavier takes a few moments to instruct Yvonne on how to make use of the Wand of Locate Object, finally warning that its power would not last forever and that she should use it sparingly. He also hands over a small pouch of coins, presumably containing the previously mentioned 100gp. "You all have my thanks for accepting this job. I shall check back here each day for word of your return and in hopes of a positive result. I wish you luck and speed in your endeavors."

Elia hands Xavier the original copy of the map that she copied. "And if we were all to have our answers before then, where could we meet you, if at all?"

   Yvonne accepts the pouch and drops an inch from where she was hovering. "Vendrid's wrath, why don' people use platinum more often?"

"If its too much for you, I'll carry it."

          "Sadly, my work will be taking me frequently out of the city and back again and I don't know when I will be available, nor where I will be staying on any given night. Just be certain that I will do my best to check back here. Now, if you'll excuse me," he stands up and re-rolls the map scroll, sliding it back into his satchel, "I really must be off."

Hogarth, meanwhile, finds she has all she needs. Nothing matches the greatness of her greatnessaxe. She plods along, noticing the fruit vendor giving her the Evil Eye, and she hurries past and finds a different cart to buy vegetables from. She hands the vendor 1 gold for an armful of tomatoes, which she carefully puts in her sack. Rather than repeat her offense against the mage's guild, she decides to head towards the chapel district to throw them at places which refuse to honor her confusing amount of gods.

   "I like that Mr. Xavier guy." Yvonne says, stowing her magic missile wand and playing with her new bone wand instead.

"I do too. Its refreshing to see one who hasn't forgotten what manners are."

   "Le's go get Rhyhorn an' Xun and get goin'!" Yvonne bounces in the air excitedly. "Those treasures mus' be magical if they're worth tha' much, I gotta see 'em!" Without waiting for reply or consent, she drops a silver coin on the table before flying off to find Rhyhorn.

Elia laughs. "Indeed. But Nathalie went to go find Rhyhorn, so that leaves Xun." She stops to ponder for a second. "You know, I do not believe I saw him come to the Inn after the Mage Guild..."

Rhyhorn, meanwhile, grumbles and runs his front hooves along the floor, bored out of his stone rhino skull.  He eventually pulls out the one item that the mages had Identified for him - the studded leather gauntlets - and eyes them.  Slowly, he slips a front hoof into the gauntlet's opening and it quickly changes shape, becoming fitted for stone-rhino-hooves and latching comfortably onto his front hoof!  He quickly repeats this with the other gauntlet and begins staring at the magical items with wonderment.

   Yvonne hums a random tune to herself as she darts around, fully intending to catch up to Nathalie and following her to Rhyhorn. But then, "Samson!" she cries joyously. "What'er you doin' 'ere?"
   The old, human man with stares up at the hyper pixie with unfocused eyes, but says nothing.
   "Are you stalkin' me?" Yvonne continues. "'Cause tha'd be hilarious."
   Samson grunts.
   "Well, lead the way then!"
   The drunkard nods and continues on his staggering path towards a local bar while the little sorceress begins telling him about her adventures. When the pair make it to the bar, the human takes a stool while the the fire Lirai sits nearby on the edge of the bar.   
   Yvonne tosses a gold on the counter. "Coffee fer me, beer fer 'im. she tells the barmaid. "An' keep 'em commin'" She turns back to Samson. "So, as I was sayin'..."

"Rhyhorn! Thera ya are!" She shouted, seeing him clank around the mage guild, "What are you doing?"

Arriving in the temple district, Hogarth looks around for the fanciest temple she could find. She figures since she can't read which temple it is anyways, find the fanciest one and tomato THAT one. She finds a place to lean and sit, and begins her idle barrage.

Rhyhorn perks up, glad for some comp'ny, and pulls out his chalkboard.  "Getting enchanted.  Take long time still."  Rhyhorn replies, before turning back to what he was doing previously - taking one of the magic leather gauntlets on and off his front hoof, though the wonderment of its constant shape-changing is dying down for the bored-as-derp rhino.

"Oh. Well that's boring," She says, "Some sparkling fellow gave us a job and we're to retrieve from stolen objects from some goblins. Bunch 'o magical items. The guy creeps me out, though."

Nathalie pats Rhy on the head and then goes to leave the store, "In the meantime, I'll go around town. I'll have to occupy my time somehow."

Rhyhorn sighs and attempts to wave goodbye to his friend with his gauntlet-gloved hoof, only to get yelled at by the mage to stop moving so goddamn much.  Rhyhorn sulks, sitting back on his stomach and hoping this guy would hurry it up already, mulling over the tidbits Nathalie gave him of their new job offer.

   "An' so I tol' 'im, it was 'is choice." Yvonne says as the several drunks around her await the conclusion.
   After several moments, one of the less sober ones asks, "Sho washy deshide?"
   The fire Lirai holds her arms up in a W. "Ain' it obvious? I'm 'ere, ain' I?"
   After another pause, one could almost hear the collective click in their booze-hazed minds. The riotous laughter that follows attracts a few other drunks.
   "How we doin'?" Yvonne asks the barmaid that comes to clear empty mugs. "Takin' int' account yer tip acourse."
   "Well..." The young woman starts.
   The tiny sprite interupts her by setting two more gold on the bar. "A round fer my new friends."
   This act causes a cheer to rise from the gathered men and women.
   "Tell ushnosher un..." A glassy eyed gnome slurs.
   Yvonne grins. "Well, this one time, at band camp..."

Just a reminder for everyone - the Scene is going to end in about 9 hours or so. Try to have all your shopping done by then as we'll be moving onto the next segment of the game.

Rhyhorn, after many, many hours of absolutely appauling boredom, heads back to the Inn, his armor now finely enchanted by the Mages at the Mage's Guild, thankful he left as early as he did so that he could head back before nightfall.

Having used up all the tomatoes, Hogarth remains utterly unsatisfied. She's just plain bored. Frustrated, she storms away. She doesn't even have the heart to punch anything. She waits in a tavern near the inn, drinking ale and sneering at mages.

Rhyhorn pokes into the Inn, looking for his companions.  He decides to relax in the dining area, seeing everyone is still out, and lays on the floor in a corner of the Inn's main room, sipping down some ale and expending the second charge of his Healing Belt to repair his now-enchanted hide some more.  (Use the average roll for this heal please.)  Once the ale is drained, Rhyhorn begins bouncing the cup back and forth between his now-gauntleted front hooves.

Elia has been sitting in the Inn drawing, writing, and drinking tea.

   "... and whistled for a baboon." Yvonne completes yet another long-winded tale of epic adventures long since passed. Her audience by now is practically the entire bar and they clamor for more at the end of each tale. She revels in the limelight like the patrons enjoy their ale and whiskey. She graciously accepts offers of food and beer while happily reciprocating, not caring how much she spends. "Now, lemme tell ya 'bout the time my cousin an' I were in Nimiu..."

   A while later...
   "Is that the time?!" Yvonne physically recoils in surprise when she notices the hands on the water clock behind the bar. "Is that really how long I've been here?" she thinks to herself. "Sorry guys, I gottan early mornin' ahead a' me and I ain' even bathed today..."
   "One more!" a voice calls from the croud.
   Yvonne sighs "Alright, fine, ya' talked me inta it..." and tells the story of the forbidden love between a balor and a celestial charger, even providing details about the offspring.
   After settling her bill and excusing herself as politely as possible, she sets off back towards the Silver Coin. Not far from the door, she comes across Hogarth, also returning for the evening. "Hello, Hogarth!" she greets the barbarian elf warmly before cocking her head to the side like a bird. "Ya know, those burn marks jus' ain' goin' away, are they? Does 'ealin' magic not 'eal 'em good 'nuff?" She glances off to her side. "Oh, hello, Elia!" the fire pixie greets the human healer.

"HAIL AND HONOR, friend Yvonne! The burn marks stay, as I cannot use magic myself, and I am deemed healthy enough, it seems." The berserker's face darkens at this statement, fists clenched slightly. "But enough of that! Let us go back to the inn and talk about how to best kill the goblins. I'm partial to chopping them apart, myself."

   "I'ma fan a' flambé, myself."

Not wanting to shout across the Inn, Elia waves at Yvonne. She stands up and walks to the baths.

"But first, go on without me, friend Yvonne. These burns hurt more than any cut, and I need potion to heal, else I won't be at my best to do my job." The barbarian stomps off, so pissed she forgets to scream and yell and make up gods, angry she has to march back across town to purchase a Cure Light Wounds potion.

Rhyhorn lets out a roar to stop Hogarth from leaving, letting out a heavy sigh and rhino-galloping toward her, disappointed that the priestess left to bathe instead of tending to the Barbarian.  He moves over to Hogarth and expends his last use of his Healing Belt to cure her wounds.  (Take the average roll for this healing, please.)

Hogarth is surprised at first, something rare to see in a barbarian berserker, and stoops down to give the stone rhino a tight hug, and a slap on the back. "Friend Rhyhorn, you are a true warrior! Allow the orcs to pay you double for two days to carry my pack." Hogarth flips a full gold coin onto Rhyhorn's back, proving once and for all she knows nothing of mathematics.

   Yvonne watches from the doorway and crosses her arms. "Hmph..." she huffs "Why d' warriors always gotta ignore their wounds? Wha's wrong with jus' admit'n' yer hurt? Yer jus' gonna get yerself killed with tha' mentality."

Rhyhorn says nothing of the Barbarian's poor mathematics, her payment more than adequate enough, just happy to see her rage quelled.  He then takes his way up the stairs, skipping the bath today to get a nice long nap before the work begins once more on the following day.

   "G'night Rhyhorn! Sleep tight! Don' let the pyrebugs bite!"

"Friend Yvonne, this is why you will often find warriors traveling with healers. The comradery, the trust, two people working together to TOPPLE ALL THOSE BEFORE THEM! It's not a warrior's way to admit weakness, just as it is not a wizard's way to stay and fight with their hands, with HONOR AND GLORY" she bellows, throwing her head back and balling up fists.

   Yvonne sighs and uncrosses her arms. "Jus' don' go dyin' on us, alright?"

"Fear not, small one. I am a mere 134 years old! I have too many things to kill and do before I am sent to my eternal glory."

---

---

Since I've got it ready, we'll be jumping right into the next part now.

          After another night at the Silver Coin, you ready yourselves for the travel into the Verunian Marshlands. Your first day of overland travel is slowed a bit by uneven terrain and more than a few soggy points in the landscape, but you manage to press on without incident. However, the morning of the second day dawns grey, windy and cold as a storm blows in from the very direction you are headed in, slowing your progress significantly. You press on past dusk - as the sun is setting earlier each night and your party isn't quite tired enough to stop - looking for a place to set up camp. As you break free of a heavily wooded section of the marshes, thinking you've come upon a suitable clearing to make camp, you hear something come whistling through the air in your direction. Suddenly, embedded not more than a couple feet in front of you is a crude javelin stuck in the soft earth.
         You pull up short beside some thick bushes beset with vines but realize too late that you've happened upon the goblins (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG133.jpg)' camp! From just to the North of you comes angry, high-pitched shouting in Goblin. There in the shadows you can see a small group of goblins brandishing ugly-looking morningstars and pointing in your direction. It seems the battle is on!

---

---

Objective: Reach the cave mouth and get inside! (marked by the X on the map.)
Bonus Objective: "It is a secret to everybody!" (Will be revealed at the end of the battle.)
Weather: After dusk, dark and cloudy.
Terrain: Varied.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane03-01th-1.png) (http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/3382/battlepane0301.png)

Terrain Notes: You can't see over those big hedges, nor are they passable unless you want to spend an entire Turn hacking your way through one. The rock piles are passable, if slowly (or you can try to leap over them) but they will grant the goblins Cover (Defense Bonus) if you try to attack them from the opposite side of them. To pass safely over the logs crossing the river you must dedicate a whole Action to that movement or else face an Athletics check to not fall into the water. The   fall isn't far but the water is cold and it will penalize you for the remainder of the battle.

Lightning Notes: Rhyhorn, Elia, Nathalie and Xun can only see clearly in the brightest circle of light around Rhyhorn. (To my knowledge, no one else is carrying a light source. Feel free to correct me on this if you are.) Yvonne and Hogarth have low-light vision and can see normally to the edges of the greyed out circle. Anything in the darkest area can't be seen by anyone in the party. Trying to attack at range into the darkness (that joke is going to come up again this battle, isn't it?) will inflict penalties to your attacks.

Knowledge Check: Goblins have Darkvision! This means that they can see through that darkest area on the map so beware attacks from the shadows!

Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Saturday, Nov. 26th, 4am EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.

Seeing two goblins out in the darkness, Hogarth speeds silently between the large hedge and the rockpile, whipping out her greatnessaxe (Action 1) and bearing it around on Goblin 2 (Action 2). Seeing Goblin 1, she throws two of her throwing axes at it to prevent it from rushing her. (Actions 3 and 4)

(OOC NOTE TO EVERYONE:  Our light source is the pair of Everburning Torches I have strapped to Rhyhorn's body, if anyone forgot, so our light source is going to move as I move around the map.  Be prepared to compensate for this as you plan your turns, or pull out some form of light source of your own if needed.)

Rhyhorn rears up, pulling a Greatsword from his back (1) and into his mouth, carefully but hurriedly moving to the Goblin directly in front of him (I17), using a Roar and bringing down his Horn Attack on the Goblin. (3, Focus lost.)  Then, if the Goblin lives, Rhyhorn takes a swing at it with his mouth-held Greatsword.  If another Goblin approaches Rhyhorn for melee combat and the first Goblin is dead, Rhyhorn attacks that Goblin with his Greatsword instead.  If no Goblins are in Rhyhorn's melee range, Rhyhorn takes the time to Regain his Focus.  (4)

Action 1) Draw my Greatsword.
Action 2) Move to I17.
Action 3) Use a Roar-boosted Horn Attack on Goblin 5.
Action 4-A) Use a melee attack on Goblin 5 with my Greatsword.
Action 4-B) Use a melee attack on a different offending Goblin with my Greatsword.
Action 4-C) Concentrate to Regain my Focus.

   "Watch out!" Yvonne calls and points out the locations of several goblins attempting to hide just outside the brightest light of Rhyhorn's torches. She knows the humans cannot see as well as her or the elf, but is not sure about the rhino. (1) "Sentry mode: Activated." She raises her arm and four will-o'-wisp-like lights blink into existence near one of the goblins. (2, 3) "Hello, friend..." she coos as she ascends. (4) Upon reaching her desired altitude, she quickly prepares her favorite opening spell, holding it at ready in one hand as she makes a sweeping motion with her hand. The lights below obey her command and move.

Actions
1: Cast Dancing Lights over Goblin 5.
2, 3: Fly strait up 12 panels.
4a: Scan current, visible, live targets. If any has an obvious means of ranged combat, skip to step 4c.
4b: Move Dancing Lights in an 'arcing' path to I15, J14, J13, L11, N11, N8, J8, I9.  If any new goblins are discovered, hold lights and skip to step 4c.
4c: say "Target acquired." and cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt, favoring a target with prepared ranged attack. If target is still alive, hold lights and end turn. If target is dead, continue path.
4d: Scan current, visible, live targets. If any has an obvious means of ranged combat, return to step 4c. If all current, visible targets are dead, and Kelgor's Fire Bolt has not been cast, say "Target lost."

QuoteBefore casting Kelgore's Fire Bolt, say: "Target aquired." If Kelgore's Fire Bolt is not cast, say "Target lost." at end of turn.

You are fucking insane.

Quote from: Celdia on November 24, 2011, 03:49:35 pm
You are fucking insane.

((I'm strangely comfortable with it...))

Quote from: CeldiaClick (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/quotes?qt=qt0373595).

((I edited my post, so hopefully it makes a *bit* more sense, even if it is still less-than-sane...))

"I may know their language, but goblins are vile creatures..." She murmured, hopping onto the edge of Rhyhorn's cart and sitting on the edge, with both access to her chest and the ability to be mobile and shoot incoming goblins. She sits on the edge, her legs hanging off the back and her arms gripped tightly to the crossbow, ready for any imminent danger.

Action 1) Hop on to the cart.
Action 2) Hold action, and fire on any incoming goblins that may come into range.
Action 3) Same as Action 2.
Action 4) Same as Action 2. If enemy dies, "reload" crossbow ammo by dipping into the chest.

((Tired sorry for the bad turn))

Elia casts resistance on herself, ¹⁾ and follows Rhyhorn, but stops following a little ways off. ²⁾

1) Cast Resistance on Elia
2) Move to K17
3a) If goblin there, punch
3b) If any nearby friends need heal get to them and try to heal
3c) If none of those, move up 2 (K15)
4a) If goblin there, punch
4b) If any nearby friends need heal get to them and try to heal
4c) If none of those then hold position

---

---

---

---

         "Watch out!" Yvonne calls in alert, directing everyone's attention to the goblins in the shadows at the edge of the torchlight. "Sentry mode: Activated." she intones gravely, gesturing with practiced motions and causing a small group of magical lights to manifest beyond the stone rhino and over the head of one of the goblins. One her spell is firmly established, she ascends quickly to get a better view of the surrounding area.
         Rhyhorn, seeing his target clearly illuminated, reaches back and draws a greatsword from its sheath with his mouth while Nathalie vaults into the back of the cart with ALL THE THINGS, readying her crossbow as they trundle on ahead towards the goblin. "I may know their language, but goblins are vile creatures..." she says with appropriate disdain. Further in the distance, more of the foul goblinoids appear from beyond the thick hedges, javelins in hand. A pair of them cast the projectiles high, one going wide and getting stick in the ground, but the other grazing Nathalie and drawing blood. She raises her crossbow to return fire but the shot fall short, burying the heavy bolt into the ground. She quickly reloads as Rhyhorn slowly closes the distance between them. Further behind, Elia pauses long enough to place a protective ward upon herself and slowly follows behind the cart, ready to aid her allies.
         As the stone rhino reaches his destination, the goblin crouched behind the small rock pile lunges forward with his crude morningstar, but the weapon bounces off the stone beast's hide ineffectually. In response, Rhyhorn emits an terrifying roar without ever loosing the blade from his jaw, swinging it around in an awkward arc that completely catches the goblin off-guard, severing its torso in half from waist to shoulder while completely destroying its armor in the process. Behind him, steady in the now still cart, Nathalie fires another bolt at a distant goblin trying to hide behind another rock pile, but the bolt smashes on the rock. Frustrated, she reloads the weapon with swift fingers and takes aim once more. This time her shot rings true and catches the goblin dead in the throat, causing it to pitch backwards violently, leaving it on the ground as still as a stone. A gentle glow of light from beside her and an easing of pain alerts her that Elia is channeling some gentle healing power into the wound left by the goblin's javelin. After the healing power has finished knitting the wound closed, Elia moves North between the thick plant-life, seeking more enemies. However, to her misfortune, she happens upon one. A goblin, hiding beneath the foliage of the hedge slashes wildly at her legs and strikes soundly, wounding the priestess deeply.
         Meanwhile, Hogarth has charged North and into the shadows while Rhyhorn and company moved away to the West. Drawing her heavy axe, she dashes forward and attempts to rend limbs from body on the closest goblin she could see. In the midst of her charge, from beyond her target, comes a well-placed javelin throw that strikes and tears her flesh. Closing with the small, beastly creature, she brings her axe down with tremendous force only to find her target has dodged nimbly aside and is swinging his own spiked weapon at her, but failing to penetrate the hides she wears. Now finding herself in nearly full-dark, she hears more goblins approaching from all sides. Raising her axe again, she swings and fells the goblin before her as three more close in to take its place, swarming around her. The small goblinoids quickly begin to pound on her with their morningstars, each swing drawing more blood from her as the jagged spikes pierce her muscled flesh. The darkness around her does little to aid her own offense and she swings at the small crowd of goblins but strikes only air. From the West, the magical lights conjured by Yvonne slowly sweep into the area, revealing her opponents more clearly, but far too late as the damage has already been done. From above, Yvonne can be heard musing to herself, "Hello, friend..." as her gaze alights on a still-distant goblin from where the barbarian is caught in a savage melee. "Target acquired." says the pixie as with a sweep of her hand, a blazing bolt of flame soars towards the earth and incinerates a goblin who stood beside a bush with a javelin in its hand, poised to throw. Both the goblin and the javelin fall lifelessly to the ground. However, just beyond that one, standing on a high rise of dirt, yet another goblin is lofting a javelin towards Hogarth, but the projectile gets caught uselessly in the shrubbery between it and its target.
         Xun, on the other hand, finds himself contemplating the value of pacifism, and is left in the darkness. He is likely to be eaten by a grue.


Objective: Reach the cave mouth and get inside! (marked by the X on the map.)
Bonus Objective: "It is a secret to everybody!" (Will be revealed at the end of the battle.)
Weather: After dusk, dark and cloudy.
Terrain: Varied.

(http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/4182/battlepane0302th.png) (http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8246/battlepane0302.png)

Terrain Notes: You can't see over those big hedges, nor are they passable unless you want to spend an entire Turn hacking your way through one. The rock piles are passable, if slowly (or you can try to leap over them) but they will grant the goblins Cover (Defense Bonus) if you try to attack them from the opposite side of them. To pass safely over the logs crossing the river you must dedicate a whole Action to that movement or else face an Athletics check to not fall into the water. The   fall isn't far but the water is cold and it will penalize you for the remainder of the battle.

Lightning Notes: Rhyhorn, Elia, Nathalie and Xun can only see clearly in the brightest circle of light around Rhyhorn. (To my knowledge, no one else is carrying a light source. Feel free to correct me on this if you are.) Yvonne and Hogarth have low-light vision and can see normally to the edges of the greyed out circle. Anything in the darkest area can't be seen by anyone in the party. Trying to attack at range into the darkness (that joke is going to come up again this battle, isn't it?) will inflict penalties to your attacks.

Knowledge Check: Goblins have Darkvision! This means that they can see through that darkest area on the map so beware attacks from the shadows!

Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Monday, Nov. 28th, 6am EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.



~Powers Expended this Turn~
Rhyhorn: Roar (Lost Focus, Failed to regain focus)
Elia: Resistance, Cure Minor Wounds
Yvonne: Dancing Lights, Kelgore's Fire Bolt

Unable to back up due to his cart, Rhyhorn instead continues upon his Greatsword warpath, bringing it down on the Goblin directly in front of him until it's no longer a threat before turning his attention to the other assailing Goblin and doing the same.  Once both Goblins are defeated, Rhyhorn moves forward and begins rounding the corner toward the log slowly, his cart going ba-bump as it drives over one of the defeated Goblins.  Assuming no other Goblins attempt to attack the rhino, he waits directly in front of the log, not wanting to attempt to cross it while his cart is hitched to him with clearly visible Goblin(s) on the other side.

Action 1) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) Goblin 10.
Action 2-A) If Goblin 10 yet lives, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) Goblin 10.
Action 2-B) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) Goblin 8.
Action 3-A) If either Goblin lives, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif), prioritizing Goblin 10.
Action 3-B) If any other Goblins run up, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif).
Action 3-C) Move to D12.
Action 4-A) If any Goblins are in melee range, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif).
Action 4-B) If Movement to D12 has not begun, Move to D12.
Action 4-C) Regain Focus.

Note: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif) = Greatsword attack.

Elia shrieks in pain from the wound, but forces her mind to put the pain aside, so she may focus at the matter at hand. She turns to the goblin to greet him with a fist to the face. ¹⁾ The she pulls her left fist up, cutting it square in the jaw. ²⁾

1) Punch Lethal Damage to Goblin 17
2) Punch Lethal Damage to Goblin 17
3a) If Goblin 17 is still alive, awake, or able to attack. Keep Punching it.
3b) If Goblin 17 is dead, knocked out, or unable to attack. Move to Q14, going back the way she came.
4a) If ^3a) was followed, and Goblin 17 is dead, knocked out, or unable to attack. Follow step ^3b).
4b) If ^3a) was followed, and the Goblin 17 is alive, awake, or able to attack. Punch it more!
4c) If at Q14: Cast Cure Light Wounds on Hogarth

Xun moves swiftly through the darkness, taking on how his allies have handled the initial stage of the skirmish.  Sword in hand, he steps up beside Hogarth (1,2) and unleashes a flurry of cuts at one of the goblins (3) before turning and drawing a swift series of lines on Hogarth's armor with an ink-stained finger. (4)

1,2) Move to r13, enter protective stance.
3) attack goblin 12 with Word of Binding, Defense bonus to Hogarth if it hits
4) Rune of Mending on Hogarth

Nathalie cheers at the sight of felling a goblin right in the throat, and hisses "Suciedad! Voy a matar a todos los cerdos que resoplar!" in their own language. Riding on the adrenaline rush, and on Rhyhorn's cart, Nathalie sets her sights across the river and readies her crossbow, itching for the chance to empty four bolts right in the necks of goblins.

Action 1) Hold action; shoot goblins in range.
Action 2) Same as above.
Action 3) Same as above.
Action 4) Same as above.


((Note: the Spanish up there means "Filth! I'll kill all of you snorting hogs!"))

Blood dripping from her wounds, Hogarth clenches her teeth and hisses between them. Suddenly, the area grows light again, and she senses the soft footsteps of Xun behind her. He writes on her with ink, which she takes as her cue to bring her axe full force upon Goblin 4 (action 1.) She steps forward, stepping over and around the goblin carcass, and swings her axe in a wide arc to catch Goblin 2(action 2 and 3.) She spots the fricasseed carcass of Goblin 3, and heads over there (Action 4.) She decides to hold off and let any other goblins come to her (action 4.)

Action 1: Attack Goblin 4.
Action 2: Step forward to attack Goblin 2.
Action 3: Attack Goblin 2.
Action 4: Head to the dead fried carcass of Goblin 3.

   "Canvassing" Yvonne says, moving her lights forward, mindful to keep Hogarth at least somewhat lit. (1, 2) She starts flying forward to get into a better position and bombard a goblin she had spotted earlier. "Wait, where's Xun?" she thinks, glancing back, but not seeing the swordsman. "Is he hiding?" She looks back at the goblin sitting atop a small knoll, wanting desperately to blast it. She curses quietly in Goblin just as Xun comes into view. Knowing now that all her allies are accounted for, her mood swings like a pendulum back to happy. "I see you." she says sweetly to the goblins below. (3, 4) Upon reaching her intended position, she begins raining fiery death down upon opponents. "Gotcha!" she cries obnoxiously as her spells impact.

Actions
Free: Move light closer to 'X' while keeping Hogarth at least in dim light. Continue to move if they move, but stop at G5.
1, 2: Fly to L11
3, 4: Hold action: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt on Goblin that attempts to use a ranged attack on an ally.
X: If any Goblin uses a ranged attack on her and she survives, say "Hey! It's me! Don't shoot!" If attack brings her between -10 and 0, say "I don't hate you."

---

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         "Suciedad! Voy a matar a todos los cerdos que resoplar!" Nathalie shouts at the goblins in their own tongue while - greatsword grasped firmly in his mouth - Rhyhorn attempts to fend off the goblins engaged with him. Their morningstars ring out against the stone of his body, chipping away at it as he brings the heavy blade around and ravages one of the goblins with it. Nathalie levels her crossbow at the other goblin nearby but the cart gets jostled by Rhyhorn's vigorous assault, disrupting her shot and causing her to miss her mark. The remaining goblin in view leaps up and swings awkwardly, getting his weapon caught in the irregular spines on Rhyhorn just as the rockbeast shifts to swing his mouth-blade. While neither strike is a damaging blow, Rhyhorn's movement wrenches the morningstar from the goblin's hands. The momentary surprise caused by this gives Nathalie the perfect opening and she lodges a magical bolt straight through the forehead of the little beast, blasting the back of its skull wide open as it passes through it like a spoiled melon. Without having another target immediately nearby, Rhyhorn once again trundles off, jarring the cart as its wheels rise up and over the goblin corpses with a sickening squelch. As he rounds the corner of the hedge, another goblin leaps out of the bush and directly in front of Rhyhorn. Nathalie, with her crossbow readied and eyes keenly surveying the area, swiftly puts a bolt through the goblin's chest, dropping it into the dirt in mid-lunge. Rhyhorn appears completely unfazed by this turn of events and continues forward, stomping the beast's head as he does so.
         Nearby to all this, Elia continues her one-on-one battle with the goblin using the bushes for cover. She strikes at him through the foliage but can't connect cleanly, getting hit by the goblin's weapon again for her trouble. They exchange another series of blows, neither one landing, but to Elia's misfortune another goblin has emerged from the shrubbery just to the North and advanced on her, putting her at a painful disadvantage. Each goblin manages to gouge the priestess with their foul weapons and with a shout of frustration, Elia swings wildly at the goblin still in the hedge beside her, evoking a sickening crack of crushing bone, dropping it with a single strike. However, the situation continues to turn for the worst as Rhyhorn and the valuable lights strapped to him begin to move away, leaving the young woman in the dark. In a desperate attempt to fend off the remaining attack, she strikes at the shadows and lands a powerful fist to the goblin's rib cage but she is unable to avoid the blow from its morningstar even as she incapacitates the vile creature. It comes across her head hard, knocking her unconscious and leaving her bleeding to death between the bushes.
         Meanwhile, at the other end of the battlefield, Xun has finally decided that Action is the better part of Valor and rushes to Hogarth's aid, bringing his blade up in a defensive posture meant to protect those around him. From above, Xun can hear Yvonne intoning in a deadpan, "Canvassing..." and ahead of him, he can see as as the lirai's dancing lights move across the field to better illuminate Hogarth's melee, that the barbarian is struggling to manage with her wounds. The goblins slowly spread out to surround the elf again, dodging her heavy axe and even catching her with a grazing blow. Their evasion doesn't last long as the area comes into full light and she catches one of them with the full force of her greataxe, more ripping it half than cutting it. A shriek of pain from the sky heralds the contact of a javelin with Yvonne's small body and she shouts down at the goblin on the rise that threw it, "Hey! It's me! Don't shoot!" before returning fire with a firebolt that incinerates the goblin's chest with a resounding impact. While that happens, another goblin breaks out of its hiding place in the bushes and begin to close on Hogarth and Xun. One of the goblins circling Hogarth swings madly at Xun and connects just before the runes on the monk's sword flare up and he thrusts the long blade through the goblin's guts, putting it down swiftly with the single strike. The binding runes seem to peel away and elongate into a thin line of energy around Hogarth, just in time to deflect the attack of another goblin as she brings the axe down on the toes of one of the goblinoids, causing it to hop around madly. She winds up and brings her greataxe around again at head level and decapitates the injured goblin mid-hop. Deftly, Xun draws a healing rune on Hogarth's skin with one hand, mending her wounds a great deal, while parrying the attacks of the remaining goblin with the blade in his other hand. This display of martial prowess goes unnoticed by Yvonne though as her eyes alight upon the group of goblins hiding across the river from Rhyhorn and Nathalie. "I see you." she says sweetly to the goblins below as she unleashes another blast of fiery death, killing one of three before he can bring his javelin up to throw. "Gotcha!" she cries out triumphantly as the other two loose their pointed projectiles purposefully, plotting to puncture the pair of approaching party members, but both throws fall just short an get stuck in the river's bank.


Objective: Reach the cave mouth and get inside! (marked by the X on the map.)
Bonus Objective: "It is a secret to everybody!" (Will be revealed at the end of the battle.)
Weather: After dusk, dark and cloudy.
Terrain: Varied.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane03-03th.png) (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane03-03.gif)

Terrain Notes: You can't see over those big hedges, nor are they passable unless you want to spend an entire Turn hacking your way through one. The rock piles are passable, if slowly (or you can try to leap over them) but they will grant the goblins Cover (Defense Bonus) if you try to attack them from the opposite side of them. To pass safely over the logs crossing the river you must dedicate a whole Action to that movement or else face an Athletics check to not fall into the water. The   fall isn't far but the water is cold and it will penalize you for the remainder of the battle.

Lightning Notes: Rhyhorn, Elia, Nathalie and Xun can only see clearly in the brightest circle of light around Rhyhorn. (To my knowledge, no one else is carrying a light source. Feel free to correct me on this if you are.) Yvonne and Hogarth have low-light vision and can see normally to the edges of the greyed out circle. Anything in the darkest area can't be seen by anyone in the party. Trying to attack at range into the darkness (that joke is going to come up again this battle, isn't it?) will inflict penalties to your attacks.

Knowledge Check: Goblins have Darkvision! This means that they can see through that darkest area on the map so beware attacks from the shadows!

Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Tuesday, Nov. 29th, 12pm EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.

One of your allies is dying! Only Hogarth and Yvonne can see she has fallen in battle. If alerted to her condition, Xun can use 1 Action to attempt to Spot the downed priestess if the light hasn't been moved to show her position.



~Powers Expended this Turn~
Yvonne: Kelgore's Fire Bolt x2
Xun: Word of Binding, Word of Mending

Rhyhorn slowly and carefully begins pulling his cart across the logs spanning the river before hanging a left to get around the pile of rocks, relying on Nathalie's crossbow skills to keep the Goblins off his back.  Once Rhyhorn rounds the rocks, he moves for the nearest Goblin threat, slashing at it with his Greatsword, before setting up his Cart safely between the rocks and heading off to find his allies.

Action 1) Cross the river to D9.
Action 2) Move around the rocks, D9 -> A9 then A9 -> A7, completing the move by moving toward the nearest living enemy Goblin.  If no enemy Goblins exist, move so that Rhyhorn can safely park Nathalie and his Cart behind the cover on D7.

Action 3-A) If adjacent to an enemy Goblin, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif)
Action 3-B) If enemy Goblins exist on this side of the river but are not adjacent to me, move to them.
Action 3-C) If all enemy Goblins on this side of the river are defeated, move so the Cart rests on D7.
Action 3-D) If already moved to D7, slip one of the two Everburning Torches from my Pack Saddle into the Cart so Nathalie will have a light source while I'm gone.

Action 4-A) If adjacent to an enemy Goblin, (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/emot-black101-anim.gif)
Action 4-B) If no adjacent enemy Goblins, move so Cart rests on D7.
Action 4-C) If already on D7, slip one of the two Everburning Torches from my Pack Saddle into the Cart.
Action 4-D) If an Everburning Torch has already been moved from my Pack Saddle to the Cart, slip from the Cart's harnesses and move to F5 to prepare crossing the river again.

"Suerte!" she whispers, "I mean, wish me luck!" Nathalie readies her crossbow and crouches firm in the cart, trying to utilize her senses to wipe these goblins out.

Action 1) Hold action; shoot enemies that appear in range.
Action 2, 3, 4) Same as above.

   As Yvonne looks back to make sure her lights are still on Hogarth, she sees Elia on the ground. "?!" she squeaks unintelligibly and quickly moves her spell over to illuminate the fallen healer. (1) Fearful of another assault, she increases her altitude, but the effort of fighting gravity causes pain to flare up in her side. Hovering was practically effortless and casting brought so much joy to her, she had barely noticed the gouge in her side. But now, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, o~w!" she whines, matching the beat of her tiny wings. "How did they see me?!" she thinks frantically, clutching her abdomen. She can't see the blood, but she can feel it dripping down her side, and soaking her clothes. Literally half an inch over and she have been in two pieces on the ground. "I know they can see in the dark, but... How much higher do I need to go?" Suddenly, she clamps her hand to her mouth as a thought occurs to her. The goblins hadn't 'seen' her, they had 'heard' her! "Hiran's wrath!" She had been significantly-less-than-silent the entire battle, how could they 'not' know where she was? She had to change her position! Surely they had seen her fly strait up, so they could just throw their accursed spears higher. She had to change position! Still painfully aware of her own injuries, she flies towards a location above Elia, whose wounds she knows are worse than her own. Several dozen colorful curses in as many languages tug at her tongue and threaten to escape her lips, but she bites them back. (2) For the first time in decades, Yvonne Scintillae Incendam falls silent. Deathly silent. (3, 4) Gently, she removes more ash from her pouch and prepares to use it on any goblin foolish enough to approach the human woman below. Her thoughts race as she nervously scans the darkness beyond the reach of her dancing lights, wondering how many more filthy beasts are hiding out there. Darkness... Birds! Her heart skips a beat as she realizes that this entire time she could not even see her own surroundings up here. She had been so preoccupied with the earthbound battle, she had paid no heed to the dangers of the night sky. Up here there may be owls, but down there are most certainly other javelins. She swallows hard, tasting salt and metal that should not be there, as she tries desperately to resist the urge to lower her elevation.

Actions
Free: Move lights so Elia, Xun and Hogarth are all in the bright light circle.
1: Fly up 1 panel, then over to K15.
2: Attempt to hide.
3: Hold Action: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt should an opponent enter range.
4: Hold Action: Move up 2 panels and over to I15 if action 3 was executed.

For a moment, uncharacteristically, the barbarian's face clouds with effort to think. She can plainly see the priestess of Odin lying on the ground, bleeding profusely. Hogarth knows the sign of a dying human. She thinks on a course of action. If she goes to her, she has no way to heal her, but she can pick her up and carry her. She then concentrates, realizing if any more hidden goblins attack, she will be defenseless and that Hogarth herself would share the same fate. Add to that the fact that she might move out of range of someone who CAN heal, and the decision becomes easier. Noticing the goblin advancing on Xun, she shouts "Xun! Elia! West!" before moving between the goblin and Xun and bringing her axe around to smash or slice Goblin 15. (Actions 1 and 2) She heads north, then west to advance past the bodies of ruined goblins, (Action 3), and crosses the bridge to the river, (Action 4) keeping her eye out for more goblins and striking if able.

Action 1: Move to R13.
Action 2: Attack Goblin 15.
Action 3: Move North, then West to I5.
Action 4: Cross bridge.
If able: Interrupt any movement action to fend off or attack oncoming goblins.

His tradepeak may not be the best, but the wandering philosopher definitely understands that.  He moves swiftly to the downed priest and rolls up his sleeves(1), taking a moment to focus himself(2) before his brush flicks out to craft an elegant piece of calligraphy on Elia's armor.  The writing blazes with a warm golden light (3) and Xun moves to take up a defensive stance between the priestess and the orcs to the north.  "You be careful.  Writing good, you still hurt very bad."
1) Move to J14
2) Regain maneuvers, self-heal 6
3) Rune of mending on Elia
4) Hold action to deflect attacks away from Elia.

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          The battlefield gets progressively quieter as the goblin opposition dwindles by the moment. Yvonne shifts her light spell so that it shines on Elia's fallen form just as Hogarth barks out, "Xun! Elia! West!" No longer hampered by the swarm of goblins, the barbarian shifts her footing and lunges at the lone goblin standing before her, carving a wide gouge in its belly that spills warm entrails on the cold ground. With her last enemy slain, she darts North into the shadows again before eventually re-emerging in the light to the West, near the river's edge. Meanwhile, Xun quickly dashes to Elia's side, taking a moment to refocus his mind and draw the runes of healing upon her body as her blood slowly spills out. The runes glow with golden light and the mystic forces conjured therein begin to mend her battered flesh. After a long moment the priestess slowly revives to see the monk speaking to her, "You be careful. Writing good, you still hurt very bad."
          Beyond the hedges to their West, Rhyhorn carefully pilots his cart across the water-slick log. He pauses only momentarily as a javelin is lobbed from beyond the low stone wall ahead of him, bouncing harmlessly off his back and splashing into the water below as another projectile misses both beast and log entirely. Nathalie, whispering something inaudibly, takes aim and fires a bolt at the offensive goblins, dropping one soundlessly as she quickly reloads. Once wholly across the makeshift bridge, she gets an even cleaner shot - taking advantage of her skill at short ranges - and drives another bolt through the second goblinoid. The little beast drops his javelin mid-throw and wheezes painfully as it weakly attempts to dig the metal shaft from its chest before finally collapsing.
          Upon reaching his destination, Rhyhorn steps out of his cart harness and quickly divests himself of one of his magical torches, leaving Nathalie light to see by. He then makes his way past the cave entrance and around the stony barricade, intent to cross the other log bridge seeking more enemies. However, it seems the goblins were not without further defensive measures as the very ground beneath the rockbeast gives way to a deep pit filled with wooden spikes! While the fall itself injures Rhyhorn by some small amount, the spikes stand no chance against his tough hide, shattering beneath him.
          From above, there is no sign of Yvonne other than the persistence of her dancing lights.

Objective: Reach the cave mouth and get inside! (marked by the X on the map.)
Bonus Objective: "It is a secret to everybody!" (Will be revealed at the end of the battle.) Complete the Pane without triggering any of the trap tiles. (Failed)
Weather: After dusk, dark and cloudy.
Terrain: Varied.

(http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/3839/battlepane0304th.png) (http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2330/battlepane0304.png)

Terrain Notes: You can't see over those big hedges, nor are they passable unless you want to spend an entire Turn hacking your way through one. The rock piles are passable, if slowly (or you can try to leap over them) but they will grant the goblins Cover (Defense Bonus) if you try to attack them from the opposite side of them. To pass safely over the logs crossing the river you must dedicate a whole Action to that movement or else face an Athletics check to not fall into the water. The fall isn't far but the water is cold and it will penalize you for the remainder of the battle.

Lightning Notes: Rhyhorn, Elia, Nathalie and Xun can only see clearly in the brightest circles of light. Yvonne and Hogarth have low-light vision and can see normally to the edges of the greyed out circle. Anything in the darkest area can't be seen by anyone in the party. Trying to attack at range into the darkness will inflict penalties to your attacks.

Knowledge Check: Goblins have Darkvision! This means that they can see through that darkest area on the map so beware attacks from the shadows!

Posting for this Turn ends in about 48 hours, (Thursday, Dec. 1st, 3am EST) or whenever everyone has posted, of course.



~Powers Expended this Turn~
Xun: Word of Mending

Rhyhorn plods along, falling into the pit with a thunk.  Annoyed, he lets out a small roar and runs at the wall, running up it and out of the pit, seeing Hogarth and deciding to move back to his Cart instead, feeling the others should be following soon if the Barbarian was already this far ahead.  He taps her as she nears him, using a charge of his Healing Belt to mend Hogarth's wounds.  Rhyhorn then downs an Oil of Light Repair from his belt and turns to his cart, nudging Nathalie aside some to unlock and access his chest of ALL THE THINGS to begin pulling out supplies while waiting for the rest of the team to meet up.

Action 1) Run up the walls and out of the pit like a boss, moving back to D8.
Action 2) If Hogarth moves close enough at any point, use a charge of my Healing Belt on her.  (2 Remaining)
Action 3) Down one Oil of Light Repair, placing the empty vial on my Saddle.
Action 4) Unlock my chest of ALL THE THINGS and begin getting stuff prepared for going into the cave.

   "I am not a wizard. I am not a coward. I am a sorcerer. I am magic. There are no owls, only javelins." (1, 2, 3) Yvonne thinks to herself, as she watches Hogarth stride fearlessly across the battlefield below. "I am not a wizard. I am not a coward. I am a sorcerer. I am magic. There are no owls, only Zuul." She glances back every now and again to ensure Elia and Xun are properly lit. "I can take Zuul. I'll blast him with my fire!" She flies over the crick. "Just don't cross the streams. Fire. Fire! Fire!" Thoughts of her beloved element calm her a bit, but not much. "Sparks! Kindle! Fire! Embers! Fire! Pyre! Flare! Blaze! Fire!" (4) She clutches tightly a fist full of ash, ready to blast any goblin she can. Once the swordsman and healer are safely within the light around the cart of ALL THE THINGS, Yvonne quickly shifts her spell over to seek areas yet unseen.

Actions
Free: Move Dancing Lights so as to keep Xun and Elia well lit until they are within either Nathalie's or Rhyhorn's light.
1, 2, 3: Move to D7
4: Hold Action: Cast Kelgore's Fire Bolt should a Goblin enter range.
Free: Move Dancing Lights so as to illuminate S1 with at least dim light.

Elia stands up in pain, and dizzy from blood loss. She looks at Xun and thanks him in the best way she can in her stat. "Thank you.... Friend..." Setting her gaze at her feet, she then mumbles under her breath. "Odin.. Might be angered... At my failure..." She pulls her right hand up and places it on her chest. "Heal!" 1) and heads to the bridge. 2)

1) Cast Cure Light Wounds on Elia
2) Move up north to I5
3) Move across log

If at any point we get attacked, let Xun attack them, and heal him if he needs it.
or
If Yvonne is in range, heal her. (Priority of top one)

Hogarth eyes the log bridge wearily. She knows she can easily bound across and continue on just as normal as walking. However, this night has also been Cursed. She should've taken those goblins down with the fury of Riphlin, the God of Anger. If her gods were real, Hogarth muses, they would be most displeased. She nearly panicked and raged when she saw her rocky relationship with Rhyhorn bottom out, but she could hear him run up the wall.

"What a terrible time for a cursed night" she mutters, and carefully moves across the log. (Action 1) She sidesteps the pit, (Action 2) and regroups with the party. (Action 3) she still has her axe drawn, ready for anything that comes their way.

Action 1: Ford river Cross log.
Action 2: Sidestep pit.
Action 3: Regroup with others.
Action 4: Hold action for attacking goblins that approach.

Xun keeps his ears open as he moves to rejoin the others, keeping Elia close in case they are attacked again.

1-4) Move with Elia towards the cave, stopping to defend us both if neccesary.

Nathalie perches herself on top on top of the cart, steadfast and crossbow in hand, ready to drive a bolt through any incoming goblins' skulls.

1-4) Hold action; fire when enemy goblin comes in range.

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Update later tonight and then we'll be breaking for about a week while I get the next sequence assembled.

(((NOTE: This entire post is OCC.)))

(http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-saddowns.gif): A week break? What'll we do till then? *sobs*
(http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-rant.gif): Why, you could.. spackle the den. Alphabetize your shorts. You could play with your pet broncostimpy!
(http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-downs.gif): :O *runs off*

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         Without further interruption or assault, the rest of the party on the ground manages to regroup at the mouth of the cave while Yvonne's lights continue to scan the battlefield. You can see a short distance into the cave's entrance with your torch's light, but the path beyond narrows quickly as it descends into the earth below. A sense of foreboding comes over you all as you contemplate what horrors lie within.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v311/Celdia/DndForumMaps/BattlePane03-05th.png) (http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/9643/battlepane0305.png)

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~Spoils~
300 Gold Pieces
A glass lens, rimmed with gold and with a fine gold chain attached to an ear clip.

Stat Bonuses
Rhyhorn: +2 HP!
Nathalie: +1 Ranged Skill!
Yvonne: +1 HP!
Elia: +1 HP!
Hogarth: +3 HP!
Xun: +1 to Healing Effect of Word of Mending!


~Powers Expended this Turn~
Elia: Cure Light Wounds

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Forgive the brevity of this post. I really just wanted to get it all down and made official. The Pane really could have ended on the last Turn but there was still the possibility of more enemies on the map somewhere. Now that you're all assembled (sans Yvonne, but no one can really stop her from joining you) I'll call it complete. Also, I know no one was taking time to loot bodies in the narrative, but I'll be treating encounters with a sort of auto-loot function at the end of battles unless you start stripping mobs of their actual possessions in-battle.