Out of the pan and on the run
Subject Turn
Sorry I was not able to get more out last night. My dial up connection at home was having problem last night. I will try and get something out at lunch today.
From: Mark
Subject Out of the pan
As Surin opens the gate the 5 other party members step through. As Salix passes by Cai, the ranger whispers to the druid ?If we are forced to run, one of your wood shaping spells cast on the gate might gain us needed time to make our escape.? Salix looks slightly disgusted but nods. ?I don't cast 'spells?, Salix responds. ?All I do is by the grace of Obad-Hai.? He touches the oak-leaf and acorn insignia in his leather armor reverently. ?But, good idea. I'll keep that in mind.? Ran gestures at Cai and Bel and the two rangers climb the two towers and take up posts on either side of the door, bows ready. Their eyes scan the camp, looking for any movement or sound
Ran, Surin, Kal, and Salix start to creep towards the shack. Ran has his shield slung across his back and his crossbow in hand. Salix has his trusty scimitar and Kal his ever present rapier. Surin cringes as Salix and Ran follow behind, glad that all the goblins in the area are dead or unconscious.(Move Silent, Ran 8, Surin 2+13=15, Kal 18+5=23, Salix 10+1=11. They get about 20 feet in and Surin motions for Ran to stay where he is. Ran looks about ready to argue but gives in to the halfling's instructions. His eyes sweeping the compound for any movement, Ran keeps his crossbow at waist level.
Kal, Surin and Salix continue slowly towards the shack. (Move Silent, Surin 7+13=20, Kal 12+5=17, Salix 12+1=13.) Surin keeps wishing that his friend did not make so much noise when he moved. He does have some respect for the elf. He has shown an amazing ability to be quite. They are now over half of the way towards the shack. Again Surin stops the party and listens. (Surin 8+11=19, Kal 10+2=12, Salix 18+6=24) All Surin and Salix hear are the snores of the goblins and the extremely loud snores of the ? orc.
Surin motions the two others to continue. (Move silent, Surin, 19+13=32, Kal, 9+5=14, Salix 9+1=10) Salix steps on a small twig and to Surin it sounds like some one cracked a tree limb. Surin goes to Salix and whispers ?I am sorry my friend but you make so much noise when you move. Let me see if I can get Rochelle out with out needing your prayers.? Feeling what Ran felt, Salix reluctantly agrees to wait where he is. Nodding for Kal to accompany him, Surin moves closer to the target. (Move silent, Surin 14+13=27, Kal 5+5=10) Surin grimaces again when Kal makes some noise when he steps on some gravel. Stopping and listening (Listen check, 7+11=18) Surin does not hear anything. They are now about 25 feet from the shack.
Signaling that it is ok to proceed, the two move forward again. (Move silent, Surin, 5+13=18, Kal 15+5=20) ?Just a few more seconds? Surin thinks to himself. (Move Silent, Surin 20+13=33, Kal 14+5=19) Surin is satisfied that they were completely quiet in their final approach. Motioning for Kal to keep watch, Surin leans down and puts his mouth to the wall. ?My Lady, we are ready. Don't move or make a sound.? Surin then bends to the boards and inspects them. He takes out his dagger and starts to gently pry the sideboards away from the building. He takes his time, slowly prying the boards away from the support. (Move silent, 8+13=21, 12+13=25) The first board pops off, leaving a hole about 9 inches across and 4 feet high. Too narrow for the human but a good start. Surin starts working on the next.
As Surin pries the board from its support, a nail makes a loud squeaking noise. Even Bel and Cai hear it. (Move silent, 1+13=14, 3+13=16) Surin stops, sure that the camp would be awakened, but still hears nothing but sleeping noises from the camp. Repositioning his dagger, he tries again, and this time there is no noise. (Move silent, 19+13=32, 16+13=29) A second board pops off into the halfling's hand and now the hole is big enough for some one to squeeze through. He reaches a hand through and feels the young girls hand take his. ?Come on?he whispers, ?We are pushing our luck as it is.?
Right then, several things seem to happen at once. Rochelle worms her way out of the hole in the wall. Bel and Cai both spot a goblin walking up the south side of the compound. Both rangers let fly. Bel's shoot flies wide but Cai's hits dead on.(AC13, Bel 4+7=11, miss, Cai 10+7=17, hit, Damage 8) The arrow buries itself in the chest of the goblin and it falls to the ground, but the loud twang of a longbow is impossible to hide. Grabbing Rochelle by the hand, Surin starts running towards the gate, Kal following close behind. Knowing that the other members of the party can see in the dark better than he, Surin waves his other hand at them, signaling them to move.
OODM: Any thing any one wants to do in particular let me know. Other wise I will try and write more up tonight.
From: Karl
Subject Spells
Well, it looks like we're going to be retreating, so Salix will definitely take advantage of Cai's advice. He will try to warp the gate closed once they are outside.
From: Josh
Subject The escape
Kal is going to run close behind Salix and Rochelle. If any enemy (including the half orc) approaches us, Kal'll yell to them to keep running, he'll engage the enemy until they escape or make it far enough away.
From: Randy
Subject The escape
Ran will wait until the others have retreated past where he is before he starts moving towards the gate. He will offer cover to everyone else, especially Rochelle, as they retreat. Once he is sure everyone else is out he will exit the gate.
From: Mark
Subject Speeds
Ok since this might be important in the next couple of days coming up I thought I would cover this so that everyone is clear on the rules.
Your normal move speed is listed in your profile. Most members of the party have a base speed of 30 feet. This means in a move action you can move 30 feet. You can do two move action in a round, instead of a standard action and a move action. This will allow you to move 60 feet. Depending on your armor and load,you can do a run as a full round action which will allow you to run X4 your base speed or 120 feet. However, if you run you loose your DEX bonus to AC.
If you have the run feat you keep your DEX bonus and move at X5 your speed, depending on your armor and load.
Surin's base speed is 20 feet. So a double move is 40' and a run is 80' and loose the DEX bonus to AC.
Harp is about 1,320 feet away. Fal is almost half way there since he started running as soon as his sleep spell went off. He actually had further to go but he has had all the time it took the party to get into the camp and the time it took to get to the shack and the time it took to get the boards off to move. It took Surin 6 rounds to get to the shack, 3 rounds to remove the boards and at least a round or two to get people in the camp.
Any questions let me know.
From: Jason
Subject The escape
Cai sees Surin emerge from behind the shack with a young woman in tow, motioning that everyone should leave quickly. She quickly climbs down from the tower and runs to the woods, where she turns to face the gate with an arrow nocked. She decides she will keep the gate in sight until everyone has emerged, and be ready to shoot anything green that comes into sight.
Once everyone is out, she will keep pace with Surin (or whoever is slowest) as she (and Bel) are best prepared to take out any one goblin or small group that might respond quickly without having to close with them. (Unless Ran indicates otherwise.)
She smiles at the thought of the half-orc possibly driving the goblins towards them, giving her plenty of opportunities to convince them of their folly.
From: Kevin
Subject Speed
Mark, even at worse, the whole group should be able to "run" out of the camp in 2 turns or less if they need to, right? They will not be trying to be silent or anything, but if they need to turn and go if they hear anything, they are not a long distance from the gate. Even at worse, Surin was 80' or so from the gate, and he has moved slightly back that way, right?
From: Mark
Subject Speed
Probably yes. I just wanted every one to have the information in case a chase starts.
From: Rob
Subject The escape
Since Bel has Shield running, he will withdraw stragically, shooing at the goblins as he withdraws...unless he can get a shot off at the half-orc, which he will do if he can.
For the first round, if he can get a shot at the leader, he will stop, shoot twice, and then withdraw.
After the first round, he will take one shot then move.
From: Mark
Subject Spells
Ok so you had shield running before you went in?
I just need to know so I can keep track of time. The spell only lasts for two mintues and it has been about 1 minute since your group entered the compound. Of course as a sorcerer you can cast shield several times today.
From: Mark
Subject info
Ok here is what the characters know.
Rochelle is free but a goblin has been killed. The sound of the two bows was quite clear. The gate is open and there is a clear path out of the camp. The alarm has not been raised yet, but most every one in the party figures it is just a matter of time.
As I said before, Harp is 1/4 mile away, due east. No one in the party knows exactly where, but they figure that between the birds and Harp looking for them they will be able to find him with minimal effort.
Surin is the slowest member of the 7 people in the camp, the six party members and Rochelle.
If there are any othe questions let me know.
From: Mark
Subject Map
I just rechecked my map and Surin, Kal and Rochelle are 60 feet from the gate, right next to the shack. Salix is about 30 feet from the gate and Ran is about 15 feet from the gate.
I have attached a map.
From: Mark
Subject Out of the camp and on the run
As Bel sees Rochelle exit from the tent he figures that this is the best time to cast his shield spell on himself and speaks the words he knows. A shimmering shield of force shows up at his side.
The thrum of the bow strings resonates in Surin's ears. ?Well that's done it.? he thinks to himself. Speed was their only real ally at this time. A good sneak knew when it was time to cut and run, and the time was now. Grabbing Rochelle's hand he pulls her behind him as he makes a bee-line for the gate, motioning the others to move as he does. Rochelle quickly gets the idea and starts running for her life. She quickly out paces the halfling.
As Surin starts his dash to the gate, Kal follows behind, bringing up the rear. Salix is already heading towards the gate, starting to prepare his mind to ask Obad-Hai for his blessing. All four pass Ran and he starts back peddling, keeping an eye on the camp. Off to the right he sees a form poke it's head out of a tent. He swings his crossbow around and lets a bolt fly almost before he has a chance to see much of his target. (AC11, 15+8=23, Hit, damage 2) The bolt drives home and Ran sees that it was a female he had shot at. The creature lets out a scream of pain and falls to the ground. Ran keeps backing towards the gate.
Salix, running at full speed easily makes it through the gate, followed by Surin, Kal and Rochelle. She stops for a second and looks questioningly at the halfling. He runs by her at full speed saying ?East. We have friends due east, with horses.? She nods and starts off in that direction. Ran figures that it is time to make the escape and clips his crossbow to his waist and starts a hustle through the gate. As he goes through he hears two more bow shots as Bel and Cai both take shots at goblins coming out of tents. (AC13, Bel 10+7=17, hit, Cai 3+7=10, miss, Damage 5) Cai's arrow flies wide this time but Bel's slams a goblin off it feet and nails it to the compound wall. Both rangers slide down the ladders and move out of the gate, each one pulling their half close behind them.
As Cai and Bel shut the gate Salix says ?Go protect the others, I will be with you in a second. He then touches the symbol on his armor and chants the prayer to Obad-Hai. At his his touch the logs of the gate warp out of shape, jamming the door. With a grin Salix turns to catch up with the group. He quickly catches up with them since most of them are not running at full speed. The party continues on this way for about 30 seconds. They are about 400 feet from the camp when they hear a huge roar and yelling. The rangers understand the language. It is goblin. Bel turns to the party as they jog along and says ?The big guy is up and he does not sound happy. He wants to know what is going on. The goblins are shouting that ghosts have killed the guards and escaped through the gate.?
The party continues on its way, all of them hustling except for Surin, who is running his legs off. ?Go on, leave me, I will catch up!? he yells at them, but the rest of the party ignores him. All of a sudden there is another yell and Cai puffs out ?He knows Rochelle is missing. Our time just ran out.? As they are moving each of the rearguard keeps glancing back trying to see what is happening at the camp. They have been running for almost a minute when they see a large form appear at the top of the wall and jump down. The brute starts heading in their direction. They are just a little over half way to where Harp should be.
OODM: Any instructions?
From: Jason
Subject on the run
Cai figures that so far so good, but she wonders how fast the half-orc can run. She decides that she'll stay rear-guard, since she is having no trouble at this pace. She does note that Surin is having a bit of trouble keeping up. Halflings just weren't made for this sort of thing, she decides. (Assuming that at the moderate speed they are traveling short conversations are still possible,) she says "If the half-orc begins to catch us, perhaps Surin should break off and go his own way. The brute will almost certainly follow Rochelle, and Surin stands a better chance hiding on his own. I can come back with a horse after we get Rochelle on her way."