Into the Fray
Subject: The battle joined
Kayla's words jolt the group back to the reality of the greater battle, now that the skirmish to save Holn is ended. The town was indeed in peril, and the lights of the fires suddenly draw all their attention.
As Buchek rolls from the guard, the man slowly splays his arms wide as he rises, not wanting to make any aggressive moves. It seems he took the barbarian's words to heart, but it is Kayla whom he addresses.
"You are right, young miss. It is time to defend the town - I see now," he glances at Buchek hesitantly, "that it was not your intent to fight against us. Let us fight together."
With a grunt, Buchek accepts this of the man, knowing that his words had sunk in. Scanning the battle, his eyes seem not to notice the fire, or the struggling guardsmen, or even his companions around him - his attention is set on the giant wielding a massive orc double axe at the center of the roadway not 60 feet away - Tossuc.
Erk takes command quickly and is impressed at how easily Bermid and the guardsman take martial orders - even the man from inside the tower emerges with a pike, falling into the line the dwarf has formed. Even the frozen guard, seeing the struggle has ended and the fight is to be joined, wills himself out of his magical bindings [Will Save 16] and falls in.
[ODM: A map is attached. It shows the town, the burning buildings and the positions of folks. You all are in light blue, formed up in ranks in front of the tower. The guards are all in brown, and you can see three of them formed up in ranks with you. The red dots are the raiders, and the red X is Tossuc. Off to the left, the gray dots are civilians who are hiding behind the Inn.
The raiders and guards are essentially in two lines fighting one another. The fighting has spilled out into the northern courtyard, and you see another raider duck in that direction behind a building (the one dot between buildings). The four guards on the road are obviously outclassed, and two lie dead already. Another raider is rushing up from the back to further swing the odds in the barbarians' favor.
Two archers behind the raiders, the two red dots further back on the road to the right, are still firing flaming arrows into buildings and setting them ablaze. They have not yet targetted the Inn, but it can't be long before they get to it.
The intent seems to be to hold off the guards long enough to burn the outpost to the ground, carrying off whatever they can in the process.
The group can close distance this round and begin combat next. Let me know what your actions are.]
From: Erik
Subject: Re: The battle joined
OOC: Yeee-ikes!
Chaos erupting all around, Holn looks for a clear chance to throw a blast of fire at the invaders.
OOC:Holn will advance with the others, looking for an attack of opportunity to cast Scorching Ray at the nearest unengaged enemy. If attacked, total defense.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: The battle joined
Erk gives the guardsmen who join them a nod of appreciation. These are good men, just trying to protect their town. Even good men make mistakes in the chaos of battle.
Once the line is formed, Erk says, "Advance up the street, and engage the large group ahead of us. Let's reinforce the guard position there." As the group moves forward, he says to those on the edges of the line, "You men, watch our flank. Attackers could come from between these buildings." To Telwyn he says, "Hunter, you are our eyes now. In the heat of battle, we will need you to watch our rear and call out if the fight shifts."
He will then lead the line at a fast trot to the fight in front of them, yelling, "For Clageddin!" as they approach.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: The battle joined
Matt, what's the distance to the two archers?
From: Clara
Subject: Re: The battle joined
Kayla should have her sling and pebbles on her (she can always grab more pebbles, I hope).
Kayla plans on running to the edge of the building which the civilians are hiding behind. She'll be against the wall, closer to the raiders than the civilians. If this distance is too long, she'll come in to the corner of the building, so she can keep an eye on both walls.
The first few shots should be to Tussac. If those look successful/useful, Kayla will continue aiming at him. If he's too powerful, then Kayla will switch to aiming for any good targets among the raiders next to him.
From: Jake
Subject: Re: The battle joined
A fierce smile spreads across Buchek's scarred face. Tossuc. In his dreams he has faced his uncle a hundred times. Torn him limb from limb, slit his throat, hung him from one of the occasional trees that dot the wastes--a different death, different revenge, every time. Bringing justice to this kin-slayer in waking life will be twice as sweet. The possibility of failure does not even cross Buchek's mind. Kipshaa will not abandon him for a brother killer. Nauhata seems to vibrate in his hand, the ancestors whose strength flows through the axe singing in anticipation of the coming retribution. Chauth will be avenged.
Buchek runs forward in an easy loping stride, slightly leading the rest of the party. The world seems to go into slow motion as he approaches his uncle. "Tossuc! Kin-slayer! Despised of Kipshaa! Reviled by Ancestors! Today Nauhata shall drink your life," he shouts as he closes the distance between them. As he draws closer, a red haze seems to color his vision, and he can feel rage once again roiling through his blood [IE Buchek is once again going into a rage]. When he draws close enough he will attack his uncle with his axe, wielding it two handed, and using his Power Attack feat. I'll subtract 4 from my melee attack roll, which will add 8 to my melee damage roll.
[OOC: I'm hoping that other players will focus their attacks on Tossuc too, as he's probably a much higher level barbarian than Buchek, and could likely clean Buchek's clock in a one on one fight. Buchek isn't of that opinion, of course, but I am. Also, I expect that, since Tossuc is the leader of the raiders, defeating him would break the morale of his followers and cause them to bolt.]
From: Matt
Subject: Re: The battle joined
It's just under 110 ft. At the start of this coming round, though, I'm going to have had the entire group (with the possible exception of Kayla), move 30 ft or so forward. So, at the start of next turn, they will be about 80 ft away and within longbow range.