The Untouchable Tossuc, Telwyn Buys the Farm (Almost)
Subject: Attack!
[ODM: There were a lot of nuts and bolts behind attack rolls and initiative and whatnot for this round, seeing as there are 23 combatants - and that's just on the road, not counting the courtyard. With that in mind, I'm going to hide most of the mechanics here except for those the directly affect the characters.
For main character initiative, we have: Elotai, Buchek, Holn, Bermid, Kayla, Telwyn, Erk, Tussuc. There are lots of guards and barbarians inbetween.]
Seeing Bermid's eyes shift to the barbarian on the north end of the group, Elotai steps ahead of the young guardsman and slashes the marauder across his chest with his longsword [attack 20 after mod, 7 damage], turning the barbarian's attention from the other guards toward himself.
Howling in a rage, Buchek charges through the center of the guards, pushing one to the side and swinging wildly at Tossuc, missing wide to the right in his haste. [Attack 14]
Holn, trying to blast one of the barbarians with a scorching ray, is knocked off balance by the guard Buchek practically knocked over, and the stream of fire soars high into the air. [Attack 3]
In retaliation for Elotai's attack, the barbarian who was wounded swings his heavy mace at the elf's head, but Elotai instinctively ducks out of the way. [Attack 14] Bermid, seeing the marauder off balance from the swing, slashes hard at the barbarian's mace arm, gashing it deeply [Attack 24, damage 12]
Seeing the newcomers to the battle, one of the raiding archers turns his attention away from igniting the buildings, sending an arrow at Telwyn, who was standing apart from the back of the group with his bow. The arrow finds a gap in the half-elf's armor, tearing into his flesh [Attack 20, Critical threat 18, Critical strike, Damage 7 x 3 = 21].
Kayla, staying close to the inn, just within range of her sling, sends a bullet at Tussoc, which flies wide [Attack 9].
The guard that had been tackled by Buchek earlier sees his opening with the marauder Elotai and Bermid had wounded and plunges his sword deep into the raider's chest, killing him [Attack 17, damage 4]
Telwyn, reeling from his wound, takes careful aim at the archer who fired at him and looses a single arrow, knocking the raider back [Attack 15, damage 8].
Pressing the advantage on the north side of the group, the guardsman who had the keys to the tower spears one of the barbarians with his glaive [8 damage], but the marauder's scream is one of rage rather than pain, and he brings his heavy mace down atop the head of a guard struggling with Tossuc, killing him [damage 12].
Erk, howling his war cry, charges right for Tussoc, swinging his dwarven axe. The blow, aimed at the side of the towering raider's knee, is turned harmlessly aside by a flick of Tussoc's double axe, and sparks fly as the two blades clash.
Telwyn watches as a second arrow falls harmlessly short, but knows that another hit could take him out of the fight for good.
Tussoc, continuing the motion that parried Erk's axeblow, swings the other side of the great weapon to cleave the head from one of the guards already wounded from the battle, sending a shower of blood into the air. [Attack 20, Crit Threat 5, no critical, 6 damage]. Spinning the axe handle almost two fast for Erk to see, Tussoc aimed the second head of the weapon at the dwarf, though the blade glanced harmlessly off his armor [Attack 11].
[New Map attached, though you'll probably need to enlarge it]
From: Erik
Subject: Re: Attack!
OOC: I've lost track. How many second level spells has Holn cast?
also: Is his cat with him?
From: Jake
Subject: Re: Attack!
Buchek howls with rage, infuriated further by his failure to land a blow on his uncle. Completely ignoring the melee going on around him, Buchek swings again at Tossuc.
From: Raja
Subject: Re: Attack!
Elotai finishes his slash and brings his sword home to guard. He hadn?t used his sword since the arena in Abeson, and he had mixed feelings about it. The flowing, ritualistic motions of elvish swordfighting were calming... but they reminded him of home. Arun, the hamlet that shared his patronymic.
Memories were not what he needed right now, vision-born or otherwise. In his mind?s eye, Elotai sees the battle as though from above, and realizes that he has been presented with an opportunity. He fans his fingers out wide gestures in a sweeping motion with his arm, murmuring words he hopes will stun some of their foes [Colour Spray].
OOC:
I?ve indicated the target area on the map. I?m not sure if I can get Tossuc without hitting any allies; if I can?t then I?ll move the target area a smidgen to Elotai?s left so that it misses Tossuc but still gets the other two bad guys.
From: Matt
Subject: Math error
Well, it seems I forgot some damage done to Telwyn earlier by the raider at the gate. After that 21 damage, he's taken a total of 26 damage so far, with a total hitpoints of 24. So, unless he gets some help in the next 7 rounds, we'll have a dead half-elf on our hands.
Add this addendum onto the last email:
"After his arrow finds its target, Telwyn's world swirls as the loss of blood finally penetrates through the shock and adrenaline. Taking a step toward the cover of the buildings, he tries to reach out to the air to stabilize himself before falling heavily on his side with a moan."
Kayla would see this happen. Erk would hear the moan and thwump of him falling [Listen check 21]
On a side note, it's a good thing I had decided these guys *hadn't* lit their arrows for another building shot yet. Yeesh. That would have sucked. Flaming, unconscious Telwyn - roast half elf a l'orange...
From: Clara
Subject: Re: Attack!
Suffice it to say, Kayla will go to aid Telwyn.
As if all the blood had drained from her, Kayla suddenly feels lightheaded as she sees Telwyn fall to the ground. She glances toward the archers and nimbly makes her way to the half-elf.
"Talk t' me, Tel. I need ye to keep awake. Where's it hurt yah?" Kayla tries to assess his blood loss and see if she can move him back towards the non-combatants. She'd like to keep both of them from arrows, though she'll protect Telwyn and chance a strike on herself if necessary.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: Attack!
Erk sees the guardsmen fall, and hears Telwyn go down behind him. He realizes that this fight is quickly turning against them. He yells out, "The leader, kill the leader!"
Then withdraws from fighting Tossuc to let others move in on him. As soon as he is out of range, he will move over to Telwyn and use his most powerful remaining heal spell on him. (not sure what this is Matt. Do I have a second level spell left?)