Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

Kayla breathes a sigh of relief. She's come to like Holn in a single piece instead of two.

She straightens up and announces, "Time to go! I'd ruther not leave these men here to die." Kayla faces the two guards and puts on a stern look, "It's time to defend your town. Let us fight by your side."

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

In the ear of the man pinned beneath him, Buchek says "when I let you up, do not attack us. We are not your enemy--the raiders are. If you doubt me, ask yourself why I didn't snap your neck. Had I wished it I could have taken your life. If you raise your hand against one of my companions again, you will join the ranks of those who will serve me in the afterlife. Count on it."

Buchek rolls off of the guard and onto his feet, axe in hand. He looks around, surveying the situation, searching for a likely target.

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

"Thank you for your quick action, but we are beset on all sides," Holn states.

"They need us out there."

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

OOC: Holn will wait for the others, following their lead. He doesn't put away the mace.

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

What can Buchek see of the melee?

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

Seeing that his prayer has been successful, and that the guard is immobilized, Erk takes a quick look around. The fighting is even worse than he had thought. He sees if he can spot a knot of particularly fierce fighting. If he can, he will say, ?Bermid, Buchek, let us form a skirmish line and advance on that group of raiders. You others, support us from the rear with missile fire if you can. It is time we got into this battle.?

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

Holn will follow the group into the frey....

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

He hadn?t seen this. There had been no fire in his dreams. But these people had all haunted him... he had to see where this would take him.

Elotai glances at Bermid, hoping that no signs of his earlier weakness have returned, then follows the others outside, sword ready.

OOC: I?d like to try and set up a Colour Spray, if I can ? are there any groups of raiders I can hit without also hitting guards?

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

Telwyn pats the frozen guard on the shoulder. "Sorry about that, but we can't have you cutting down our companion." It's hard to tell, but there may be the barest hint of a smirk behind his otherwise deadpan features.

At Erk's suggestion, he nods and exits the tower, nocking an arrow even as he goes.

OOC: As suggested, Telwyn will stay behind Erk and shoot the bad guys. He'll try to pick out a target that is not engaged in melee combat, but if no such target is available, he will loose his arrows at the closest raider. He will use Rapid Shot against an unengaged target, but will not against an engaged one.

Subject: Re: the DM clears his throat

I'm running out for the night now and have no time to put together a map, and a turn would be really hard to follow without a visual of the battlefield.

So, that said, I'm going to try to put something together when I get home tonight. If not, I'll have it out tomorrow morning before I leave to finish painting the room I'm moving into next week.

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.]

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.

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.

Subject: Re: The battle joined

Matt, what's the distance to the two archers?

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.

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.]

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.

Subject: Re: The battle joined

Elotai lines up in the front, next to Bermid. The human is his ticket into the grasslands; he doesn?t want to lose track of him and he CERTAINLY doesn?t want the man to die. He will advance with the line, sword ready, and join the battle. If he happens to see several attackers in a clump, though, he?ll try to use Colour Spray on them. Otherwise he will simply fight with his sword. He is more interested in keeping Bermid alive than in covering Buchek, though he recognizes that the barbarian?s tactics are sound ? through no fault of the man?s own, of course. If the other members of the group ? most importantly, Bermid ? move to attack the leader, he will follow suit.

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]

Subject: Re: Attack!

OOC: I've lost track. How many second level spells has Holn cast?

also: Is his cat with him?

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.

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.

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...

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.

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?)

Subject: Re: Attack!

OOC: On the off chance that you all are waiting for me to check in, here is my turn:

Telwyn continues to lie unconscious as his lifeblood seeps into the dirt.

Subject: Re: Attack!

LOL. No, sorry. Been really busy with the move - today was assemble-the-IKEA-furniture-day.

I hope to get a turn out tonight, but no promises. Definitely have one by tomorrow evening, though.

Think of it this way, though... Telwyn's on indefinite life support. ;)

Subject: Apologies

Well, I didn't realize I had a few questions people posed to me before I could write up the next turn. Those questions have been answered (had to go back and look through the archives). Once I get a turn in from Erik, I'll send out another turn. I think I can go ahead with the other characters who had questions, but his was crucial to what action he could take.

Sorry for the delay, but I didn't have a chance until now to go find the answers to the few questions. Turn will be coming shortly, though.

Subject: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Reaching quickly into his component bag while whispering an incantation, Elotai blows a cloud of blue dust toward the three raiders behind Tussoc (not wanting to accidentally target the two guards opposite the barbarian leader). As the cloud of powder spreads, it becomes a cone of brilliant, colorful light, forcing the three men to throw their hands in front of their faces. The furthest away managed to shield himself enough to resist the effects of the spell, but the first two, the two closest the leader, dropped unconscious to the ground. [Saving throws v. dififculty 14: 7 fail, 2 fail, 16 success. First barbarian unconscious for 7 rounds, second barbarian unconscious for 3 rounds]

Buchek, oblivious to the falling guards and the flashing lights, swings hard again, this time at Tussoc's head. The giant man tries in vain to parry the blow with his double axe, but manages to duck just in time for the blade to glance off the chain shirt covering his shoulder. [Attack 17 v. AC 18, miss].

With a whisper, Fancek Fa is off like a shot through the melee, running just under the falling body of the first unconscious raider. Wholly unseen, the cat leaps high for the archer's throat, catching the man unawares until the last possible second. The flash of electricity lit up the night sky, even outshining the many rooftop fires, and the archer falls as a cinder to the ground, with Fa landing lightly beside him. [Attack roll 20, Critical Threat roll 20, critical strike - damage 13 x 2 = 26].

Bermid, rallying at Erk's words to focus on the leader, swings hard at the ducking Tussoc, but the other end of the double axe swings up to deflect his blow [Attack 14, miss].

Kayla runs to Telwyn's side, but is instead met by Liwanu's growling, the wolf fiercely guarding his companion's body. Unsure how to react to the animal's aggression, Kayla pulls up in her tracks until Erk runs over, drawing the animal's attention and a renewed set of growls. Erk splays his hands wide and speaks calmly to the animal as though it were a child.

"I'm here to help your friend. I do not wish to harm him, only to help."

The wolf, still with a low rumble in its throat, backs off enough for Erk to kneel beside Telwyn's body. Holding his hands to the wound, he closes his eyes and whispers, "Clangeddin, shine your grace on this fallen warrior so that he may once again take arms against our enemies..." His hands tingle as though vibrating, and with a gasp and then a painful groan, Telwyn reaches for the wound. [Cure Light Wounds, 10 hit points gained. Telwyn now has 8 hit points].

Smiling down at Telwyn, Erk speaks gently. "By Clangeddin's grace, you have been delivered from death, half-elf." Then, with a bit of a smirk, "Maybe you'd find it safer to fire your arrows from the cover of one of these buildings along the..." He is cut off as he feels an arrow strike him at the center of his back, blocked by his heavy armor. "Battle waits for no one - For Clangeddin!" He stands and prepares to return to the melee.

Standing just a little away from Telwyn and Erk, keeping her distance from the wolf, Kayla notices to raiders carrying torches and dressed in dark clothing running from the side of the tower farthest away from the fighting, heading directly for the inn.

Tussoc laughs heartily at Buchek's attempts, almost absent-mindedly deflecting the swords of two of the guards with a helicopter spin of his massive axe. "You think to kill me, whelp? You'd be no match for the least of my men!" From the spin, Tussoc strikes with a crushing overhand chop to Buchek's left collar bone, then rebounds the other blade rapidly upward to slash at the small ribs of his right side. [First attack roll 20, crit threat 12, no crit, damage 9. Second attack 24 after mod, damage 6. Total damage = 15]

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Satisfied with the result of his spell, Elotai shifts back into an elvish fighting stance, flicking the tip of his sword from a front guard to a higher attack posture. He steps forward and slightly to the left, pivoting around one of the fallen raiders, and --

The battle vanishes. His mind?s eye zooms away from him, down the street and into the inn. He sees flame, growing, burning brighter, and his inner vision is carried upward and outward by the burst. From above, he sees the inn engulfed in flame, exploding in orange-red heat.

He blinks.

The world is back. Momentarily panicked, he turns to look at the inn. There was no sign of anything untoward [the men with torches are on the other side of the building, he can?t see them]. Assuming that the inn was safe for the time being, Elotai turns back to face the more immediate threat ? Tussoc. He comes at the barbarian from the side, slashing upward with his blade.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Buchek hardly seems to feel Tussoc's blows, and he is too far gone in his rage to be more than half aware of the man's words. The barbarian's world contracts until it consists only of Nauhata, singing through the air in his left hand, and the man who murdered his father, standing before him. With a wordless bellow of rage, Buchek swings again.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Feeling as if all attempts at organization are slipping away, she calls out to Erk as he turns to rejoin the fighting. "Erk! Two behind us tryin'ta torch the Inn!"

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Holn makes his way, moving defensively, toward the archers and calling for Fancek.

OOC: *breaks into Adrian Belew song* ...big electric cat, big electric cat....

:D

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Erk takes a quick look behind him at Kayla's words. He is clearly torn, but decides to stay with the group. "I can't leave the others while they fight the leader." He will move up to help against Tussoc. "Telwyn, can you and Kayla fall back to protect the inn?" he'll call out as he advances.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

OOC: Whew! Glad to hear it Ty--otherwise, I kind of doubt that Buchek would survive this fight.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

How badly are you hurt? Should Erk be concerned about healing you right away? (he is down to two light heal spells)

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

"Hay, Telwyn. Help me?" She motions toward the raiders running into the Inn. Kayla puts the sling away and draws her handaxe. She's not much at hand-to-hand, but with a little luck...

(Kayla waits for Telwyn's response before she moves toward the raiders)

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Nah, he's got 37out of 52 hp left--he's fine for the moment. He's also got the die hard feat, so he's a little harder to kill than the average 4th level character. Of course, he also does stupid shit like attempting to take on a much more powerful opponent one on one, which makes him more likely to *be* killed, so it kind of evens out.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Seeing that Buchek looks a little beat up, but no where near ready to drop dead, Erk will do what he can to help defeat the raider chief. In this case, doing what he can involves a lot of hitting the raider in the knees with his axe. :)

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Say, Matt, what is the ground like under Buchek's feet? Grass? Sand? Dirt?

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

OOC: Matt, have the two going for the inn gotten there yet? If not, what's the range from Telwyn to them, and how far are they from the inn?

Subject: Questions Answered

Clara: There is still courage song on everyone, giving them a +1 bonus to attack and damage (not that it has really mattered so much at this point, since no one's been able to hit Tossuc yet). And your HP are 24.

Jake: The ground under Buchek's feet is hard packed dirt. It's the main road through the center of the outpost that heads across the bridge and into the Tall Grass.

Mike: The two men haven't gone into the inn yet, but they will enter it at the start of next turn. They're about ten feet away at this point. When Kayla mentions it to you, you will have time to look up and see them enter the building. Unfortunately, you won't have time to stand up, draw an arrow, notch and fire before they're safely inside.

Clarification of Raja/Elotai's vision: He saw and heard the explosion from behind him, but turned to see nothing (not that it makes any difference to any of your characters since it all happened in his head, but still, just for clarity's sake)

Subject: Re: Questions Answered

Telwyn gasps as the magic flows through him. Even with the stink of smoke and blood, the air is sweet in his nostrils, cool in his throat. He grasps Erk's hand and pulls himself into a sitting position. His wound scrapes against the hard dirt, and he grits his teeth. He's still far from whole, but there's nothing but gratitude on his face as he meets the dwarf's eyes.

His fingers brush against something as he sits up. Looking down, he sees the arrow that nearly claimed his life. It passed straight through his body before breaking against a small stone in the road. Telwyn picks up the arrowhead, which broke off with about an inch of shaft, and stares at it. For a moment, he hears no sound, sees nothing but the steel point in his hand.

When he looks up, a few brief seconds later, Erk is rushing toward the battle line and Kayla is rushing after two raiders, headed for the inn. Telwyn springs to his feet, nocking an arrow as he rises, but the raiders have too much of a head start. They're already in. He runs forward, whistling shrilly for Liwanu to follow.

OOC: Telwyn will rush all the way up to the door, keeping an arrow nocked. Once at the door, he will fire on the closest raider if he can see one. If not, he will stow his bow, draw his short sword, and wait to enter until the next turn.

Subject: Re: Attack! (part deux, or A 'Shocking' Development)

Kayla runs with Telwyn toward the Inn, keeping slightly behind him. She has her axe in hand.

Subject: Grrr...

Well, I dislocated my shoulder yesterday and my arm is in a sling. I'm typing one handed at this point until I get back some range of motion. I'm gonna try to get a turn out today, but it's gonna take me a while. Bear with me.

Subject: Attack! (part pi, or Tossuc Gets Tagged)

Elotai, seemingly distracted for just a moment by something behind him, swings his sword just wide of Tossuc's head, the blade glancing off the chain shirt covering the raider's shoulder. [attack 16, miss] Buchek, pressing ever forward, swings hard at his uncle's side, but almost loses his grip on his axe handle from the blood dripping down his arm. The axe head swings wide in a wild arc as he struggles for control. [attack roll 1 + 9 mod = 10, miss]

Holn circles behind the melee, stepping gingerly over the body of one of the unconscious barbarians dazzled by Elotai's blast, heading toward the remaining archer who is lighting another arrow off the side of a burning building.

Bermid, taking advantage of Tossuc's momentary distraction by the wildly flailing axe of Buchek, drives the point of his sword low, catching the side of the barbarian's leg and drawing a growl from the man's lips. [attack 24, hit, damage 11]. The guard beside him, who had been frozen by Erk earlier, presses the opening in Tossuc's defenses to score a hit on the barbarian's upper arm. [attack 20, damage 6]

Two other guards press in to attack almost at the same time, but interfere with one another and allow Tossuc to sidestep out of the way of their blades. However, in avoiding the two guards, the giant barbarian does not see Erk's dwarven war axe swinging hard at the small of his back, which forces him to stagger forward into Buchek's shoulder. [attack 27, hit, damage 12].

As the force of Erk's blow strikes the barbarian, the sky above lights up in a large explosion sending a blast of sound across the courtyard. Kayla and Telwyn, both running for the door of the inn, are blown nearly off their feet into the doorframe by a shockwave coming from the tower. Glancing back, they see black smoke rising from behind the structure, and large cracks that have crept up the face of the edifice.

Tossuc, having landed hard on Buchek's shoulder grabs roughly ahold of him [touch attack 18] and whispers in his ear, "It is time for me to leave you, nephew. My work here is done." With that, the world is plunged into darkness for all those in the melee. Elotai, feeling a form rush past him, tries to take a swing, but strikes nothing [AoO on Tossuc moving backward 9, miss] Holn, looking back, sees only a cloud of inky blackness where the group had been before lit by dim torchlight.

Out of the cloud, Tossuc runs along with two of the other raiders, seemingly right at him.

[ODM: Okay. Logistics. The two torch bearers are in the inn. Kayla and Telwyn are up against the doorframe of the inn, having been knocked there by the explosion at the base of the tower. Erk, Buchek, Bermid and Elotai are in the dark with a 20% miss chance, and have heard their opponents' footsteps withdraw away from them. Elotai tried to make an AoO, as did one guard, but both missed. Holn now sees Tossuc and two raiders coming toward him, and has watched the last archer light an arrow.]

Subject: Attack! (part pi, or Tossuc Gets Tagged)

With a howl, Buchek leaps after Tossuc, charging in the direction of the retreating footsteps, prepared to bowl over any who get between him and his uncle.

OOC: Matt, my inclination is to have Buchek tackle Tossuc if he catches up to him, but I'm not sure what the rules are for that type of attack, or how proficient Buchek would be at it (not that he could be much less proficient than he's proving himself to be with his axe). Can you tell me?

Subject: Attack! (part pi, or Tossuc Gets Tagged)

Malevolent syllables of energy come to Holn's lips, electricity crackles all around him. He will stand his ground against the enemy.

(Shocking Grasp)

Subject: Attack! (part pi, or Tossuc Gets Tagged)

Erk is happy to see the raiders retreating while his whole party is still alive. But the detonation of the tower makes him wonder what their true purpose was. They lost many lives in this raid. What did it gain them? He hopes to find out after the dust has settled.

In the meantime, he dimly sees Buchek hurtling off after the leader. Barbarians. Good rumblers, no discipline. But he will do what he can to help.

OOC: Matt, if Erk has the time, he will drop his axe (free action), draw a hand axe as part of his move (+1 or better bab lets him draw and move in same move action) and throw it at the fleeting Tussoc (regular action). Can he pull this off? How far will Tussoc be by the time he can throw it? Will he still have the 20% concealment?

Subject: Attack! (part pi, or Tossuc Gets Tagged)

The darkness? arrival is instantaneous and absolute. A spell. Tussoc had touched something on Buchek...

...how could a barbarian, clearly a warrior, be able to conjure magical darkness? He must not be stupid... or perhaps he had the blessing of something divine.

A faint image manifests itself in Elotai?s mind. Tussoc, something... as quickly as the image arrives, though, it is gone. Before he can begin to think about interpreting it, the ground shivers beneath him. Instinctively he turns to look at the inn, even though he can see nothing in the darkness. If Tussoc cast a darkness glamour on Buchek?s person, or perhaps his weapon, then the best way to escape the black would be to stay put.

?Dwarf Erk! This darkness is magical!? he calls out. ?The big one cast it on our berserk friend!? He can?t think of any better way to refer to the barbarian who had been in the guard house [Elotai does not, as I recall, know Buchek?s name]. He reverses his grip on his sword and snaps it quickly into its sheath.

Elotai will spend this round getting his bow out and an arrow ready. He will also move as far forward as he can while doing this.