Episode 3: Caston's Defense

[Norjax]

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Round 17-3

Frank Rock leads the three tied-up (two still groggy and one wounded) jousters towards the main gate of Caston. Guards on the wall shout orders to unseen people inside the town telling them to "prepare and receive prisoners".

The guards assume a more relaxed posture as they watch the March of Sgt. Rock into Caston.

...

[Grognardsw]

Luke, human

Luke gathers his spent shells. He patrols the wall to see if there are any more enemy targets, and if so shoots his crossbow.

[Broggrim]

Bart, Mutant Human

Bart equips his axe as he follows the fleeing Ants-men, slinging the crossbow. He is weary to fire; seeing the collared ones and the Ants-men paths intersect. He will head toward a collared one see if he can be of assistance.

[Norjax]

...

Round 17-4

Bart makes his way west, following the path of the retreating Ant Lord forces. The enemy forces are under continual attack from the missile weapons of Caston's defenders. A few of the Ant Lord's troops fire back, in a reactionary move, but fail to hit any targets as they are focused on gaining distance from the wall defender's ranges.

Bart heads for an intercept of the former Bombard captives. The collared-ones continue heading towards Caston and Bart attempts to gain their attention. When he gets close, he notices the eyes of the former captives are rolled so only the whites are showing. The collared-ones are unresponsive to Bart's verbal hails and they continue forward, unabated, in a trance-induced march!

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[Mimdalf]

Blixx Mutant Human

Blixx will reload his flintlock and then scan for and targets of opportunity that may be present. He looks for any still fighting, he is not one to shoot opponents fleeing the field.

[Norjax]

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Round 17-5

Blixx pauses in flight and rapidly rises away from the range of the Ant Lord forces’ gunfire. He reloads his musket while scanning the battlefield for any enemy whom is engaged in hostile actions. The Ant Lord’s forces seem pre-occupied with moving away from Caston and protecting their diminutive leader, so Blixx finishes reloading and provides security for Caston’s defenders.

You have 4 bullets left, including the one just loaded.

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Round 17-6

Nor-jax gleefully parades Jet the SoB into Caston with one of the militia troopers. Other militia troops meet them once inside the walls, and some of the residents throw rocks and refuse at the arrogant prisoner.

Lorriss, the Militia Leader, approaches and then commands one of the troopers, “Tell the Seeress we have an prisoner for interrogation.”She then looks at Jet with a ‘matter of fact glare’; “The Seeress will be gentle, yet invasive with her mind probe. Try not to resist or you will have to endure a second session. I wouldn’t recommend that.”

Jet defiantly lunges forward but is restrained by the Mutant Gorilla. “Jet-man is now Bad-man! Nor-jax no like traitors!”

…


Mysaurus orders an end to the pursuit and commands his group to subdue the Bombard captives before they injure themselves.


End of Round 17

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[Norjax]

Map:



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Round 18

Kapok, Luke and Bart have already declared their actions.

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Round 18-1

The first chicken beast thrashes its neck like whip and begins to rise. Kapok focuses on its mind and attempts to instill an emotion of calm into the joust-beast. The weak-minded animal gently stands and then bows on its knees letting out a soothing caw.

Kapok, WIL roll [1d20] = 7

The second beast wakens and rises to its feet, but Kapok is unable to act again. The beast clucks two or three times and then darts off to the south, heading away from the action.

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Round 18-2

Luke moves farther to the west along Caston’s wall. He joins the wall defenders in taking pot shots at the retreating forces. He hits one of the rear adversaries for 2 points of damage.

Luke, Crossbow [1d20+3] = 9+3 = 12, [1d6] = 2 dmg.

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Round 18-3

Bart reaches the collared-ones before Mysaurus and his troop. He tries to physically restrain one of the former captives, but the man presents an inhumanly strong resistance. Bart exerts his entire strength to stop the ‘possessed’ person and is successful.

Bart, STR check, Hard difficulty [4d6] = 9


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[max_vale]

Frank, Pure Human

Frank leads the prisoners inside the wall and turns them over to any guard that wants to take them. He then takes a quick break and gulps down a bit of water before heading back out and checking to see if any of his companions require any assistance....

[Norjax]

…

Round 18-4

Frank enters Caston to hand over the three prisoners. He accepts a few swigs of water from the militia troopers, does his best imitation of an ancient salute and bounds back onto the battlefield to assist his comrades.

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[Broggrim]

Bart, Mutant Human

Bart speaks soothingly to his captive as he examines the collar. Is it mad, under the influence of the Ant’man, or in a panic?

“Tell me do you have a name?”

Bart will attempt to remove or break the collar.

[Norjax]

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Round 18-5

Nor-jax spends round 18 helping the town militia secure the prisoners.

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[Dogma]

Nor-jax, Mutant Animal

I don't think anyone is attacking the walls still so Nor-Jax will continue to guard the prisoners, and Jet specifically, until the others come back.

"Why Jet-man become bad -man and attack nice people in town? Nice town people feed Nor-jax and be nice to him. Jet used to be nice."

[max_vale]

Frank, Pure Human

Frank wanders over to see how Kapok is doing with the Chicken-beasts."You doing okay with the birdies there?";he asks his companion.

[Alethan]

Kapok, Mutant Plant

Kapok grinds a shrug in reply. "If only one wakes at a time, I can calm it down and blindfold it for the village to keep. If more than one? Others run away before I can get to them."

As he says that, he blindfolds the bird that is currently awake. Then he tethers its legs to keep it from running away. After that is done, he has an idea and tethers the legs of the sleeping birds, as well, so they at least can't run away when they wake up.

[Grognardsw]

Luke, human

Seeing the battle over as the enemy drifts off, Luke rejoins the others.

"Maybe we can use them there birds as steeds ourselves. Hi yo silver!"

[Norjax]

...

The Ant Lord and his forces move off to the west. Mysaurus and his troop reach the bombard captives and, following Bart’s lead, attempt to restrain the zombie-like former prisoners. They have limited success subduing the captives, and several reach the wall only to self-inflict injuries by bashing into the wall.

End of Round 18

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[Norjax]

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Round 19

Bart tries to sooth the agitation of the captive, but has little luck. The man continues to struggle against Bart’s hold, so he has to exert more effort to continue subduing the former prisoner. Bart cannot attempt to remove the man’s collar while he struggles to keep him still.

Bart, STR check, Hard difficulty [4d6-1] = 14-1 = 13

Jet struggles against his restraints, forcing enough of a pause to address Nor-jax.

“You simian fool; I was only nice because of an incorrect assumption. When I came to this area, looking for the Ant Lord, I assumed your group of mutants was allied with him. Look around; which group should you belong to? Caston with its human-centric makeup or the Ant Lord who integrates mutants into his command based on ability and skill? The Ant Lord is an indiscriminant leader who immediately recognized my leadership potential. He wants to form a society where mutants and humans are equals. Here, it appears everyone grovels at the feet of Mysaurus.” The militia guards strike Jet across the back, encouraging him to move forward.

Frank and Kapok discuss the chicken-beasts. One has been tamed by Kapok and the other is running away to the south. A third beast (who lost its rider) is off to the west and has paused, no longer following the retreating forces.

By the time Luke makes his way outside Caston, the chicken-beast to the south has stopped and appears to be pecking the ground looking for food.

Blixx continues to hover at his position, keeping his distance from the retreating Ant Lord group but watching their direction and route of travel.

End of Round 19

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[Alethan]

Kapok, Mutant Plant

Kapok goes after the nearest chicken, using his mental powers to calm it down so he can approach it. He send an empathic suggestion to "submit".

[Norjax]

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Kapok moves south towards one of the chicken-beasts. He slows his approach when he gets near and empathically imprints a suggestion of “submit”. The bird looks up at Kapok, emits a friendly ‘cluck’ and then trots over to the mutant plant. The sudden move of the chicken-beast startles Kapok and he backs away, keeping the bird’s beak from inspecting his foliage. A gentle gesture diverts the chicken-beast’s attention and it stares curiously at the walls of Caston, successfully subdued.

Kapok, WIL roll [1d20] = 9

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[Alethan]

Kapok, Mutant Plant

Kapok tethers the bird and leads it back to the other tethered bird. Then he will go after the remaining bird.