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Pelias tries to hack his way through opponents 19 and 20 now that Grothnak is down. He will try to get behind the bar and reduce the number facing him.
Hi,
Hoom's one chosen magic item is lockpicks enchanted to add +20% to their roll. So Mouser successfully opens Ingrid's cage with them.
But the DMG p. 19 says most locks take 1-4 rounds to pick.
The crude simplicity of these locks will require only 1 round.
So Mouser can't also open Vodarte's cage this round, after opening Ingrid's.
His roll for Vodarte's cage can carry over for next round, if he wishes to use next rounds' action opening Vodarte's cage.
Also, AleBelly: Withdrawing from this current melee will allow at least some of your opponents an extra attack on you. Do you wish to proceed? Thanks.
Ingrid is getting ready to spend the rest of her life in that cage, when the old, rusty lock clanks open under the efforts of the Mouser. Ingrid climbs down. At first she almost collapses: her muscles are strained and weakened from the bondage.
While Mouser is working on the lock on Ingrid's cage. He cuts the bonds of Vodarte and rouses the human. "Vodarte, wake! Wake you human!. We must flee this prison."
Day Four
Village of Briarsgate
Evening. Wednesday, October 19th, 576 CY
Cold, Thunderstorms
Within the Golden Grain Inn's common room, her many patrons toiled as one with fevered, demented industry to wreak merciless havoc upon the bodies of the adventurers who dared enter there.
From the inn's floor, amid blood, broken glass and shattered wood furniture, the wounded Bertram Beswill glares up at Pelias with acidic malice. "It matters not... I am one, but we are legion," he snarls as unconsciousness overtakes him. "...Soon, you will join with us... As will all."
Derek Desleigh, the dark, eyepatched killer (21), chuckles with twisted pleasure to see harm come to Beswill. No one else seems to notice the master of the madhouse's bleeding body, as the maelstrom of hatred and steel raged on beneath its twin of lightning and thunder.
KRAKA-THOOM!
Telkis witnesses mighty Grothnak fall beneath unrelenting cudgels and steel and his desperation grows. Distractedly, he attempts to break the jaw of a murderous, armored villager and fails to connect. "Pelias, don't fall to these vermin. Work your way to a corner so they can't surround you!" he cries.
Pelias nods with grim determination and hacks his longsword into a leather armored lunatic on his left (19), drawing blood. The young paladin follows Telkis' advice and presses his advantage against the wounded foe to push past him and around the long wooden bar. As he withdraws, all his foes brutally hammer at him, their blows deflecting from his armor.
The rapacious townsfolk keep spending their lives cheaply and without hesitation, like army ants bringing down a pride of lions.
The madmen who felled Grothnak instantly turn and run toward their remaining enemies, their frenzied thirst for violence unslaked.
Four homicidal villagers single-mindedly advance over the growing crimson field of bloody, beaten comrades to attack Telkis. Backed into the corner, the gnome warrior staves off yet another savage barrage!
Shattering glasses and steins, three ferocious, wild-eyed townsmen clamber to climb onto the bar to lay siege to the retreating Pelias, and only two succeed. A fourth maniac follows Pelias around the bar and joins a bloodthirsty assault that cannot get past the paladin's shield!
Telkis, still distracted by their ever dwindling odds in this surreal war of attrition, misses the deranged villager on his right with Cranach!
Pelias slashes at the dirty, rat-faced cook (20) standing on the bar and hacks off an entire leg! The cook falls from the bar, spraying it with blood and gore.
Strangely, Derek Desleigh (21), the eyepatched man, seems to be the only villager not fanatically charging forward, eager to meet Pelias' sword or Telkis' morningstar. The cook's horrific demise wipes the sardonic smirk from his face. Desleigh was unable to reach Pelias behind the bar, and the paladin could tell the man was already beginning to calculate the likelihood of his survival.
Actions?
Golden Grain Inn 5.jpg (421.32 KiB) Viewed 1379 times
DM Notes:
Map:
Each square is 5 feet.
The bracket shapes in the walls are chimneys.
BB is Bertram Beswill. W1 and W2 are serving wenches. Eyepatched Desleigh is 21. The ratfaced cook is 20. 15-19 have studded leather armor.
Red markers are unconscious or dead.
Sharing a 5' square with someone while fighting (even if they are unconscious) gives a penalty of -1 to hit.
The Kitchen (room 2) only shows what can be seen from Telkis’ POV.
Telkis has -2 to hit, reaction and initiative.
The party has within it people who attack twice, so no Initiative roll is needed. Party goes first and last.
In the chamber of horrors beneath the Golden Grain Inn, Hoom quietly, quickly attempts to rescue Ingrid, Mouser and Vodarte from their iron cages!
After Hoom roused Ingrid from her drug-induced sleep, the elf moves to Mouser's cage and shifts the cutpurse's body within the cage close to Ingrid. Then he cuts Mouser's bonds with the dagger from his teeth.
Ingrid calls upon the power and grace of Trithereon, and heals the Mouser's badly beaten form (+1 hp). The little thief awakens, still groggy from his poisoned ale, and still in pain from the sever beating he took at the hands of the villagers of Briarsgate.
Borrowing Hoom's enchanted lockpicks, Mouser returns the favor and tricks open the lock on Ingrid's cage, freeing the priestess.
Hoom cuts the bonds of Vodarte and rouses the human. "Vodarte, wake! Wake, you human!. We must flee this prison."
The ranger awakens, still dazed and woozy from Bertram Beswill's hospitality.
Mouser moves toward Vodarte's cage. "We're in no condition to join the ruckus above. While I free Vodarte, try the chests."
Above them, the sounds of wanton violence and bloodshed rampaged on!
Actions?
Golden Grain Inn Cellar 5.jpg (273.52 KiB) Viewed 1379 times
DM Notes:
Map:
Each square is 5 feet.
Shape and size of the inn’s foundation/cellar is an estimation only, based on the first floor’s footprint.
The ‘circle C’ is the trapdoor in the ceiling.
Cage locks are +10% to be picked, due to their crude construction.
Ingrid and Vodarte, drugged and groggy, have -4 to hit, reaction and initiative.
Mouser, who made his save against Poison, has -2 to hit, reaction and initiative.
Status: Elden Vodarte, Human Ranger 2: AC 3, HP 20/20. Very groggy The Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 4, HP 1/10, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl. Groggy Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP -3/17 Unconscious Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 3, HP 6/8, Spells: 0/1 1st lvl Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 14/16, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl and 3/3 2nd lvl. Very groggy Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP -2/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl and 1/2 2nd lvl Unconscious Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2, HP 2/19 Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 15/19 Groggy
Magic: Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.
Cellar description wrote:Two chests lean against the northern wall. On the southern wall is a stout wooden door with a large bar across it, holding the door shut tight. Another door, unbarred, is set into the western wall. The chamber is 10' x 25', running north to south.
"Our torturers left through that door," she points to the western wall, "to join the fight in the main room of the inn... We are still at the inn, right? Where does the trapdoor lead to? One of the private rooms?" she asks Hoom. "We need information about what's happening upstairs."
She takes a few steps towards the chests, whispers a short prayer: "Trithereon, reveal all that's obscured, all that's hidden." She checks the chests, than both doors as well.
Telkis is sickened by the manner in which the villagers trample their wounded to get to him. He knows that when he and Pelias have finally defeated this mob, as they must if they are to help their friends Grothnak and Bo, the victory will be a hollow one. He focuses on the armored foes first, still striking to subdue.
'Ooof!' Poisoned or no, that was just a mistake, trying to use the Kettlecurl-Twinman technique when surrounded by five assailants. That move requires six attackers, he recalls ruefully...
At this rate, I look forward to being rescued by the party members being resued right now, later.
"Yes, you are in the basement of the inn. You must leave through the trap door above. It will take to a private bedroom. Leave through the same door as the window. It leads outside to freedom. Head for the stables and hide yourselves there. I will come get you once I tell the others of your escape and we can all depart for a safer place."
Hoom sheaths his dagger and climbs up the ladder. "Mouser, take good care of my tools for me. They were a gift from my foster father."
Back in the semi darkened room, the only light shinning from the open trap door below, Hoom draws his short sword and opens the interior door which hopeful leads to the his embattle friends in the main hall. He silently slips pass the threshold and shuts the door behind him using any shadows to his advantage.
Pelias still winces from Derek's treacherous backstab. As he sees five foes surrounding Telkis, he wonders how long the last two bastions of light will remain standing. "Enough!" bellows the paladin, swinging with the flat of his blade to knock out his combatants.
Day Four
Village of Briarsgate
Evening. Wednesday, October 19th, 576 CY
Cold, Thunderstorms
In the eerie dungeon under the Golden Grain Inn, a tense, breathless jailbreak was transpiring to the din of a pitched battle above.
Hoom Feethos tells the former prisoners where they are, and describes their path to freedom. Then the elven rescuer scales the ladder up through the trapdoor in the ceiling and is gone.
The Grey Mouser successfully picks the crude lock on Vodarte's iron cage with Hoom's enchanted lockpicks. The door creaks open.
Ingrid Esthof lowers herself from her cage, takes a few steps north, and whispers a short prayer: "Trithereon, reveal all that's obscured, all that's hidden." The cleric's holy power detects no traps anywhere in the chamber. She opens the two unlocked, large, brass-bound chests and finds the party's missing possessions; armor, weapons, spell components, holy symbol and gear.
Actions?
Golden Grain Inn Cellar 6.jpg (272.15 KiB) Viewed 1323 times
DM Notes:
Map:
Each square is 5 feet.
Shape and size of the inn’s foundation/cellar is an estimation only, based on the first floor’s footprint.
The ‘circle C’ is the trapdoor in the ceiling.
Cage locks are +10% to be picked, due to their crude construction.
Ingrid and Vodarte, drugged and groggy, have -4 to hit, reaction and initiative.
Mouser, who made his save against Poison, has -2 to hit, reaction and initiative.
Hoom Feethos climbs the ladder up and out of the chamber of horrors back into the dark bedroom, now underlit from the open trap door below. The thunderstorm still rages outside the northern window, as does warfare to the west. Hoom draws his short sword and opens the southern, interior door and silently advances into an empty, unlit, living area. Four large chairs face the cold fireplace on the eastern wall. A bare wooden table is surrounded by four hard chairs. Crates of plates and mugs are stacked in the southeast corner. The sounds of conflict are louder here. The elf creeps silently down a short corridor and quietly opens a door in the western wall.
For the third time, Hoom opens a door within the Golden Grain Inn onto a scene of unforgettable horror.
The common room is a slaughterhouse. Almost two dozen bodies, bleeding, broken or dead, cover the floor, Grothnak and Long Bo among them. Telkis and Pelias are all that remain, fighting for their lives against nine villagers of Briarsgate, all seemingly possessed by murderous, evil spirits bent on frenzied destruction!
Telkis sees Hoom suddenly appear in the doorway of the well lit room, and hammers another of his many crazed assailants (18) leveling him with one blow of his morningstar!
Pelais swings wildly, failing to connect with any of the demented townsfolk that try to surround him!
The demoniac patrons of the Golden Grain Inn continue their chaotic onslaught. Four lunatics attack Telkis but his armor and agility defend him again. One crazed villager, a rail-thin muleskinner (14) who had viciously beaten Long Bo into unconsciousness, drops a cudgel that was slippery with blood. Two more enraged fanatics attack Pelias and the paladin's shield blocks their frantic strikes!
Telkis misses an attempt to crush the ribs of a mad foe, and Pelias batters the flat of his blade across the face of a friendly traveling merchant who came to Briarsgate months ago and never left. The merchant is injured by Pelias but still awake and filled with wild, murderous intent.
Derek Desleigh, the dark, eyepatched killer (21), chooses the better part of valor and strolls to the front door, steps over Grothnak and the bloody remains of the town's butcher, and walks out into the stormy night.
Actions?
Golden Grain Inn 6.jpg (467.04 KiB) Viewed 1323 times
DM Notes:
Map:
Each square is 5 feet.
The bracket shapes in the walls are chimneys.
BB is Bertram Beswill. W1 and W2 are serving wenches. Eyepatched Desleigh is 21. The ratfaced cook is 20. 15-19 have studded leather armor.
Red markers are unconscious or dead.
Sharing a 5' square with someone while fighting (even if they are unconscious) gives a penalty of -1 to hit.
The Kitchen (room 2) only shows what can be seen from Telkis’ POV.
Telkis has -2 to hit, reaction and initiative.
The party has within it people who attack twice, so no Initiative roll is needed. Party goes first and last.
Status: Elden Vodarte, Human Ranger 2: AC 3, HP 20/20. Very groggy The Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 4, HP 1/10, Spells: 1/1 1st lvl. Groggy Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP -3/17 Unconscious Hoom Feethos, Elven Magic-User/Thief 1/2: AC 3, HP 6/8, Spells: 0/1 1st lvl Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 14/16, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl and 3/3 2nd lvl. Very groggy Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP -2/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl and 1/2 2nd lvl Unconscious Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2, HP 2/19 Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 15/19 Groggy
Magic: Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.
Having had poorer luck with the armor clad villagers, Telkis decides to see if he can take out two of the others - he's not sure how much longer he can keep up this defense and hopes to hasten its end by reducing the odds a little (aiming to subdue 01 and 14).
If he notices Hoom (but only if he's already been spotted by the villagers): "HOOM! There you are! It seems... you were right. ... 'huff puff'... I owe you an apology, sir! ... I doubted your word... Oof!"
The footpad retrieves his belongings and slinks out of the house through the window, as Hoom described. He makes his to the stable and climbs into the loft or, if there is none, onto the roof.
