IC I

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


Kaa bites her lip, turning to Tychon and Babu. "We are already wanted for the highest crime. We are expected. Our enemies have ensorcelled whoever they can. Can you think of any reason not to do as much damage as possible as fast as possible? Other than rushing into a trap. Because unless their gods are particularly cruel, they cannot execute us more than once."

[Rodriguez]

Kaa, shaman


Kaa bites her lip, turning to Tychon and Babu. "We are already wanted for the highest crime. We are expected. Our enemies have ensorcelled whoever they can. Can you think of any reason not to do as much damage as possible as fast as possible? Other than rushing into a trap. Because unless their gods are particularly cruel, they cannot execute us more than once."

Ishanter the Crone, Henchmen of Styr

The old Isha cackles and says " Might be worth it to not kill everyone right now... They might have a thing or two to say." before checking the fallen guards for survivors.

[thirdkingdom]

Harald dashes around the side of the house. Before he can turn the corner again, four more guards come into view. They are perhaps twenty feet away and are leveling their crossbows at the charging barbarian. Neither Harald nor the guards have the advantage of surprise. To Harald's right the adobe wall of the house ends and it opens up onto a wooden porch. The top of the railing around the porch is perhaps five feet off the ground.

Styr throws himself with reckless abandon through a window. Glass shatters and goes flying in all directions; several large shards dig into Styr's flesh. The injuries may have been worth it, however, as Styr finds himself in what appears to be a drawing room, facing a quartet of surprised guards preparing to fire out of an adjoining window. They look at the assassin with curiously blank expressions on their face.

I gave Styr a save v. breath weapon. He failed, and suffered 4 hp. However, he now has one surprise round within which to act.
Please note that as the house is adobe it will be difficult to start a fire from without. Mellas is a dry climate, however, with wood being bone dry, so it should be fairly easy to start a fire from within the house, if desired.

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

When the first battle ends, Babu goes to the leader, and checks his pouch, looking for keys or messages.

To Kaa, he replies "We should clear this place of its contamination quickly, and be far from here before dusk. They will all be against us. If one has resisted the sorcery, let her speak up."

When it becomes clear that we are still in the thick of it, Babu will take Kondo at a run around the other side of the house to clear out men waiting there.

[NJWilliam]

Tychon the Blue, Mage

Tychon moves to the main door of the house, and waits next to it and against the wall, ready to surprise any patrolmen that might exit.

His henchman, Adtas, moves to the other side of the door, likewise pressed against the wall and ready to ambush.

[Rodriguez]

Styr finds himself in what appears to be a drawing room, facing a quartet of surprised guards preparing to fire out of an adjoining window. They look at the assassin with curiously blank expressions on their face.

A happy smile brightens up Styrs scratched face as he sees the expression of the guards. Then, without even blinking, his axe swings around as he chops at the closest guard with savage ferocity. Styr wont take any prisoners.

Its chopping time...

[sulldawga]

Harald

Harald yells, "Hawkeyes! To me!"

Then he charges.

Atlanaut (sword) - +4 to hit, d6+4 dmg

[thirdkingdom]

Round One

Styr, ignoring the cuts inflicted by the breaking glass, wades into the surprised guards with great gusto. His bearded axe bites deeply into the arm thigh of one of the guards but fails to bring him down.

Outside, Harald continues his mad rush towards the second guard unit. One of the guards is able to get off a shot with his crossbow, but the bolt whistles harmlessly past Harald's ear. He bowls into the four men, Atlanaut flashing as the blade disembowels one with lightning speed. His return stroke deals a second guard a head wound that begins to bleed freely.

Babu begins to search the original dead guards but, at the sound of violence, decides he is better off joining the fray. Tychon follows close behind, discovering that the guard unit stands between himself and the main door into the villa. Off in the distance the mercenaries begin to charge towards the villa but stay a good distance away. None of them are armed or armored for a melee, and seem unsure about firing into the current fray for risk of hitting their employer.

Oops. Didn't realize we were missing intentions from a couple of people. That's alright, Harald essentially charged ahead of everyone else, so if you didn't post intentions you can act in the upcoming round. Babu will arrive at the same time, as well.

To recap, Harald is currently engaging a party of guards around the side of the house. Tychon, Babu and assorted henchdudes are approaching. Styr is inside fighting an indeterminate -- to those outside the house, at least -- number of foes.

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

Pesha makes his way to Tychon, Babu and the henchmen; approaching with that larger group instead of alone.

[sulldawga]

Harald

Harald will press the attack on the second group of guards. Once he notices that the Hawkeyes have arrived, he'll shout, "Let none escape!"

I'm ok that they're not firing into melee. It means they're following orders.

Atlanaut (sword) - +4 to hit, d6+4 dmg

[Hrafn]

Kaa, Shaman

Babu the Monkey
When the first battle ends, Babu goes to the leader, and checks his pouch, looking for keys or messages.

To Kaa, he replies "We should clear this place of its contamination quickly, and be far from here before dusk. They will all be against us. If one has resisted the sorcery, let her speak up."

When it becomes clear that we are still in the thick of it, Babu will take Kondo at a run around the other side of the house to clear out men waiting there.

"I agree. We could sneak through to the heart while the rest draw fire. Tychon, can you make us invisible? Else we would have to sneak in as an animal, and I would rather not."

[NJWilliam]

Tychon the Blue, Mage

Tychon shakes his head at the question about invisibility, "Nay, I cannot yet."

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


Kaa sighs. "Back up plan then, 'destroy everything and hope our allies can duck'. Babu, you may be... Much more capable of this than I. If I change I'm still a massive target, and without my sorceries. If you change, you have stealth and thumbs. Let us see if we can get you into the heart of the place, I will give you a flask of oil, and we can try and grab some of the holy water stok, you and Bibi could carry them in belt pouches, like backpacks. But every minute we spend out here with these guards is like kicking at a shed skin."

[drpete]

Babu the Monkey

Babu shakes his head "No, I don't think we need to worry, yet. Let's just hurry and take them out as quickly as possible."

He joins the attack, and continues around the building looking for more.

[Fearghus]

Pesha the Wanderer

"As Babu said, we must make haste". Pesha tries to open the front door.

[Hrafn]

Kaa, shaman


Grimly, then, Kaa follows, looking to use her spear over Babu's shoulder in support.

[thirdkingdom]

Round Two

The remaining guards outside are quickly overwhelmed by the surging adventurers, who, led by Pesha, dash past the corpses of the fallen and onto the porch, towards the door. The mercenary captain shouts at Harald that she will use here men to establish a perimeter outside.

Inside, Styr quickly dispatches two of the guards, splitting the head of the second like an overripe melon. One of the surviving two gets luck and clips the assassin with the butt of his crossbow, it being too close for missile fire and the guards not having the opportunity to draw blades. In the following seconds, Styr recovers nicely from his minor injury but the guards, too, seem to have recovered from their surprise. The one ducks out of the way from Styr's blow, then both guards are on him, pummeling him with their crossbows. It is at that moment that Styr's companions rush through the door. The remaining two guards are pulled off of Styr and subdued.

My previous rolls were not saved, for some reason, so I reconstructed only the inside combat with Styr, simply because outside there were the remaining guards outside -- all 1st level fighters -- and the rest of the party. Sty takes a total of 7 hp damage, as follows: 2, 2, 3.

I made the call that the remaining two guards would be kept alive, rather than slain. Also, in order to arrive so quickly there would have been no time to investigate the house.

[sulldawga]

Harald

"Anyone want to question these two? I'd as likely kill 'em as look at 'em right now."

Harald will poke his head back outside, tell Sylmarchael 'anyone shows up - ANYONE - you send someone to tell me immediately', and then go back inside. He'll be on guard for any more surprises or guard patrols.

[thirdkingdom]

Once the violence of combat has ended, the house is silent.

Hear Noise: (1d6=3)

[Rodriguez]

Styr the Axe Murderer

Styr is really furious that the guards put up so much resistance though calms quickly once the rest of the group afrived and took them out. He sits down on a chair, inspecting his bloodied axe while Ishanter starts to prepare some Comfrey to clean the cuts Styr received.
"Now what?" asks Styr "Take a tour through this house before putting it to the torch?"