Play by Post D&D: The New Begining

[Uncle Yuan]

Problem: there's a very slick area of floor between Orloid and the bar. 

Crud.  Is there a way around this?  We'll try to skirt it as much as possible.  I'm picturing the Cleansing Flame crew as being behind us relative to the bar, so while we may add to the spectacle, we should be well enough away from them.  If there's no clear path we'll just have to take it slowly, keeping more towards the wall.

OOC: GG, do you have any way of making a diagram?

[Glitch Girl]

Always the hardest part of play by post: dealing with placement.

Here's a rough map

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. spacer
= window
/ door
# bar
F fireplace
S Shalla
A Armored guy
g grease spell (also extends out into the rain a bit)

Note this is not exactly to scale, but as close as I could get it using ASCII. There are also a few tables scattered throughout (not to mention patrons) but I'm splintting my attention between this and work.

[Viking]

OOG: It's still a fine, functional map, GG.  It helps a lot when it comes to envisioning things.

Since my bard has been making a point of backing away from the action, and Dakkon's original post placed him in a corner, not too far away from the fireplace, and our John Doe is lying close to the fireplace, I'm presuming that it shouldn't be too hard for me to sidle over to where the young priest and others are attempting to help the bandaged man.  I'm still carefully gauging what the Cleansing Flame crew is paying attention to, however.

Quietly spoken, in Elven, to the elves by the fire:
[spoiler]"I beg pardon for the inadvertent obstacle.  Do you require assistance?"[/spoiler]

[BlueBard]

Keeping an eye on the unfolding chaos, I reply to the bard in Elven:

[spoiler]"It is no worse than I was about to do.  Please take this," I hand him my hunting horn, "and follow me.  Do blow it when I signal you.  Let us put an end to this."[/spoiler]

I pick up Orloid's bow and arrows and move to the edge of the greased area with an arrow nocked.  Once in position, I will point the arrow at the armored man's exposed face and then nod to the bard.  I assume we will get the full attention of the brawlers.

Then I will say in Common to the brawlers, "Sheathe your weapons or suffer the consequences."

Of course if the bard does not follow my lead or if there's no way to get a clean shot, I don't do any of this.  I'm trying to stop the fight, not get someone killed if I can help it.  I don't want to make the situation worse than it already is.

[Viking]

Naturally, the bard blows the horn when prompted.

[Uncle Yuan]

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|ffff|...*.......gggggggggg *.......|
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. spacer
= window
/ door
# bar
F fireplace
S Shalla
A Armored guy
g grease spell (also extends out into the rain a bit)

*Orloid and Nathan's path

OK - we shouldn't have to cross too much of the Grease.  We'll track around to the "north" and try to cut that one corner as tight as possible.  At least if we go down in a heap we'll be more-or-less behind the bar.

[Panther_Gunn]

Og is still moving forward, only now it's a little faster and a lot less controlled. He's still aimed at the unarmed Hobgoblin who tries to scramble out of the way.

He doesn't.  Og skids into him and both crash to the floor. There're loud whoops of laughter from the halfling table.

ooc:  orientation, please?  Has Og landed next to the hobgoblin, on top of, or underneath?

[Glitch Girl]

The hobgoblin is currently stuck under Og's mighty girth.

Go head and post his action, I'll wait before  I sort out the action

[Panther_Gunn]

The hobgoblin is currently stuck under Og's mighty girth.

oog: mwahahahahahaha! :twisted:

ig:  Once the momentum of the slide has halted, Og begins to berate the hobgoblin.

"Stupid hobble-gobble!", and he punctuates his sentence with a blow down onto whichever body part of the hobgoblin's is convenient.  "Spill food on Og, then *trip* Og!  Og squish you!"  Og wll hold onto the hobgoblin's body with his left hand (for balance, and so he can't squirm away) and pummel away with his right, obviously venting quite a bit of frustration.

[BentonGrey]

OOC:  Hahahaha!  Man, Og's just plain fun to bring along on an adventure!  If Dakkon can manage it without ending up on his face, he's going to try and disarm the remaining hobgoblin between himself and his chosen opponet

[Glitch Girl]

Og manages to right himself enough to grab a handful of hobgoblin cranium and bonk it against the wooden floor.

"Stupid hobble-gobble!" [bonk] "Spill food on Og" [bonk] "Then *trip* Og!" [bonk] "Og squish you!" [bonk]

The hobgoblin kicks a little, trying to dislodge Og.  It ain't happening.

Meanwhile, Dakkon takes another swing at the nearest armed hobgoblin.  Blade meets blade but the hobgoblin is more preared than the last and manages to keep hold of his weapon.  He takes a swipe at Dakkon who nimbly avoids it, using the grease to lside out of the way.

"Sheathe your weapons or suffer the consequences."

All eyes turn towards the elf with the loaded bow pointed at the oily scene.  The Hobgoblins freeze -  well mostly freeze, one of them finally loses his footing and lands on his butt - and stare at the arrowtip.

The armored man turns and regards the armed elf with cold detachment.  His eyes flicker over to Orloid and Nathan carrying the bandaged body.

"I see," he rumbles menacingly.

There's a small yelp from the edge of the bar as Nathan slips and tries to catch himself and not drop the injured man.  Neither action is very successful and he starts to go down.

[Uncle Yuan]

Argh - Nathan would have to be carrying his head!!  As much as possible I'll try to ease the man down to the floor.  Hopefully Nathan can either maintain enough control to either slow the man's drop or even wind up underneath him and pad him a bit.

Unfortunately, at this stage I'm totally unaware of the armored man's sudden interest in our egress . . .

[BlueBard]

I do not take my eyes off the armored man.  My own expression is cold and indifferent.  If the man reacts in any violent or suspicious fashion, I will be forced to fire.  At this range and with his own uncertain footing I am not likely to miss more than once and I will have plenty of time for a second shot.

"I believe you will find the weather outside more to your liking," I say softly.  "Bullies and brigands will find a stormy reception here."

[BentonGrey]

The tall, cobalt eyed elf turned at the even-toned command, straightening up to his full height, or as close as he could manage while keeping his delicate footing.  He made sure to keep his opponent's within his view, even still.

"That would be most agreeable to me," he said with a wry smile threatening his sombre expression, "if these fools still refuse to answer a simple question."

OOC: If they relent, Dakkon will only too happily take the fight out into the storm, if not, he will endeavor to aide any and all opponents of these ruffians, as they've some what annoyed him by now.

[Glitch Girl]

Nathan manages to take the brunt of the fall and absorbs most of the impact.  Orloid doesn't THINK he made the man's wounds worse, but he's going to have to check him to be sure.

The armored man's eyes shift from the two priests and their charge, to Shalla and her cudgel, the blue elf and his blade, the rest of the tavern, and then back to the elf aiming a bow at him. 

"Men," he growls, addressing the hobgoblins, "We're leaving.  For now."

The one who remained standing nods and carefully makes his way out the door. The two others on the floor manage to staggar/slide out as well.

"Be careful what you get yourself invoved in, Elf," he says to the archer. "You may find you've made the wrong choice."

The armored man then looks at Og.  "Ahem?"  He glances meaningfully down at the hobgoblin Og's been headbanging the past few minutes.  You think he might want his man back.

[BentonGrey]

OOC:  Haha!  If Dakkon thinks he can manage to get outside without getting backstabbed, he'll manage it.  If not, he'll go through one of the windows after they've left.  (It may not be the smartest thing he's ever done, but he can't let answers be this tantalizingly close and then just let them slip away.  Besides...it's only four to one...well, five, but I have a feeling that last hobgoblin isn't going to be in the mood for a fight.)

The azure elf nodded meaningfully to the man with the bow, and deftly snapped him a flowing and wholly unfamiliar salute, offering a goodbye in his own strange, wavering tongue.

[Lord Elcorion]

--moving quietly, i'll wait till the majority of folks who are planning to move outside are there, then slip quietly out myself, keeping to the side and staying as inconspicuous as possible, while assesing the situation and biding my time for the most opportune moment to act..--

[BlueBard]

To the armored man I say, "I never regret siding against those who would employ goblinkin.  My advice to you is to stay out of the wood."  I do not relax my arrow until I know they are all out of sight.  I want to see in what direction they go, even if I have to look out a window.

To the blue-skinned elf I say, in Elven:
[spoiler]"If you would be a help to those in need, stay here for a moment.  This is not over by far, and there is that which needs to be discussed."[/spoiler]

Once the brigands are safely departed (if they are allowed to depart in peace):
[spoiler]I say: "Those will return and they will not be alone.  There are those here who must plan to be away.  As for myself, there is a mystery demanding an answer and I must seek it."[/spoiler]

[Glitch Girl]

Real quick before I resolve:

Og: are you still sitting on that guy?

Benton: are going to stay inside or go outside?

Lord Elcorion: are you staying inside or going outside?

[BentonGrey]

OOC: Hmm.....this is a really hard call.  For the game's sake he should really stay inside, but for the character's sake he should probably charge outside.  Let's say Dakkon hesitates long enough for whatever happens next to happen.

[Panther_Gunn]

The armored man then looks at Og.  "Ahem?"  He glances meaningfully down at the hobgoblin Og's been headbanging the past few minutes.  You think he might want his man back.

About one or two bangs after the "ahem", Og stops what he's doing, pauses in thought (as if processing why he's stopped), and looks up at the armored man.  "uh?"  :huh:  He looks down at the hobgoblin, back up at the man, down, and up once more before the hint sets in.  And then, from this vantage point, he finally sees something.  And gets distracted.

Pointing at the medallion on his chest, "Og see that before.  Not flattering.  What it mean?"

Og: are you still sitting on that guy?

oog:  sorry, didn't know *this* much was going to progress over the course of the evening.  And the answer would be, at this point, yes.....but not on purpose.  ;)

[Uncle Yuan]

Nathan manages to take the brunt of the fall and absorbs most of the impact.  Orloid doesn't THINK he made the man's wounds worse, but he's going to have to check him to be sure.

I gasp in sympathetic pain as they both hit the floor.  And while I do catch the comment from the armored man at this point, I very studiously do not respond.  I do find it interesting that he so quickly seemed to assume that the wounded man and the man he was looking for are the same . . . almost makes one feel that that he knew about the man's injuries.

"Oh dear, are you OK, Nathan?  You did a great job breaking his fall!  Let's hurry and get this man into bed."

Once we do I'll give them both a quick checking over.

[Glitch Girl]

OOG: Taking a little GM fiat here to deal with continuity

Og points at the man's chest.  "Og see neck thing before.  Not flattering.  What it mean?"

"It's a sign of power," the armored warrior replies.  "Now I would like my man back so we may leave."

Over at the edge of the bar...

"I'm okay" whispers Nathan. "Thank you."  He  lays the wounded man on the ground before struggling to his feet and checking his footing. 

[Viking]

The bard has returned the horn to Whisper, and has gone back to tuning his lute.  There's a time and a place for flamboyance, and this really is neither.  The moment has passed, as it were.

He does regard the priestly pair with interest, wincing in sympathy as Nathan regains his footing.

(OOG: The Prestidigitation spell has a duration of 1 hour, so I'm presuming I can still enjoy the benefit of it in our current setting.  In which case, I'm concentrating on using it to clean the greasy section of floor nearest the bar, so that the injured man can be moved to bed without further disruption.)

[BlueBard]

OOG: Still waiting to hear that the brigands have left before taking any other action

[Panther_Gunn]

Og points at the man's chest.  "Og see neck thing before.  Not flattering.  What it mean?"

"It's a sign of power," the armored warrior replies.  "Now I would like my man back so we may leave."

Og continues to look at the man with an *almost* blank look on his face.  The gears turn slowly, and Og's gaze drifts downward at about the same speed.  His head comes back up with an "oh!  Sorry."  Og makes his way off of the body, "accidentally" placing most of his weight on him several times via a supporting hand, elbow, or knee.  He stands, and looks down at the man: "Hobble-gobbles not trusty.  Maybe you get have-lings."  With that, he walks back to see what can be salvaged out of the bowl of stew, completely forgetting about the incident.

[Glitch Girl]

The hobgoblin, who is somehow still conscious (albeit barely) winces as Og trods on his joints.  He starts to lurch to his feet, his commander signaling one of the other troops to help him up and together, he limps out the door.

The armored man pauses long enough for them to exit, eyeing the rest of the tavern, then steps out into the rain himself.

The door closes behind him.

"And STAY OUT!" one of the halflings yells, swaying in a slightly drunken way. 

The orcs at the next table roll their eyes.

"Micha, shut UP!" his friend whispers to him loudly.

"I don' care, we can take 'em!  Right?"

Meanwhile, Shalla calls after the bard "You are going to clean up the rest of my floor, aren't you?"

She then quickly dips out another bowl of stew and offers it to Og, "Here you go Og, a replacement," she smiles.

Orloid and Nathan manage to get the wounded man to the back room without further incident.  It's a small room, yet homey.  There's a bed with a large chest at the foot, several sets of drawers, a table with a washbasin and small mirror on it, and a wooden desk and chair.  A few of what might be yesterday's clothes lay scattered on the floor. On the walls are a few pictures, a small symbol of Fharlanghn, patron deity of roads, travel, and protection, and an old shield.

The wounded stranger doesn't seem too worse for wear from his fall.  He's still out cold and his bruised side still looks in equally bad shape. 

[BentonGrey]

OOC: Can Dakkon see a back door from where he's standing, or has he noticed one since he came in?  If so, he'll see that no immediate action is being taken, and he'll head out to try and follow the departed party.  If not, then he'll watch out the window until they are out of sight, and try and trail them.  All without being seen.

[Glitch Girl]

There is no back door.  There's only the main door.  Are you still going to try to trail them?

[BlueBard]

I just want to know what direction they're heading in and make sure they're on their way and not hiding in the stables or anything.

Once I'm satisfied, I say aloud:

"Those will return and they will not be alone.  There are those here who must plan to be away.  As for myself, there is a mystery demanding an answer and I must seek it."

"I believe they seek the man who was wounded for some purpose.  He must be protected somehow until we can find out why.  I know by their insignia that they are associated with a band of organized highwaymen that had been robbing travelers.  But why they want this man?  I can't say."