The Golden Age. Act 2: Converging Paths.

[riariadne]

The journey continued fairly normally until Velvet halted ahead of everyone else, sniffing at the air. "Do you smell it?" No, Velvet, nobody else is part cat and has as good of a sense of smell as you. "There's smoke in the air, not a normal amount for a warming fire or anything, and certainly not from where we came from. It's in the direction of the outpost... if I had to guess, this isn't going to be quite as simple a journey as we expected. Let's hurry! We should be close."

Sure enough, it was about half a mile before a small settlement came into view, with some of the trees burnt away, and a plentiful amount of unruly-looking people armed to the teeth walking about. "This was easy, boss," one man spoke up, his armor that of the Knights but with the Order's symbols torn off or scratched away. "What a pathetic defense force they had here, just like your predicted."

"It's very simple, Carson," said boss spoke up- his eyes obscured by strange black eyewear. "The existence of Timaeus is good news for people looking to get an edge. The Knights are busy rushing about, trying in vain to catch a teleporting mage and predict his actions... idiots. In the meantime, we're free to capitalize. The Knights are worthless under Thalia. No room to find advancements when she tries to play nice with everyone all the time. But now we've got a foothold here, and that gives us some room to make demands. And, with destroying those Dionetian ships and blockading the river, we've cut off the only easy way to reach here from Veiro. If all goes well, we'll have plenty of cash to use as we please."

"Sir!" A man holding a wicked blade rode up on a horse towards the two. "The Dionetian who stayed... he's holding up better than expected. With his position, we might take casualties trying to defeat him and eliminate the other witnesses."

"That might be a necessary cost. He's complicating everything! Nobody should be that tough, especially with wounds like he has," the boss spoke angrily. Lowering his eyewear, he looked towards the southeast. "Walter, you were supposed to be in charge of scouting, too. So what's an unidentified group doing getting here so quickly without you saying a word?"

Walter looked surprised. "Apologies, Sir Jace... we were busied with the northern five. I'll alert all the men. They're an even smaller group than we took out capturing here, so hopefully we can make short work of them."

Jace scowled as the other two backed off. "Imbeciles, the lot of them! Four of them are unarmed, and they haven't yet dealt with them? Yet, they are ultimately necessary... the rest of that northern scouting group had better be quick! I won't have my plans ruined by incompetence this time."

Primary Objective: Defeat all enemies!
Secondary Objective: Save Khan and the civilians!

It is now turn 1. Player phase begins.

Well... a few things before you start. Any retroactive shopping needs to happen before anyone moves, as does using a few consumables the party has. Yarvus has joined, and like Aria before him, his moves are fully dictated by the party's requests and anyone can post a move for him. Also, as Jace alluded to, there will be reinforcements this map, so watch out for those. That's about all, besides the usual spreadsheet link, which SF is not being kind about: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FcCwlTsG0D4yALkymth1RsRTlsw-u848ADkBVAkSgmM/edit#gid=945975530

Edited September 21, 2017 by Reinfleche

[Nanami Touko]

Jarvus to p10 attack irradiate canto to q10

Edited September 23, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[SB.]

Aaron nodded along at Velvet's explanation. "I suppose there are other resources to take into account as well, once water is accounted for." It made sense why settlements would move on, even if some remained behind. One such settlement seemed to be in poor shape upon their arrival however, considering the smoke, and an armed force was coming to meet them. 

"We can't get anywhere without having to deal with idiots like these, can we?" he grumbled, before heading into the fight.

Aaron to Q8, Iron Axe Archer

[Bluedoom]

Joviana to R8, attack Cavalier B with Ice Beam.

[Nanami Touko]

"Tch..." Telmara's musings were interrupted by the sounds of bandits-- it was always bandits, if it wasn't their mage friend, wasn't it? Well, they looked well equipped for that, but that's all she could call them. The outpost looked entirely overrun... There was of course, only one solution for this.

"Guess it's time for practice."

Telmara to Q9, Gust the Archer on Q7

[Juliette]

"Here we go, getting into trouble again..." Velvet complained. "Resting would've been much too simple." Everyone else seemed to be doing just fine to start, but for her, she immediately spotted an armored foe with a weapon very good against her kind. Well. That won't do at all. The demicat snuck off behind some of the others rather than begin any sort of combat just yet.

Velvet goes to R8 and idles unless Telmara misses

[riariadne]

Yarvus gallops towards the dark mage, tome at the ready, and strikes him down (36, 5) in an instant with Irradiate for 42 damage. (33 exp/2 wexp) "Such is the true power of my light magic skills! I'm glad to make a strong first impression." He also gets the Shaman's Debilitate tome, and is probably the only person likely to use it for a while, no trading that required.

Aaron axes the Archer some difficult questions about how he feels about taking 14 damage. The Archer heavily disagrees but not hard enough (5, 11) to prevent himself from taking said 14 damage. (10 exp/1 wexp)

Telmara probably resists the urge to set things on fire (5, 80) and instead winds the Archer to death for 12 damage, preventing any objections the Archer may have had towards Aaron's 14 damage. Archer A dies (30 exp/2 wexp) and Telmara levels up.

(34, 11, 69, 12, 68, 11, 34, 42) HP, Str, Skl, Lck

Joviana uses the wonderful powers of Pokemon to attack Cavalier B twice with Ice Beam (15, 85) (34, 84). It's neutral effective, but that's still enough to kill him because Adept makes the second hit at full power, she probably freeze haxed him. "dude this is such bullshit" Cav B complains before dying (33 exp/3 wexp).

velvet does that

now stop rolling 5s

[eclipse]

Ah, my kind of trouble.

Kolmar will be a gentleman and wait for Raz.  Once she's done, he'll move to O11 and attempt to stab the Mercenary with an Iron Lance.

[Xinnidy]

That hadn't been a good start, the outpost was under siege by some outlaws, and their timing couldn't have been worse. We don't have time for this... Raz Sighed, picking up an arrow from her quiver. "What a mess..." The others seemed intent on taking the initiative, but she wondered if that was a smart idea this time. Some of them seem to be preoccupied, though... maybe it'll be fine. "It's smarter to close a formation while we don't know what they can do... take care, Mikhaila."

Already taking aim, she felt her sight to be slightly sharper than usual. One of the Calling's powers? Huh... Hopefully, she'd get used to the change soon.

Raz to O12, fire at Mercenary A with her Silver Bow.

[riariadne]

Raz's vision indeed seems to be exceptionally sharp- so sharp (15, 1) that Mercenary A falls to a single arrow, buckling over in a cry of pain before dying. (30 exp/2 wexp)

kolmar's move doesn't work anymore

[scorri]

Kaya to P9 R10

[eclipse]

Heh.  NIce.

With Raz's shot, Kolmar did the only thing he could - find something else to take out.

Kolmar to Q11, Javelin at ready

[Nanami Touko]

Mikhaila's calm walk was interrupted by what seemed to be another batch of lowlifes. Wonderful... Were their treasures drawing trouble to them, or drawing them to trouble? In any case, it was up to them to fix the problem. The problem being that all these men were still alive.

"Face me!"

Mikhaila to P10, equip Cutlass

Edited September 28, 2017 by SnakeMomMelissa

[riariadne]

 

Such movement... and now it's enemy phase.

here are enemy moves:

 

Mage A- J10
Mage B- N6
Shaman B- H10
Pirate A- C3
Pirate B- F3
Pirate C- doggo pirate
Pirate D- O11
Archer B- D6
Archer C- I12
Mercenary B- M12
Knight B- O10
Everyone else idles

And here are combats:

 

Mage B casts Ice Beam on Aaron! (31, 81) It's pretty effective, hitting for 12 damage. He Quickswaps back to Gust after. [1 exp]

Pirate B is Provoked into attacking Khan, (86, 71) whiffing completely. He doesn't take too well to Khan's counter either (45, 99) (30, 8) taking 20 then 10 damage and dying. Not the wisest decision.

Pirate D throws his Hand Axe at Kolmar, (62, 96) dealing 9 damage. (23, 34) Kolmar Javelins him back to deal 10 back too. The power of supports! [10 exp/1 wexp]

Lastly for battles, Knight B (50, 23) hits Mika for 9. However she hits back, and the second is a crit (80, 32) (10, 15) for 4 then 6, respectively, so who was the real winner there? [10 exp/ 2 wexp]

After that is other phase... or more specifically, Khan time. The civilians are hiding, they don't really want to move.

"Ha! Fear not, citizens... I, Major Khan, will protect you, even as injured as I am!" a tall blonde man boasted, standing in front of the civilians. "Come and try me, pillagers and villains! One of you has fallen to my blade already. Have any others the courage to duel me?" Despite his boasts, he moved quite slowly, struggling as he applied medicine to his deep wounds.

Khan goes to D3 and uses his Concoction.

It is now turn 2. Player phase begins!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FcCwlTsG0D4yALkymth1RsRTlsw-u848ADkBVAkSgmM/edit#gid=945975530 here's this thing again that nobody will need

Edited September 29, 2017 by Reinfleche
fuck the sf hulk hogan

[Bluedoom]

Joviana to P7, attack Mage B with Ice Beam.

 

Yarvus to O7, make Joviana equip Soul Surge, attacke Mage be with Contaminate, Canto to O6.

Edited September 30, 2017 by Magnificence Incarnate

[Juliette]

Everyone else seemed just fine to Velvet- but, one place that seemed worth investigating further was the house up ahead. The enemies seemed to be cleared out of the way, so she snuck through a spot of brush and poked her head into the door of the home. "Hello? Anyone here who needs help?"

Velvet goes to P5 and visits the red house

[riariadne]

(1, 30) for Jovi's 13 dmg Ice Beam [11 exp/1 wexp], (44, 89) for Jarvus's Contaminate [36 exp/2 wexp] for 16 makes Mage B a sad lad. Jarvus gets his gust tome and a level up:

33 88 77 46 29 43 58 34 means HP, Lck, and rounded-up res. Decidedly unspectacular. He also trades Joviana's equipment after for Quick Thinker style points

The house Velvet enters has two people hiding in the corner, a small boy and a woman. "You're here to help? Praise the dragons, there is hope... the raiders came so suddenly. Some of them are angry deserters, some just bandits, all selfish. One of them came in here, but the Dionetian man cut him down before he could harm us. But he dropped these... we are peaceful, and our family has lived here for generations as citizens, not warriors. Consider them thanks for your help- it will be more useful to you than it ever will to us."

Velvet obtains a Rescue staff and... a Final Flash! Talk about luck of the draw.

Edited October 1, 2017 by Reinfleche
sf formatting blows

[Xinnidy]

After Mikhaila moves, Raz to O13, casts Illuminate on Pirate D.

[Nanami Touko]

The archer died, fairly easily, leaving her shaking her head. These weren't very strong bandits... So it was the best practice she could get. Taking her tome out and locking her sights on the nearby armored mess, she slid past him and did him in.

Telmara to P11 and gust Knight B.

The knight had proved formidable, but not enough, as Telmara moved past him and cut into his armor, sending him toppling over. He'd did a good number to her, but nothing that would slow her down. That nearby axe brute, he looked pretty tempting a target. Readying a talisman, she cried out and tossed it his way, waiting for it to carve into him.

Mikhaila to P12, Talisman attack the Pirate with Killing Edge

[riariadne]

with great magic comes great windy damage (76, 47), a solid 13 windy damages [10 exp/1 wexp]

Now that Mikhaila can use the KE for real she (16, 95) slices using the Talismans for 16 damage. She narrowly dodges (54, 94) his counterattack too. [10 exp/1 wexp]

nice ks velvet raz (58, 59) [33 exp/2 wexp] Raz gets exactly enough EXP for a level!

(23, 25, 36, 56, 44, 1, 86, 89) HP, Str, Spd, Lck. nice magic prank

[eclipse]

Kolmar reached into his pack for one of his whiskey flagons.  He came up with a vulnerary instead.  Close enough.

Kolmar stays put and uses a Vulnerary.

[SB.]

Aaron to  Q10, hand axe knight

[Juliette]

What on Dominus... "These are incredibly valuable!" Velvet exclaimed. "I can't just take this in good consciousness. Here... I'll repay you, and no complaining! Even if you don't need it yourselves, we intend to drive these brigands out- then you can use the money to help rebuild the village here." She withdrew a bag from her bag, putting it on the table. "It's four thousand, hardly worth the cost of this tome, but hopefully enough to aid you- and gold is useful to everyone."

[scorri]

(flavor will come later maybe)

Kaya to Q12, heal Mikhaila

[riariadne]

Heals occur and Aaron (64, 21) nabs himself a kill with the Hand Axe [30 exp/2 wexp].

Now it's enemy phase. Their moves:

 

Mage A- O10, Shaman B- L9, Pirate C- N9, Archer B- D5, Archer C- O12, Merc B- O11, Merc C- D4

Combats... featuring a first for the RP

 

Mage A (14, 6) narrowly does not blick Aaron but still does 10 damage, knocking him to 4. Aaron Hand Axes (22, 94) back for 15 though. [10 exp/1 wexp]. The Mage unfortunately negates this damage by using Quick Thinker to use his Concoction, recovering to full health.

Pirate A may not like it, but he has to attack Khan (68, 36), which he does not do very well (35, 1) and gets completely owned for his attempt, taking 63 damage. "I REGRET EVERYTHING" he screeches as he dies.

Archer B is also provoked into attacking Khan (30, 44), but consoles himself by both hitting for 7 and not being able to be countered.

Archer C totally misses Mikhaila (93, 99), then tumbles in with his Reckoner's Bow. (1 exp) The enemies definitely increased their Vaynespotting scores by a significant margin.

Last but definitely not least for players... Mercenary B is a tricky lad and approaches Telmara, (18, 45) hitting for 11. She counters (35, 75) for 15, but he is fast enough to follow up (9, 5) for 5 and then triggers Adept (44, 88) for 11 more! That puts Telmara at -1/26 and Down.

Actually last but not involving any PCs, Mercenary C gets a hit in (22, 60) on Khan, slowing him by 3 and dealing 4 damage. However he is smacked in the face (89, 85) for 22, which is not great consolation.

On Khan phase, he regains 1 speed from his slow, then (58, 33) finishes the sorry Mercenary off.

Now it's turn 3. Player phase begins, and you all have quite a few enemies in close proximity! How will you handle this?

ok no spreadsheet this time it is on this page twice already that's a bit crazy!

Edited October 4, 2017 by Reinfleche
formatting SUCKS