D&D: The Genjobi Pass

A faint sickness in the stomach. A light headedness. A tunnelling of the vision till you are aware of nothing but your target. It is always the same feeling before battle, as if you are becoming something else, something better, or something worse. Whatever beast I may become, let the gods direct me rightly...
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



As the hunting party vanished up the pass to the east, leaving the watchpost with three less guards, the party made their preparations.

Darius placed a hand on Fielli's shoulder as he examined the illusory snake she had conjured. "Excellent. Can you get it inside?"

Without answering, Fielli crept to the egde of the treeline, her eyes narrowing in concentration. The fiendish snake slithered out into the open, winding its way through the short grass of the cropfields.

As the silent image advanced, Tong drew Fielli, Karwik, Xenoxis and Angus around him, crouching with them at the edge of the treeline. "A'ight. Once ol' snakey there gets inside, it should give us the distrakshun we need. We git ourselves over there as quickly and as quietly as poss'ble. Then we git as close as we can and 'it the battlements - take out 'em sentries. If we cause enough chaos, it'll give time for the other group to charge in a'fore the enemy git their reinforcements together."

Behind them, Darius, Ayumi, Sales and Jillian hung further back, readying their weapons.

"Strange," muttered Darius as he peered through the trees at the watchpost. "They keep their torches burning, even in daylight."

The others followed his gaze, seeing that each corner of the battlements was mounted with a flaming torch.

But they had no time to contemplate this strange practice. An anxious bleat rang out from the herd of goats grazing by the walls, and they promptly began to scurry away from Fielli's snake, funnelling through the archway.

The nearby sentry saw this and then likewise caught sight of the snake. He lowered his bow and called over his shoulder, his words picked up by Angus, Karwik and Fielli.

"Word from the swamps!"

There was a vague answer from the courtyard below, but no one could make it out. The sentry leant against the battlements and watched the snake as it slithered through the archway. Then he continued staring downwards, no doubt watching the snake enter the courtyard.

His back was to the trees, and his attention was distracted. [Move Silently DC10]

"Now or never," whispered Tong. He drew his rapier and stalked out across the open ground, not quite running, but keeping low, his weasel Onu creeping beside him. The fighter was light on his feet and made the crossing with minimal noise.

Up above, the sentry was completely unaware of what was happening.

"The game is afoot, my friends," whispered Darius, readying his mace and shield.



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Angus took a quick glance at the bow, and in less than a second hung it on his back. He put on the hood of his cloak to hide his hair and move for it, much like Tong had done. Finding it easy to sneak out as he trailed Tong, he made his way besides him, drawing his bow, he wasn’t going to shoot unless the others had already made their move.
 
"Smooth sailing so far..." Karwik muttered as he crept out, keeping his crossbow held low. The guard appeared to be unaware of their presence, but he still made an attempt to cause no noise at all. All too easy, as it turned out. Moving quietly was one thing that Karwik specialized in, and it was no problem at all therefore to creep up towards the walls.
 
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Fielli tried to creep along behind the party focused on being silent, sneaking in behind the snake she had conjured. Pipqua was wrapped reassuringly around her shoulders and she tried to keep her mind fairly clear and focused so her illusion would not fade.

With her mind so sharp, so focused, she crept along with stealth and ease, her cat-like grin evident as she made no sound perceptible to any ear. Pipqua's silent presence on her shoulder made her feel bolder and the snake reared whipped its tail around, Fielli made sure it carefully missed anything it might hit.

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Darius crept closer to the edge of the undergrowth, crouching by a pine tree with his shield and warhammer. He saw that Xenoxis was the last to move as he was still buckling on the rapier sheathe that was taken from him earlier.

"Xenoxis, do you know anything about those torches?"

The rogue finished buckling and glanced up, the shadow of his hood across his eyes. "I saw a Scorpion patrol in the forest last week. There was a torchbearer at the rear of the party, carrying something similar. They weren't using it for light, that much I'm sure of."

Darius nodded, still looking at the line of torches around the battlements. "Be careful, my friend."

As Xenoxis moved away, Darius remained in his crouch, ready to spring into a charge once the ambush was sprung.

 
DM Post

Xenosis readied his blade and stalked away across the cropfields after the others. With his injuries healed, the rogue's footsteps were light as feathers, and he stealthily caught up with Tong's group, circling towards the archway. Darius, Jillian and the two healers, meanwhile, crouched between the trees and watched their scouts with baited breath.

From inside the courtyard, the scouts could just make out the murmurs of a voice. They could not understand the language, but the rise in pitch at the end of each statement was like a question. Clearly someone was trying to speak to the snake in its own demonic language.

The deceit was holding... but it would not be long...



Tong's Post

Without waiting for the others, Tong edged his way along the southernmost wall and slipped beneath the archway of the bridge. He moved gracefully, as quiet as the deadliest predator, with Onu never far from his heels. Safely through the archway, he crouched in the shadow of the bridge and peered into the courtyard.

The first thing he saw were the chickens, more than a dozen of them, clucking and squawking in the centre of the compound. Then Fielli's snake, which had come to a halt in front of a well-built man who was slightly better dressed than the others. He seemed like the sergeant of this guard. Another two soldiers lounged idly on the stairways behind him. Together with the three sentries on the battlements, that made 6 soldiers.

Tong couldn't make out much about the buildings. The one on the east side of the courtyard had chimneys which were pouring out thick grey smoke. And from the sounds of horses the enclosure nearest the entrance was a stables of some sort. Tong tried to peer around to get a better look, but then suddenly froze.

There was a creak from above him, then a sound of heavy boots.

There was another guard on the bridge, keeping to centre of the walkway, not looking below.

That made 7...

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Watching quietly as the enemy sergeant drew closer to Fielli's snake, Tong pulled a brass key from his component pouch and pointed it back towards Darius. He closed his eyes and arcane energy flowed down his arms and into the key. Tong started whispering, and the message was picked up by Darius in the distant woodland.

" 'nother three inside. And there's a fourth sentree on the bridge o'er me head. That makes seven. Can't see who else is in the buildings."

In the distance, Darius nodded. Tong let the brass key fall away into dust then picked up his rapier again, estimating the distance between himself and the sergeant.
 
As he came closer to the tower, Karwik gazed curiously at the torches lining the edge of the battlements. He remembered seeing something like them about half a year ago, when he had snuck out of his parents' home to drink at a local tavern.

"Young man, would you be interested in buying a torch?"

"I'm not. Go away."

"Hear me out first, please. You see, I'm a merchant who deals in exotic goods, and I have just the thing that may strike your fancy."

"Fine. I'm listening."

"This torch is made out of a special wood that grows north of the Phoenix Mountains. It has the ability to change its flame's color."

"...That's it? Forget it, old man. I have better things to do than waste my money on trash like that."


Ah, how rude he had been in his youth.

Still, if this torch was indeed the same type that had been waved in front of his face back then, what was the use of it? Was it a signal of some kind? From which direction would somebody have a good look at this point?

Passing quietly under the archway created by the bridge, Karwik found his thoughts interrupted by the view of the interior. Someone who appeared to be the leader of this group was talking with the illusory snake, while two other soldiers flanked him on either side. He could only make out a small portion of the man's features, blocked slightly as he was by the snake's bobbing head.

Still, it was as good a shot as anything. If this man died, perhaps the others would be momentarily thrown into confusion. Raising his crossbow, Karwik gave a slight grin, and fired.

The shot flew wildly over the head of the Sergeant and hit the wall behind him. The rogue had to stifle a curse. This was not good.
 
Angus closed his lips into a line, too late to ask for orders already, it seemed the guards hadn’t yet noticed the failed attempt of assassination by the rogue. Running under the archway, he notched an arrow and prepared a shot, aiming at the nearest target.

He let loose the arrow, some faint hope that the bow would do its job. It did, and Angus couldn't help but feel glee when the Sargeant dropped into the ground with an arrow in his head.
 
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Fielli was pleased with how dull-witted the guards had been, failing to see through her illusion. It bolstered her hopes and she was ready to make a small cheer, until the rogue attempted to kill one of the men .... and missed.

Fielli didn't have time to despair though, the other man readied an arrow, killing one of the men. With a small feeling of cold in her stomach, much like ice dropped directly down, Fielli's lips pulled tight. My turn, I suppose...

Inclining her head to the side, Fielli called again on her knowledge of abyssal to intimidate, the language harsh from her lips as she clenched her hand into a fist several times before flicking the fingers outward. Rushing fist, a spell she had rarely used. The words, really, were plain as well, calling upon arcane forces to inflict damage on her opponent... abyssal was only for effect.

Neatly, another soldier hit the ground and Fielli smiled darkly.
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As the sound of mayhem broke the morning air, Darius saw the sentries on the battlements turn, diverting their full attention to the courtyard.

"Let's go!" he said, rising from his crouching poise and sprinting across the open ground with his mace and shield at the ready.

His scalemail boots trampled the crops, and he vaulted over the rocks that littered the roadside. Ducking under the archway, he caught sight of the sentry above him retreating across the bridge, heading for the southern cliffs.

But there was nothing he could do about that now. The Paladin closed the distance with the other group, arriving as Fielli finished muttering the Abyssal incantations of her spell.

 
As Darius sprinted away, Sales realised the game was definatly on! With a shameful shake of his head, Sales turned and said 'lye auta' to the rest of the group, then dashed after Darius.
 
POST FOR REMAINING CHARACTERS

"Dammit!" hissed Xenoxis as the rest of his team went on the offensive. Gripping his rapier, the rogue sprinted across the entranceway of the courtyard, his head scanning the insides, before he threw himself forward. The rogue rolled the last few feet and ended up in cover behing the stone staircase on the right of the courtyard entrance.

Meanwhile, Ayumi and Jillian picked themselves up and jogged after Darius and Sales, with Coda the badger keeping pace beside them. Even from this distance, they could see that the situation was quickly going to hell.
 
DM POST

"ALARM!" yelled the remaining man in the courtyard, raising his wood-axe with vengeful fury. Vaulting the body of his fallen sergeant, the soldier rushed forward, scattering goats and chickens in all directions. He barged through the dissipating illusion of the snake and slammed into Tong, who had been distracted by Karwik, Angus and Fielli all firing past his head. The man's axe bit into Tong's shoulder and forced him back. [2 damage to Tong]

And up on the battlements, two of the bowmen reacted, notching arrows and letting them fly at the intruders. Angus took an arrow in his upper arm and was knocked out into the open, where he was trampled by the panicking goats [3 damage to Angus]. Nearby, Fielli was struck in the thigh, falling back towards Karwik [2 damage to Fielli].

As the two of them fell, the rest of the party arrived beneath the bridge, but not without their own injuries. At the back of the group, Ayumi dropped with an arrow in her back, buried a few inches [2 damage to Ayumi]. Sales grabbed her and pulled her into cover, noting as he did that the archer from the bridge was now on the cliffs, taking potshots from behind the rocks.

Karwik ducked back behind the archway as his allies fell and Tong was engaged. His last glimpse was of the archer on the north wall turning suddenly and running towards one of the torches mounted on the battlements.

"No!" shouted Karwik, but it was too late. The archer tore a pouch from around his neck and flung it into the torch, which instantly flared into a bright blue flame, illuminating the entire watchpost for a moment.

The alarm had been sounded.




[SUMMARY: Archer on cliff is now in Cover (+4 to AC). Soldier in courtyard is fighting Tong. 3 Archers on the battlements firing bows.]

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I never think about it. How can it be called heroism, when it is thoughtless? Heroes choose what to do... yet I feel I have no choice. What does that make me?
From the diary of Darius Castablane​

Tong hit his back against the wall, dodging another axe-strike before swinging his rapier. He cut beneath the man's ribcage, twisting upwards and shedding his lifeblood. The soldier dropped and Tong dodged back through the archway with the others.

"Fine plan 'at was!" he snarled, clutching at his bleeding shoulder. "Now we're trapped in 'ere."

"They've raised the alarm," muttered Karwik as he helped Fielli into cover. "If there's anyone higher up the Pass, then they're coming."

Darius readied his shield and pushed past Tong, assuming command as he glanced at the party. "We don't have time. I'll draw their fire. Take down those archers!"

Before anyone could stop him, Darius rushed out into the courtyard in plain sight pf the archers. He dashed to the centre and dropped to one knee, bringing up his shield to cover his body.




[SUMMARY: Last soldier in courtyard killed. Darius in Total Defence (+4AC)]
 
Sales took a deep breathe and and took a second to get an idea of the situation....It didnt look good. Sales wondered where all this bad luck had come from and wondered what to do to get some good luck.
He decided it was time to ask for aid, so he closed his eyes and felt the presents of Corellon Larethian running through him and tried to pass the feeling on to his friends.

('Bless' fills your allies with courage. Each ally gains a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, lasts for 2min).
 
From behind her position in cover, Ayumi could hear everyone getting hurt. Everything seemed like it would go very badly very fast.

It was messy, and at this point a diplomatic option was not viable. She had to help everyone, as much as she may dislike killing the guards. And then there were those people in the village...

She slowed her breathing and laid her hands on her ankh. Again, a pulse of energy went out, flowing over her allies.

The arrow in her back crumbled, and the wound it had dug into her closed.
(Everybody gets healed for 9 damage, and Ayumi is down to 9 daily turn undead attempts.)
 
Coming to the conclusion that if he was going to die, it would have been during the days that he spent wandering and running for his life. As such, Xenoxis pulled himself up onto the stairs and charged at the nearest archer, plunging his rapier deep into the archer's gut. As he pulled out his sword from it's bloody sheath of flesh and gore, Xenoxis allowed the man's body to slump over him, using the man as a meat shield against the two remaining archers.
 
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Fielli let herself lean slightly on Karwik, grateful words stumbling from her lips as the pair tugged the arrow from her leg. Looking down at the actions of Darius though, his brave move, Fielli steadied herself, favoring one of her legs slightly. A strange feeling seeped through Fielli as she readied herself for another attack and she felt miraculously better.

Licking her lips, Fielli faced one of the archers, picturing him the one who injured her leg and against her cheek, Pipqua hissed quietly. Seeming to mold the air with her fingers, Fielli took no time to speak in Abyssal and instead flower back into Common as she cast Ray of Frost. Her haste, however, scattered her aim and she swore in a short burst.


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“Shit!” was the most elaborate word Angus could make while he shielded himself from the goats, but he managed to get himself up when they finally moved away, and now he saw that there was only two archers left, and his bow wasn’t damaged.

He moved to the wall of the archway, looking outside and sighting the remaining archer, it’d be a tricky shot, but they couldn’t afford to let anyone escape right now, alarm or not. Angus swiftly prepared an arrow, aimed and shot, the arrow staying true to course and hitting the archer in the chest, killing him.
 
That left two archers, the one on the west wall, and the one who was hidden. Jillian gritted her teeth, wishing she could growl like Coda could- she couldn't believe the plan had failed like this so quickly! All that was left to do was keep pushing forward though, and quickly, she drew her sling and a stone from her pouch, and whirled it rapidly. She let it fly at the archer who had no cover- better to get rid of the easier targets first, she reasoned.

Jillian didn't bother to hide a small, grim smile of satisfaction at the stone struck her target right between the eyes, and he dropped out of sight. Now there was only one more to deal with. "One more archer, on the cliff!" she said, directing the others' attention there.