Chapter 5: Blood and Fire

[Joe]

Streko winks at Kalarian. "And here I thought you preferred a more subtle approach, my friend! I think, perhaps, I am wearing on you."

He looks around and shudders involuntarily. "I must say, though, that I would greatly prefer to get off these streets and into someplace where the smell isn't so...overhwleming. I'm afraid it's upsetting my delicate stomach."

[Jeff's backup]

"I believe lord Kalarian has a point. Information has undoubtedly reached them by now that the half-orc has failed. I do feel drawing them out is our best option, which is why I wanted to know where the creature was supposed to meet his contact. We can expect some type of response shortly before we arrive there."

[Jeff]

At both Condign's and Lamara's prompting, the half-orc leads you nervously into the depths of the Whiteroof Ward. You turn off the wider lane and into a network of narrow streets which run between commercial buildings and large warehouses. The populated avenue fades from view, along with the visual presence of visitors and watchmen. Though the sky overhead is still bright and blue, less and less of the sky can be seen as two- and three-story buildings crowd out your view of it.

Vagrants, half-elves who look down on their luck, and a few grubby halflings pass you by, each one giving your group an appraising look. If any of them are pickpockets or muggers, they have taken your measure...and back off, intimidated by the picture of power that your party presents.

Even so, you feel as though your presence is observed from somewhere—eyes from windows, perhaps?

"Devils in the streets now?" one dirty female halfling matron mutters to herself, scurrying away.

At last, the half-orc stiffens as he turns into a particular alley between two seedy-looking warehouses that show no sign of life. Looking down it, you can see a door on each side (one for each adjoining building), as well as a single door at the far end. The two doors on either side appear to be reinforced with metal, and the door at the very end of the alley looks like heavy wood with a small barred window in it. Several steps lead up to it.

"L-listen," the half-orc grunts, stopping, his eyes fixed on the far door. "Once my boss knows you're here...that's it. You can't ransom me...they won't take me back. There's no point to it, see?" He doesn't take his eye from the door, but he lowers his voice when he says, "Just take me somewhere else...I'll tell you all I can."

Lamara shakes her head.

[Darren]

"I'm pretty sure you've already told us everything you know," says Kal with an unfriendly smile. "And I never really intended to ransom you, anyway. I'm sure you're not really worth all that much."

Kalarian takes a few steps forward, peering into the alley. "This, however," he says, turning back to his friends and gesturing up the alleyway, "is not something I like the looks of. Even Streko could see that this is a perfect place for an ambush." Kal grins at the halfling. "No offense, of course."

[Jeff's backup]

Kalarian said:

"This, however," he says, turning back to his friends and gesturing up the alleyway, "is not something I like the looks of. Even Streko could see that this is a perfect place for an ambush." Kal grins at the halfling. "No offense, of course."

"I agree with you, my lord Kalarian, but I do not think we have any other choice. We need to get to the bottom of this, and trying to take someone alive who knows more than this fellow" Condign gives the half-orc a little shake "would aid us greatly."

The tiefling looks at his new friends, his gaze unexpectedly lingering for a few moments longer on Grafth, then turns back to Kal. With a grin big enough to match his friend's, he says: "After all, what is the worst that can happen?"

[Jeff]

"It's truth!" the half-orc whispers. "This is where I come, where I get my jobs."

Lamara nods her head at Kal and Condign. "Shall we take the plunge? If we haven't tipped them off yet, we soon will. Perhaps if we strike hard and fast, it'll suffice."

Kal and Streko both take notice of the fact that the vagrants in this area have steered completely away from this alley mouth. They sense that this place is, indeed, considered the territory of someone the common riff raff are afraid of.

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Streetwise checks: Belarin (11), Condign (13), Grafth (10), Kal (22), Streko (16).

[Ken]

Grafth nods. "Let's get this done," the shifter says, clearly not pleased by the group's current position in the alley.

Belarin steps forward. "A quick check, first," he says. "I wish Charis were here, though." He looks at the door, then -- if it seems to be locked -- attempts to open it.

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Jeff: I'm having trouble logging on to Invisible Castle. Don't know if the problem is on my end or theirs. Please make the appropriate Perception and/or Thievery checks.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign looks at the others. "I can not fight and restrain this creature at the same time. I doubt he would fight for either side and would run off at the earliest opportunity, but we can not be sure. Killing him would be the most logical choice, but sadly I have given my word and would not like to dishonor it. We are now out of time. What do you think?"

[Darren]

"Two choices. We can bring him with us and throw him back to the wolves that set him loose, or we can leave him out here with Lamara. I'd rather have her in there with us, so I say we bring him in." He looks at the half-orc with seeming pity. "Sorry," he says.

Turning to face the door again, Kal takes a deep breath. "Shall we?"

[Jeff]

Kal:

"We can bring him with us and throw him back to the wolves that set him loose, or we can leave him out here with Lamara. I'd rather have her in there with us, so I say we bring him in."

Lamara smiles grimly. "I agree. We should bring him with us. If nothing else, he's a shield."

Turning to face the door again, Kal takes a deep breath. "Shall we?"

But already Belarin has started toward the other end of the alley, thinking about the best way to enter a thieves' den...

When Belarin reaches the halfway point in the alley, everyone hears the sliding window on the door rattle open. Belarin, the closest, sees only darkness therein...then the steel tip of a crossbow bolt glinting in the dim alley light from within the dark recess. The warlock takes an instinctive step back, ready to duck or at least throw up his hands in case he's the target...

The bolt levels out and Belarin glimpses a glaring eye beneath a bristly brow...

There is a solid click, and the crossbow Belarin can barely even see behind the open window snaps loudly, loosing the bolt....which slices across the alley, nearly forty feet, and with perfect accuracy takes your half-orc hostage in the throat!

Condign feels the half-orc's body stiffen under his grip, then slacken, and the thug's attempt to scream bubbles out of his torn neck. Blood runs in rivulets down into his armor, and the half-orc crumbles to the ground, arms twitching uselessly.

The shock wears off just as the window slams shut again.

"Khyber!" Lamara swears. "We need to breach that door, and fast." She kicks at the doomed half-orc. "If this one knew little, that marksman will at least know more." She whirls around, drawing out her long knife and eyeing the mouth of the alley warily.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign looks down at the slain half-orc -- a creature he'd given his word to at least try and protect. The blood pooling from it's neck wound is like a crimson banner of failure. He'd been taken by surprise. Despite all of his training, he'd failed to anticipate such an obvious attack. Anger at himself -- anger at whoever is behind that door -- sparks a small fire within him. His doubts are like kindling in a campfire, fueling the flames of his anger. Soon he is a conflagration of rage.

"Ware the side doors lest we become flanked from behind!" he says to the others. He then proceeds to sprint down the alley, shield held in front of him, with the intention of smashing through the wooden door.

------------------------
I'm assuming orc blood is red

[Darren]

Watching the orc crumple to the ground, Kal mutters, "Shield, indeed."

As Condign rushes forward, Kalarian instinctively takes a step to follow him, then thinks better and hangs back where he can see all three doors, electricity crackling between his fingertips.

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If anyone comes through the doors, Kal will give them a nice Orb of Electricity upside the the head.

[Ken]

Grafth pulls out his axe and follows Condign, ready to throw his own shoulder into the effort to knock the door down.

Belarin goes back to back with Kal, covering the other side of the alleyway. He yells toward Streko and Lamara, "Move! We'll cover you!"

________________________
Grafth will make an Aid Another check to assist Condign. I still can't log on to Invisible Castle, so please make the roll. Grafth's Str modifier is +2.
Belarin will fire an eldritch blast the instant that one of the flanking doors or windows opens up.

[Jeff]

Condign sprints down the alley, followed by Grafth. With his shield leading the way, the tiefling throws his full weight against it. Half a second later, Grafth barrels his shoulder into the attempt. The thick door shudders under their collective strength but it doesn't give. Yet.

Kal stops just before the two doors on either side of the alley, ready for an attack. Each of the two flanking doors appears to be metal, but relatively thin and cheaply made (by House Deneith security standards, anyway). There are no windows to peer through, so if someone's hiding behind those doors for an ambush, there's no obvious way for them to know when to jump out.

Tangat, only a few paces behind Kal, looks at the far door and a low growl starts in his throat.

Belarin:

"Move! We'll cover you!"

Streko moves into position between where Kal and Belarin stand ready and where Condign and Grafth are trying to force the far door open. In his experience, the halfling knows his prayers are most beneficial to his allies when he he's closest to them all.

Lamara, however, doesn't move. "No way," she says in response to Belarin. She doesn't turn her eyes from the alley's entrance. "I'm staying back. If this place is designed for ambush, at least one of us needs to see the rear attack coming."

The inquisitive reaches into her belt and produces an ivory-white wand.

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Grafth's Strength check (1d20+3=16) (granting +2 to Condign's check)
Condign's Strength check (1d20+4=8) +2 = 10 (failure)

Condign and Grafth can simply keep trying. Failure in one round doesn't mean they won't succeed on subsequent rounds.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign bounces painfully off the wooden door, then feels Grafth hit it solidly but also to no avail.

"Quickly, my lord Grafth, we must get through this door!" He raises his shield, shifts his weight to his back foot, then hurls himself forward against the door.

------------------------------

Condign's strength check 1d20+4=22

[Ken]

Grafth growls, "Keep it at!" as he moves to aid Condign once more.

Belarin continues to stand ready to blast any other attackers.

___________________
Same actions as last time for both characters.
Grafth: Aid Another with Strength check (1d20+3=22)

[Darren]

Kal turns his back to the wall, swivelling his head to look between each of the doors and mouth of the alley. His fingertips still crackle with arcane electricity, ready to sear the first foe foolish enough to place himself in the line of fire.

_____________
Continuing as before.

[Joe]

Streko stands with his back to the wall nearest him, facing the opposite door. His sickle holds steady in one hand, the other hand is free for whatever is to come. He keeps an eye on the door Condign and Grafth are assailing, but also eyes the door opposite him as well, alternating between the two.

[Jeff]

This time both Condign and Grafth hit the door at the same moment, and the force of their strength smashes the lock and wrenches the door open. It swings in, broken, screeching as its twisted frame drags awkwardly across the floor. The low-lit room revealed looks to be some sort of guard chamber, though rather large...

And standing there, lurching back in obvious surprise, is a tall figure of steel, stone, and wood...a warforged, holding a warpick in one hand. Both Grafth and Condign have seen warforged of this exact size and model, boarding Ralsor's ship from the Dissolution. Lying on the floor behind the warforged, looking savagely beaten, is the body of a woman in ragged clothing; it's hard to tell if she's alive or not.

An instant later, both tiefling and shifter hear a dwarven curse from somewhere else in the room beyond, out of sight from their angle. "Git up!" the growly voice shouts from within.

The warforge's white-blue gemstone eyes flicker with light, and it pauses for just a moment, as if it prefers to attack. Instead it pivots and turns, ready to flee.

Streko, Belarin and Kal can just make out the shape of the warforged in the dimly lit chamber. Tangat's growl turns into a snarling bark as even he recognizes a familiar-style foe.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign looks through the wrecked wooden door and sees a warforged -- similar to the ones he fought on the White Phoenix -- pivot as if to flee. Behind the creature he sees the figure of a badly beaten woman lying on the floor. He also hears the voice of a man, but he can not see where or what he is.

"We must prevent the warforged from escaping," he says to Grafth. "I will cut left into the room and engage the creature. You can cut right and we will have him flanked." He pauses to look at his shifter friend. "Ware the voice in the room. I do not have a good feeling about it."

With a Gaash'kala war cry, Condign charges into the room and approaches the warforged. When he is just left of the creature, he executes a tight spin, bringing his shield around to smash the creature's body, and then follows with a high arcing slash of his longsword.

---------------------------
Whenever it is Condign's turn if we are on initiative rolls:

Movement Action: Move 4 spaces to stand just left of the WF
Minor Action: Talk with Grafth
Standard Action: Attack with a standard longsword attack

Attack Roll: 1d20 + 8=21

Damage Roll: 1d8+4=6

[Darren]

"Lamara, Tangat...watch our flank," Kal says. He takes a step forward, letting out a battlecry in the Halfling tongue that he focuses on manifesting into a physical force of his will. A shockwave emanates from Kal, flowing down the alleyway and through the door to strike to fleeing warforged from behind.

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Move action: One square forward (unless the warforged goes first and gets too far away for Kal to use Thunder Slam, then Kal will move far enough to reach him)
Standard action: Thunder Slam on warforged

For the remainder of this encounter, you can assume that if anyone manages to hit Kal with a melee attack, he is using Dragonflame Mantle.

Is it possible that Thunder Slam would knock the warforged over, or just push him? What happens if it pushes him into a wall? Just curious...

[Joe]

Streko sees the hulking, violent form of another warforged. It appears to snarl, a furnace being stoked. Without thinking, Streko reaches out toward the warforged with his open hand.

"Olladra's will be done!" he yells out. A brilliant flash of white light surrounds his hand and lances out toward the warforged, who at that moment has strangely decided to turn his back upon them.

"Trap!" Streko calls out, clearly unnerved that a warforged of that size and intensity would attempt to run from a fight.

[Ken]

"I don't like ANY of this," replies Grafth to Condign. Despite his suspicions, he follows Condign's guidance ... but although he strikes a threatening pose against the warforged, he doesn't attack. Instead, he holds his attack and even casts a wary eye on the woman on the floor. Unlike Condign, the shifter has seen too many deceptive guises by changelings to instantly trust anything.

Belarin hears Streko's warning and winces at the truth of it. "It's not as though we surprised anyone," he mutters, moving ahead into the building after Kal's attack.

[Jeff]

Initiative rolls: Belarin: 1d20+6=17, Condign 1d20+3=23, Grafth 1d20+6=10, Kal 1d20+5=7, Streko 1d20+5=9

Round 1

23 = Condign
18 = Lamara
17 = Belarin
11 = Enemies
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
7 = Kal / Tangat

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Condign strides swiftly into the chamber and immediately engages the warforged, managing a solid blow with this longsword. The strike rings off the construct's plated arm, reverberating across the interior of this building. Walls and floor of solid stone seem surprisingly abundant for a section of the city mostly filled with warehouses of mixed stone and wood.

Around him Condign sees a dimly lit chamber. Two raised sections of the room on two sides look down into the center, where the tiefling now battles the warforged.

Lamara moves in closer, drawn by the sound of combat. She continues to eye the entrance to the alley, aiming her wand in that direction. She nods at Kal. "Go. I'm watching."

Belarin slips just inside the door, getting a better look at the interior. It seems the only source of light in here is an everbright iron torch attached to one of the walls on the left-hand of the, raised section of the room (which rises a good fifteen feet above the floor). What he notices next is some sort of tripod-mounted heavy crossbows, which are positioned near the edge of both sides. The one on the right is unattended; the one on the left is not, and three gleaming quarrels are clearly primed. Manning the weapon is a stout dwarf with a thick black beard, heavy brows, a shiny bald pate, and an evil grin—the same marksman who'd been at the door moments before. The dwarf begins to swivel the crossbow on the tripod, sighting down his targets...

Then, in rapid succession, three crossbow bolts spit into the air as the dwarf takes aim. The first quarrel ricochets off the edge of Condign's shield, startling the tiefling with the loud noise. The second catches Condign in the back of his left shoulder, puncturing his armor and sinking an inch or more into his flesh. The strike tears a gasp of pain from his throat. The third bolt slices along Belarin's side, tearing cloth and slicing skin before snapping against the ground. But now the crossbow appears empty of its ammunition.

The next thought Belarin has is...how did the dwarf get up there from where he had clearly been standing behind the door...?

Perhaps because he feel covered by the dwarf's attacks above, the warforged continues to retreat. It cautiously turns his back on Condign and runs a roundabout way toward the left-hand corner of the room just below the raised side, where both Condign and Belarin spot a metal rung latter attached to the far wall—the only means up. The warforged reaches the ladder, poised to climb.

Grafth crouches into a position the shifter finds more natural than standing, now fully aware of the dwarf artilleryman. He turns his eyes across the scene, then assesses the woman on the ground. It's more instinct than anything else, but he suspects she may be dead. He can see that she's been struck on the head—a thick metal warforged fist might have done it—and now she's just crumpled on the floor. It's hard to see why; she looks like a street beggar.

With the warforged having moved out of sight, Streko is forced to run into the room as well—where he, too, spots the fallen woman and also the dwarf above—at which point he calls upon Olladra to smite the warforged. The construct sees it coming, though, and throws its body sideways, evading the bolt of radiant light.

Kal, also unwilling to lose his target, dashes up to stand beside Grafth, in the doorway, then gestures with one hand. A blast of invisible, concussive force strikes the warforged, hurling him against the wall. The spell leaves a sizable dent in the construct's composite plating, but the warforged has retained its grip on one of the metal rungs and keeps its feet.

Lamara moves in closer, constantly looking back and forth between the fight and the alley entrance. So far nothing has revealed itself in that direction. Tangat, under Kal's orders, keeps pace with her, eyeing this way and that.

________________________

Joe, I'm assuming that's a lance of faith?

• Condign's attack: 21 / 6 damage to warforged
• Dwarf's attacks: 16 (miss) / 23 (hit), 11 damage to Condign / 21 (hit), 8 damage to Belarin
• Kal's attack Thunder Slam (1d20+5=18) (hit) / damage (2d10+4=11) to warforged
• Streko's attack (Lance of Faith) (1d20+6=11)

[Darren]

Seeing that the battle is moving to long range, Kal realizes his sharrash will serve limited use and instead draws Skyfang from it's sheath on his leg, preparing to focus his arcane energies through it. He watches the scene for a moment, deciding that his melee companions can handle the warforged. He instead sets his sights on the dwarf above. Pointing the blade at the diminutive attacker, Kal let's loose with crackling electricity.

__________________
If it's possible for Kal to maintain his current position and attack the dwarf, that's what he'll do. Otherwise he'll move into the room just far enough to be able to see him.

Kal will use Dancing Lightning on the dwarf. With any luck, the warforged will have moved up next to him by then. Even if he doesn't, Kal will use it, anyway.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign feels a searing pain as the crossbow bolt punches into his left shoulder. He lets out a thin cry and turns his head, now seeing the dwarf up on the platform. Since there is no way to reach him, Condign continues to engage the warforged. With three quick steps, he is next to the construct. Seeing that the creature's back is to him, he unleashes a powerful overhand chop to the head.

--------------------------

Movement Action: move three squares to stand diagnonal from WF
Minor Action: use Flame Bracers
Standard Action: use Bastion of Defense

Attack roll: 1d20 + 9=15 (there's a +1 to the attack roll from the longsword's previous hit)

Damage roll (if applicable): 3d8 + 4=12 and 1d6=6 for bracers if it is a hit

If it is a miss, then the bracers are still good for one more round.

[Ken]

Belarin

Belarin groans in pain as the crossbow rips across his side. The whispered voices in the back of his mind giggle with delight as bloody vengeance surges into Belarin's thoughts. He steps closer to the wall and, although his fury is directed at the dwarf above, he mentally curses the warforged and points his dagger at it, saying, "Coward of steel, may your tin mind melt! / For your friend above, my true wrath be felt!"

Move: Belarin moves 2 squares to the left and 1 square up/north, and gains concealment from his Shadow Walk ability.
Minor: Inflict warlock's curse on the warforged.
Attack with witchfire vs. warforged's Reflex: Witchfire attack (1d20+5=8) - not worth rolling damage.
Note: If the warforged is killed, Belarin will immediately teleport 5 squares up and over to be adjacent to the crossbow. (He can't see the floor, but he could see the dwarf's position.)

Grafth

Grafth quickly lopes forward, staying low in case other crossbow bolts start flying. In mid-stride, he hurls a dagger at the climbing warforged.

Move: Move 6 squares north. Minor: Designate warforged as hunter's quarry.
Standard: Throw dagger at warforged. Evasive Strike vs. AC: Evasive Strike with dagger (ranged) (1d20+7=16)
Damage: Evasive Strike damage, plus Hunter's Quarry (2d4+3=8, 1d8=3) = total 11 points

[Joe]

Streko moves between Condign and Belarinto take a clear shot at the dwarf. Seeing both his friends injured by the bald madman, Streko calls out Oladra's name, the sound of it like beautiful church bells ringing in the distance, a calling of power that surrounds the die-shaped symbol of his Goddess and radiates outward toward both of his friends...and the dwarf as well.
____________________________________________________

Movement Action: move three squares to stand between Condign and Belarin
Standard Action: Beacon of Hope

Attack roll: 1d20+4=6

The sincere suckage of my rolls amazes even me!!! Perhaps this spell doesn't even have a roll. Jeff, a little help? :-)

[Jeff]

Round 2

23 = Condign
18 = Lamara (delays her action)
17 = Belarin
11 = Enemies
10 = Grafth
9 = Streko
7 = Kal / Tangat
6 = Lamara

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Engaging the warforged again, Condign's next attack is a glancing blow—the construct is too heavily armored and requires a much harder strike to do it injury. Nevertheless, the tiefling's zeal is inspiring. Both Belarin and Streko feel a surge of courage against the challenge ahead.

After cursing the warforged, Belarin levels his magic at it. But he's too distracted by the dwarf atop the raised wall, and his spell fizzles without effect.

The dwarf grunts as he turns away from the mounted crossbow. He turns and grabs another, only slightly smaller crossbow from somewhere up there and Belarin can hear him load and crank the weapon. The dwarf then steps back, grasping the weapon in both hands and eyeing the battlefield once more. "Too late," the dwarf growls to someone else as he eyes the warforged, "The ladder."

And then Belarin, Grafth, Condign, and Streko see a cloaked figure emerge from an unseen corner of the raised part of the room behind the dwarf. The figure is cloaked and cowled in a garment of deep red, reminiscent of a wizard's raiment, gliding from the north side of the room to the south side. Beneath the hood you see a diseased, pock-marked human face, and you can hear the rasp of unhealthy lungs as he moves. It's only in this moment that you notice a series of iron levers protruding from the south wall. And it's one of these that the red-cloaked man grasps and turns...

Immediately, the metal rungs of the ladder retract into the north wall, trapping the warforged down on the ground floor with the rest of you. The warforged growls in metallic fury.

Cornered now, the warforged spins around and immediately attacks Condign. But the tiefling is ready for him, and deflects the incoming warpick with his shield. Again the loud ringing of metal on metal.

Grafth closes in toward the warforged with predatory instinct, loping in close without engaging directly. Instead he flings a dagger...which spins end over and before sinking to the hilt in the woody cords of the warforged's neck. The warforged convulses from pain or discomfort, but hardly slows its own attacks.

Moving into between his allies, Streko calls upon Olladra. The ringing of phantom, spiritual bells heralds her power and a burst of light blazes from the halfling's holy symbol in fifteen feet in every direction. The dwarf seems to evade its outer rim, but the warforged sags visibly under its power. Yet both Condign and Belarin feel rejuvenated by it, their wounds made less serious for it.

Kal remains in the doorway, targeting the dwarf who still lies just within his range. A dozen tiny tongues of lighting fragment from the tip of Skyfang and crackled across the distance. The dwarf's eyes widen and he crouches low, evading the worst of it. The electricity sparks and then fades away as it lashes only the mounted crossbow.

From the door, Kal sees Lamara step forward as if to join in the fight, then she stops just short of the two side doors in the alley. She aims her ivory wand at the door on the right and speaks a command word in Draconic: electricity leaps from the wand's tip. When the blue-white energy strikes the first metal door, it rebounds and lashes across the way to strike the second door. Instead of fading away, the tongue of electricity thickens and splinters into a number of smaller, lethal-looking bolts, creating a wider, enduring field between the two doors.

Lamara, who stands on the other side of this electric barrier from Kal and his allies, then puts her wand away. Kal, standing closest to her, realizes too late that the two doors probably aren't doors at all...but components of this arcane barrier.

"Grazen!" Lamara calls out, clearly addressing someone not of your party. It sounds like a dwarven name... "Kill all of them. They know far too much. And summon Malov, if you can!"

Tangat, who stands in the alley on the same side of the electric field as Lamara, grows frantic and barks with anger and confusion at the House Medani inquisitive. Kal feels an empathic wave of agitation from his canine friend.

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• Condign's attack (bastion of defense): 15 (miss)
• Bastion of defense gives Belarin, Grafth, and Streko 8 temporary hit points.
• Belarin places a Warlock's Curse on the warforged.
• Belarin's attack (witchfire): 8 (miss)
• Grafth designates the warforged as his Hunter's Quarry.
• Grafth's attack: 16 (hit) / 11 damage to warforged
• Warforged's attack: 10 (miss)
• Streko's attack (Beacon of Hope) +1 (½ Streko's level) +1 (holy symbol) vs. dwarf = 8 (miss)
• Streko's attack (Beacon of Hope) vs. warforged (1d20+6=25) / The warforged is weakened until the end of its next turn.
• Streko's prayer heals Belarin and Condign 5 hit points each.
• Kal's attack (Dancing Lightning) (1d20+6=8) (miss)

Joe, the good thing about Beacon of Hope is that it's a burst effect, meaning any enemies in range you get to make an attack against; so I made the second roll for you. You might have had a bad roll for the dwarf, but the attack roll against the warforged turned out better, as you can see. And even if you'd missed both, your allies still get the benefit of the healing. Clerics rule.

[Jeff's backup]

Condign sees the warforged turn as the metal rungs somehow retract into the wall. Both the tiefling and the construct know it is trapped, and anything cornered --even an artificial one -- will now fight for its life. Condign raises his shield, anticipating a blow from the warpick, and blocks the strike just in time. Pain radiates from his wounded shoulder as the block jars his injury.

He hears the dwarf say something, and he spares a few precious seconds to look. His eyes widen as he sees a man dressed in a red robe holding a lever. Apparently he is the one responsible for trapping the warforged.

Turning back to the warforged, he calls out to the others: "I can handle this thing! Everyone hold your positions and deal with those two on the platform!" Then a little louder: "Kal, we are going to need your and the Inquisitive's help!"

Condign raises his shield and brings his longsword in from a low angle, trying to skewer the construct through the gut and into its chest.

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Minor Action: Infernal Wrath with Unbalancing Wrath (just in case)
Standard Action: Hold the Line

Attack roll: 1d20 + 9=14

Damage roll: hahahahah. The suckage continues.