Chapter 3: The Enemy Within

[Darren]

"Steer towards it," Kalarian says calmly. "Mist and Amal, take whoever you need and man the ballistae." Kalarian looks at everyone in the group, a serious look on his face. He especially focuses on Goran for a moment. "No one fires until we have a clear idea of who we're firing at, understand? If they're all our enemy, then we let them kill eachother first. If only one of them is, we want to make sure we join in on the right side." Kal turns back to the railing, rolling up his sleeves to expose his dragonmark. "I don't mind a fight, but I like to know who I'm fighting, first."

[Josh]

"Quite sensible," says Grafth. "We must be very careful— as we have learned, those who seem weak are often the most dangerous."

The shifter looks down on the unfolding scene. As they get closer, he attempts to spy any identifiable colors or crests that may indicate the allegiance of either party.

"Still, though," he murmers, "It is hardly noble to attack the helpless... if in fact they are without defense..."

If necessary, Grafth will man a ballista.

[Jeff]

Amal immediately runs belowdecks toward the ballistae chambers. Mist shakes her head once. "I am not skilled with such large devices. I would prefer to engage the enemy at closer range, if appropriate."

As the Thunderhead gets nearer to the conflict, you begin to see more detail. Three of the figures wear green cloaks and helms, armored in chain mail and carrying longswords....it is the livery, in fact, of Emerald Claw soldiers! However, one of the men is fighting against his two comrades. Emerald Claw against Emerald Claw?

The other two, grey-cloaked figures, wield spells, and though it's difficult to be sure, they appear to be challenging the lone Emerald Claw soldier as he fights his fellows.

Further away and closer to the group who was, moments before, incinerated by a fireball, is a single man—probably human. He stands apart, seeming engaged in the fight from afar. If you're seeing it right, he is hurling red-hued incendiary blasts like alchemist's fire a considerable distance and with impressive accuracy. He is wrapped in a dark green cloak which nearly hides him in your view from above. He is lightly armored in dark leather but doesn't carry himself like a soldier. He carries only a light pack and a dagger in hand. Maybe a sorcerer like Kal?

The young man spares a glance up at the Thunderhead as it grows closer—as astonished to see it as the men he is fighting—then uses the distraction to run behind the bushes that hug the base of the tall black rock.

Even as you watch, the one Emerald Claw soldier strikes down one of his fellows and one of the grey-cloaked spellcasters.

The Thunderhead glides in, ever closer.

[mike]

"Sorcery," Torhak hisses as he watches the magical fire erupt below. "I knew it."

He takes out his axe and heads for the railing, looking to descend down to the ground as quickly as possible.

[Darren]

Pointing to the lone soldier, Kalarian says, "I'd bet that one is the one we want to be fighting for. Goran," he puts an arm on the ranger's shoulder, "the spellcaster is your target. If you see him try anything, put him on the ground." Grinning at Torhak, Kalarian says, "Think you can take out those Emerald Claw bastards? How about you and I head down there and see what kind of damage we can do? Mist, you're with us. Fherina and Lever, stay with the ship. Assist in any way you can from up here. Grafth, can you coordinate the ranged fire from up here? We'll take Streko with us, in case there are any survivors down there."

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Sound like a plan to everyone?

[Jeff]

Darren: you've got to be very specific when you say "spellcaster." There is the green-cloaked, black-haired man who was hurling red "fire" at the remaining grey-cloaked spellcaster.

That said, a map will go up soon, and so will the initiative counts. For those of you who can roll for initiative, go for it.

[Darren]

Sorry. My intention was to point out the one hurling fire.

[Jeremy]

Goran narrows his eyes at Kal, still not used to taking commands from anyone, at least, anyone except his elders in the Eldeen Reaches.

He draws an arrow and nocks it with astonishing speed. Staring down the arrow shaft, he speaks quietly.

"Aye, he'll do as a target. But mind your commands, Deneith...I had not fired yet nor would I have until I knew more. You ought to know that about me by now..."

[mike]

"They will feel the bite of my steel, and die screaming for mercy," Torhak says to Kalarian. "Except mercy will not be given."

"I will deal with the soldiers. You take out the rest."

[Joe]

Streko removes the sickle from his haversack. "I am ready to follow Kal. Give the word!"

[Jeff]

Ralsor guides the Thunderhead even low, until the lower strut is only twenty freet from the ground, shifting the ship .

Goran stands at the railing on the upper deck, bow in hand, arrow knocked and ready.

Kal, Torhak, Mist, and Streko make their way quickly down to the cargo deck, ready to descend to the ground. Lever follows, speaking complex arcane words and laying his three-fingered hands upon the haft of Kal's sharash. Immediately, threads of electricity flicker along the scythe blade.

"This may help," the warforged says. Turning to Torhak, "I can assist you as well, master dwarf...if you will permit me."

Grafth and Amal head to the quarters deck and move enter the ballistae chambers. Through the port-side open window, Grafth can survey most of the battlefield. However, Amal is facing the starboard side, opposit the battle. "Yes, this isn't going to work!" he almost laughs out to Grafth.

Matheu perches near the bow of the ship, looking down upon the curious battlefield. Be careful who you target, Goran.

Fherina stands near Goran, watching him. "If you find you need to get down there fast, I have a spell that can do it."

And at just that moment, the keen-eyed ranger sees two new figures sprinting onto the scene from out of the deepening twilight: warforged, bearing swords. He can't quite tell whose side their on, but they do look a lot like the ones fought back in Fairhaven...
_____________________________________

The combat round will begin soon (but not yet). I will place Kal, Torhak, Mist, and Streko on the map soon, too; currently they're belowdecks about to head to the ground. I've shown a bit of the quarters deck so you can see where Grafth and Amal have gone. (If Grafth doesn't want to man the ballistae, just say so.)

19 = "fire" spellcaster (Be on the map)
18 = cloaked spellcaster
16 = Torhak
14 = warforged
11 = Goran
10 = Kal
6 = Streko
5 = Grafth

Wow, some low rolls there.

Lever's artificer infusion has made Kal's sharash a temporary shocking weapon: it will deal an additional 1d6 points of electricity damage per successful strike.

[Jeremy]

Goran nods at the words spoken in his head from Matheu.

"Indeed. I think anyone of these targets could be a valid kill...or a terrible mistake."

Suddenly, Goran sees the warforged(s) and they look familiar. He calls out to Kal and Grafth.

"Hey, those warforged...do they look familiar to you guys?"

Goran re-trains his aim on his original target. Moments away from the kill...

[Jeff]

All right, y'all: I'll be away for today and tomorrow. So go ahead and post what you think your first actions/intentions are, and when I'm back we'll translate that into the first round of combat.

[Josh]

"I see your point, Amal," the shiter replies. "Well, I'm not sure how useful these will be once our companions are fighting amongst our potential targets. If you wish to join them on the ground, I'm sure your skill with the blade will be appreciated.

Grafth, having received a tutorial on ballistae, should know if it is possible to aim for a wounding blow rather than a killing one, but I do not. So, if Grafth can take aim at the fire-throwing individual with intent to harm or incapacitate, he will do so. If he knows that the ballistae are only good for taking somebody out for good, he will wait for now.

[Darren]

Kalarian gives Lever a wide grin, slapping him on the armor plating of his shoulder as he laughs. "Yes, this will do."

Kal looks down at Tangat. "Sorry, my friend. No time to get you to the ground. Keep an eye on things up here, will you?"

As soon as he hits the ground, Kalarian targets the nearest cloaked spellcaster, pointing his hand at the figure and uttering arcane words. Two bolts of energy shoot forth, striking the caster with unerring accuracy.

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I'm making the assumption that it will take a while to get Tangat to the ground. If that's not the case, I'd prefer to have him with me.

Also, Kal will cast Magic Missle on the nearest spellcaster.

[mike]

"My thanks, but no," Torhak says to Lever. "My axe needs no aid from the magic arts."

_____________


As soon as he reaches the ground, Torhak heads immediately towards the closest Emerald Claw soldier that seems to be aiding the grey-cloaked spellcasters. He'll charage as soon as it's feasible.

Also, which of Torhak's initiative rolls is correct?

[Joe]

Streko taps the warforged on the back of his leg.

"I, on the other hand, would like every bit of assistance I can get. If you would be so kind?" He lifts up his masterwork sickle.

[Jeff]

What a dope I am. Sorry, Mike. Torhak's at initiative count 16, your roll. I'll correct that when I get back home tonight.

[Jeff]

When Goran calls out, ""ey, those warforged...do they look familiar to you guys?", only Grafth can hear him. And at Grafth's words, Amal concedes and makes his way belowdecks.

With Lever's assistance, the hatch opens up and the newly reworked rope ladder drops to the ground twenty feet below. Kal heads down.

As Torhak begins his quick climb down the ladder, Lever effects a second infusion, this time upon Streko's sickle. The curving blade sudden blazed with flame. Streko can feel its heat but it does not increase the temperate on the grip of his weapon and is no danger to him. Then Streko heads down the rope ladder.

When all three reach the ground, Kal in the lead, they begin to move out from beneath the airship into the battlefield....just in time to see the final struggle of the last Emerald Claw soldier. His two fellows, evidently also his enemies, already lay dead or dying. One of the grey-cloaked spellcasters have already been cut down as well. This Grafth had seen—the Emerald Claw agent who felled him seemed a master of the sword.

Just as Kal raises his hands to throw a spell of his own and Torhak begins a hustle toward the soldiers, they all see the remaining grey-cloaked figure lash out with a spell—a haze of black and purple—and the final Emerald Claw soldier drops with a shout to the ground.

Who, then, remains in this fight?

The grey-cloaked figure (? on the map) turns his hooded gaze upon the airship's crew. Behind him, the two warforged have run on to the scene and it's very apparent they're on the same side.

Meanwhile, the green-cloaked man (Be) who was hurling red fire at the other spellcasters has retreated just enough to put some of the bushes between himself and his enemies.

As Grafth tries to aim the ballista, Ralsor helps him out and shifts the Thunderhead further so that the entire field of battle is within the giant crossbow's reach. It's also obvious to the shifter that there's just no such way to merely incapacitate a target with the massive crossbow bolts the weapon looses. They're meant to kill, or else to damage the hulls of other ships. Who, if anyone, will he target then?

The green-cloaked man is fully aware of the airship and even seems to have spotted Grafth seated at the ballista, regarding him. It's hard for the shifter to tell if the man is alarmed, relieved, or angry at this fact.

_________________________________________

Okay, the battlefield is fully arrayed. The Emerald Claw soldiers are all down...whoever's side they were on. The only ones who remain are the green-cloaked spellcaster or the grey-cloaked spellcaster and his two warforged.

Streko's sickle is now temporarily a flaming weapon, so it will cause an addition 1d6 points of fire damage per successful strike.

Now that round 1 will begin, take this moment to decide specifically who you're targeting.

[Darren]

Kalarian looks around in confusion and frustration. Despite being a scion of House Deneith, he prefers battles where the sides are more clearly determined, or where he at least knows which one he is supposed to be fighting for. Making his decision, he shouts up to Goran, hoping the half-elf's ears are good enough to hear him. "Keep the green-cloaked spellcaster sighted, but don't shoot him unless he tries to target us. His allegence is not yet clear." Kal then takes a step to the side (further away from the warforged) and looses the glowing darts of energy towards the remaining gray-cloaked figure.

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Kal will move as far towards the side (North-West) as he is allowed before casting Magic Missle on the gray-cloaked caster.

[Jeremy]

Goran chuckles to himself at Kal's shout. [assuming he can hear it]

"Way ahead of you, Deneith..." he mutters. He's has been keeping the fellow sighted down the arrow shaft the entire time.

If the spellcaster makes one magical or otherwise suspicious move...Goran will plug 'im.

[Josh]

Grafth, exercising what seems to be an inherent patience, merely keeps his weapon trained squarely on the green-cloaked figure. If his target makes a move to cast another spell, or anything the shifter would find overtly aggressive, he will loose the bolt.

[mike]

Seeing that the Emerald Claw soldiers have fallen, Torhak charges one of the warforged instead, brandishing his axe.

[Joe]

Streko notices the arrayed soldiers. His heart battles between wishing to rush to the downed spellcaster's side or assisting his friends in attacking someone...or something. He remembers what had happened previously with warforged enemies...he remembers Cutter, who he had known for so short a time...he remembers the inn and the savage attack on his friends.

He decides quickly to even the odds.

"Amal, if you would mind covering me in case the far warforged decides to come this way, I am going to assist our dwarven friend from here."

Streko grasps his holy symbol, prays for Olladra's blessing and stares directly at the nearest warforged.
___________________________________________________

Streko casts Spiritual Weapon and launches it at the warforged Torhak is engaging.

[Jeremy]

Goran smiles at Streko's fury, and mutters into the fletching of the arrow nocked on his bow...the string singing with tension...

"You gotta love that guy."

[Jeff]

Round 1

19 = green-cloaked 'caster
18 = grey-cloaked 'caster
17 = Ralsor
16 = Torhak / Mist
14 = warforged
11 = Goran
10 = Kal
6 = Streko
5 = Grafth
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The green-cloaked man sees both Goran and Grafth sighting him down and looks hesitant to do anything rash. Instead, he points in the direction of the fallen Emerald Claw soldiers. “Save the captain! Please!” he shouts, then turns and bolts around the thick tangle of bushes. With the Thunderhead hovering in place twenty feet off the ground, it’s still not high enough to spot him where he’s taken cover.

The grey-cloaked man, seeing newcomers approaching both him and the warforged behind him, lifts a bandaged hand up and points his finger as he speaks arcane words. Streko recognizes the incantation and knows, in that instant, what its effects will be, but it doesn't avail them.

A jet of sickly green fumes surges from his fingertip and forms a noxious cloud of vapor that fully engulfs Kal, Torhak, Mist, Streko, and Amal as they approach. Even those outside the cloud—Goran and Grafth—find themselves wanting to turn away and spit. It stinks of organic rot and fungal intensity!

Those within the cloud are utterly sickened by it. Kal got an immediate lungful, and his stomach begins to convulse as he chokes and coughs. It’s all he can do to maintain a grip on his weapon. Streko, also unprepared, finds himself unable to speak the words of his spell; just breathing at all is difficult. Amal, too, is stricken.

Mist seems completely unaffected by the cloud, for warforged do not breathe at all. She dashes out from the vapor and closes the distance to the grey-cloaked caster. She moves in low with her scimitar, lashing out with precision. Her curving blade strikes too fast for the man to dodge, and tears across his midsection. The fabric of his cloak splits smoothly, but there is no blood and no cry of pain.

Torhak continues his advance with axe raised. He coughs but doesn’t slow at all, striding right back out of the cloud. What it does do is infuriate him. In one moment he's a determined warrior moving to engage his enemy. In the next he is a unshackled dwarf-shaped, axe-wielding force of pure aggression. Torhak reaches to the spot just beside Mist with something like a growl stirring in his throat. His heavy-bladed axe swishes the air audibly and.....cuts into the grey-cloaked man's side. The man hisses from the pain, and Torhak is barely conscious of the fact that it didn't do as much damage as it ought to have. Somewhere in the back of his incensed mind, Torhak thinks there should have been more blood.

“Twelve Bloody Moons!” Ralsor curses when he sees the stinking cloud. “I’ll take care of that!” The Lyrandar captain angles the ship even further, trying to touch the cloud with the ring of elemental air. As it nears, the powerful winds of the elemental begin to disperse the cloud. The worst of it is starts to move away from those who had been caught within it...but all this does is prevent further exposure. They must still work to purge their lungs of the noxious vapor, and it will cost them precious time.

The two warforged, hustling in almost as if in formation, sudden diverge. One of them heads to the right, behind the boulder, presumably seeking out the green-cloaked man. The other reaches Torhak and brings his heavy military pick to bear. The sharp tip catches the dwarf on the arm and sends out a spurt of blood. Torhak hardly seems to notice it.

With the green-cloaked man out of their line of sight, both Grafth and Goran are denied their target and are forced to decide on a new action.
_________________________________

• Greycloak casts Stinking Cloud.
  
• Spellcraft checks: Streko (21, success), Kal (17, failure).
  
• Kal: 6 + 1 = 7 (failure, Kal is nauseated for 2 rounds)
  
• Torhak: 12 + 6 = 18 (success)
  
• Streko: 8 + 4 = 12 (failure, Streko is nauseated for 2 rounds)
  
• Amal: 8 +3 = 11 (failure, Amal is nauseated for 2 rounds)
  
• Mist’s attack:18 (hit, but no damage)
  
• Torhak's attack: 11 + 6 + 2 (rage) = 19 / damage is 2 + 5 = 7
  
• Warforged attack: 11 (miss)
  
• Warforged attack: 22 (hit, 9 damage to Torhak)

Nauseated characters are unable to attack, cast spells, concentrate on spells, or do anything else requiring attention. The only action such a character can take is a single move action per turn.

Mike, give us some flavor text to go with Torhak's raging! What's he look like doing this?

Because Grafth and Goran, who had readied actions to shoot the green-cloaked man, were denied their shot, both of them will move to the top of the next round and will get to act first. So what's it going to be, fellas?

[Joe]

Streko races out of the cloud, projectile vomiting to his right and hoping he is moving towards the fight. Once he is cleared, he is beyond furious. He attacks the warforged from behind with his flaming sickle and THEN...oh, and then, he has a few surprises for Mister Noxious! Oh yes he does! "Make me waste a spell, will you?!"

[Jeff]

Not sure how much of that was in character and how much out of character, Joe.

In any case, as indicated above, Kal, Streko, and Amal are nauseated for 2 rounds (this round that's just passed and all of next round, too), so all they can do is move. No spellcasting or attacking. On the plus side, Streko couldn't even begin his spell, so he didn't waste it. It just didn't happen.

[Joe]

I assure you, beloved game master and storyteller extraordinaire, that it was ENTIRELY in character!! Streko is nothing if not eccentric! As to not losing a spell, that is indeed good news, but still, projectile vomiting is among his least favorite activites...

[Jeremy]

Goran bellows as loud as he can without distracting himself:

"GRAFTH! Take out the warforged! Either of them!"

If Goran has a clean shot on the grey-cloaked spellcaster, he will take it. Otherwise, he will take a shot at one of the warforged.