[Play-by-Post] Tales from Fourtower Bridge

[NJClaw]

Seeing the wolf finally on the ground in a pool of his own blood, the Colonel nodded with respect towards the dwarf and the pyromaniac. He didn't give them any reason to, but they just saved his life nonetheless.

The child creeping up on him like a small animated bush startled him to the point that he almost reached for his blade, but the healing energies that closed his wounds proved him that nobody needed to be stabbed. For now.

"That fucker is almost cooked to perfection, it'd be a pity to ruin the show now," he mumbled to himself, "I want to hear him scream FOR REAL."

Quickly reloading his crossbow, he fired at the burning hunter, more to play with his prey than to finish him.

Spoiler

First of all, hi everyone! Be thankful that I joined with an already existing character, or you would have to deal with a paladin named Porky by now.

I'd like to quickly shoot in the general direction of the hunter, not to damage him but to distract and hinder him while he tries to put out the flames (ideally, imposing disadvantage on whatever check he is making to stop burning, like an opposite of the Help action). Like some kind of suppressive fire, if it makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, I just shoot at him like a normal person.

On roll20 I rolled like three times while trying to fix the bonus (I've never used it to roll dice and handle sheets), this is the right one.

 

[Catacombs]

Battle Log
+------------------+

Colonel: The bolt flew toward the Hunter, piercing a branch and spraying pieces of wood onto the burning man.

Order
+------------------+

Kilur <-- current turn
Mumbles
Hunter
Bodyguard 1
Thomas
Mardrey
Jess
Brytter
Colonel

Battle map
+------------------+

 

[Nortar]

"Everyone is a marksman now, eh? You muffs, look how it is done!"

The dorf licked and pressed his thumb to the four runes on the crossbow stock. For luck.

Spoiler

I recon it's a miss.

"Shit. Luck my ass. I mean, who's last is the father, bwahaha, he is all yours, lass!"

 

[Catacombs]

Battle Log
+------------------+

Kilur: The shot was so embarrassing, no one bothered to track where it went.

Hunter: The Hunter, though startled by the Colonel's bolt, finally gathered enough snow to put the flames out. Most of his clothes are charred. The mask around his torn apart, revealing a burned face. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, numbing the excruciating pain from the flames. He slid down the hill he was perched on and took cover behind a tall slab of rock. He knocked an arrow and fired it at Jess, missing the woman.

Order
+------------------+

Kilur
Mumbles <-- current turn
Hunter
Bodyguard 1
Thomas
Mardrey
Jess
Brytter
Colonel

Battle map
+------------------+

 

[Catacombs]

vazha: You're up

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

Suppose we iz getting advantooge since we are ganging up on the poor chap? Anyhow, either 19 or 18. Damage 14

"Bedtime, Mothafucka!" Mumbles yelled as he promptly knocked the bandit out hitting him with a pommel of his longsword. Then he carefully (so as to avoid thorny ground wherever possible) beelined towards the hapless hunter.

 

[Catacombs]

Spoiler

Suppose we iz getting advantooge since we are ganging up on the poor chap? Anyhow, either 19 or 18. Damage 14

Spoiler

No advantage. Basic flanking is not part of the 5E rules.

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

still get him I think, O omnipotent authority figure <3

 

[Catacombs]

Battle Log
+------------------+

Mumbles: The half-orc lunges at the Bodyguard with his long sword, smashing it against the Bodyguard's head. The blow knocked him unconscious.

Hunter: He knocked an arrow and fired at Jess. The arrow struck her in the stomach for 5 points of damage.

Order
+------------------+

Kilur
Mumbles
Hunter
Thomas <-- current turn
Mardrey
Jess
Brytter
Colonel

Battle map
+------------------+

 

[Catacombs]

Kalarion: You're up. Let's finish this!

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

I am not happy! I said I knock him out and you went and beheaded him! Not cool, man, not cool! Who are we going to question now?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Spoiler

I am not happy! I said I knock him out and you went and beheaded him! Not cool, man, not cool! Who are we going to question now?

Spoiler

Still gots the hunter.

 

[vazha]

Spoiler

I am not happy! I said I knock him out and you went and beheaded him! Not cool, man, not cool! Who are we going to question now?

Spoiler

Still gots the hunter.

Spoiler

Third degree burns on him, doubtful he'll survive this. Man's literally a barbeque incarnate at this point

 

[Catacombs]

Spoiler

I am not happy! I said I knock him out and you went and beheaded him! Not cool, man, not cool! Who are we going to question now?

Whoops. That was my bad. I read your post too quickly -- saw "longsword" -- and thought you were attacking. I'll rewrite to say you knocked him out instead.

 

[Catacombs]

Still waiting on Kalarion

 

[Kalarion]

"But you make such a lovely torch...," with that, Thomas launched yet another fiery arrow at the hunter.

Spoiler

Sorry guys, didn't see the notification the thread was moving for some reason.

Fire bolt again:

 

[Catacombs]

Story
+------------------+

Thomas launched a firebolt at the Hunter, piercing him right through the neck. The Hunter fell on his back, chocking on his blood. He was dead after a few moments. The forest fell silent.

Spoils
+------------------+

Congratulations. This was a big and long fight. The enemies were particularly tough, and you all did well. Here is the breakdown on the loot:

Spoils

Each person gets 500XP for defeating all the enemies, including knocking one of the bodyguards out.

The party collects the following:
- 300 gold pieces from the hunter and bodyguards
- 1 longbow, 2 shortswords, and 50 arrows
- 1 metal key
- Some miscellaneous jewelry: mostly necklaces and rings from the dead bodyguard and hunter.
- 4 wolf pelts (if you decide to skin the wolves)
- 8 wolf pieces for food (if you decide to butcher the wolves)

 

[Catacombs]

Everyone acknowledged the end of the fight, so now we're out of combat. The entire battle took about 20 minutes, give or take. It's still quite dark, and you all have an unconscious bodyguard lying in the snow. What now?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Secure the bodyguard and place him next to the bard so Mumbles can yell in someone else's ear for a goddamn change.
And rest our wounds off, I guess.

 

[Nortar]

Just like the previous time, the excess of adrenaline made the dwarf extremely talkative.

The way Yessenia used both shortsword and crossbow, when they fought side by side, reminded Kilur of himself... if he was taller, prettier and a woman.

"Ye know, lass, yer alright afterall."

The dwarf looked at Jess with newfound respect and tried to (friendly!) pat her on the shoulder, or at least as high as he could reach.
Not in the least flustered by his lack of reach, Kilur busied himself with cutting out the largest fang of the wolf he'd shot.

"We three should get drunk and measure our bolts." - Dwarf guffawed and passed the wolf's fang to Colonel, - "For ye, mate. I bet it left a mark on yer ass! Maybe that is why ye can not shoot straight, ahaha!"

Other then babbling non stop, Kilur also dragged all the corpses into one pile, and studied them for any distinguishable marks, such as tattoos, scars or anything like that.
Do the wolves have collars? Any peculiarities about the key, what size is it?

Spoiler

Investigation roll, just in case.
If possible, I'd like to get an idea what the key opens - a chest or a door. Maybe it has a label?
And for the deaders - anything that would help to describe/identify them to the guards in the town.

 

[NJClaw]

Savoring the brief moment of silence after the battle, the Colonel slowly walked towards the dead hunter. Without saying a word, he got down on one knee and took a deep breath.

"Aaahhhhhh..."

For him, this was definitely the best day in a very long time. With this human-burner and the living, magical first aid kit on his side, maybe getting ambushed every other night wouldn't be that bad.

The scent of burnt skin made him so happy that he started to feel uncharacteristically more talkative than usual.

"Should we shake up the survivor and question him right now, so that we may deal with him before going to sleep?" he asked, without taking his eyes off the half-burnt body.

Still inebriated by the adrenaline, he heard neither the dwarf's steps in the snow nor his words. He just took the wolf fang with a puzzled look on his face. Better not to ask questions, he already talked too much for a single day.

questions

First round of sheet-related questions: the Colonel has an unequipped chain mail. Despite his proficiency with it, wearing it would reduce his speed to 20 ft. because he doesn't have Str 13. Do the dead bodies have an usable light or medium armor?

 

[Catacombs]

Brytter lifted the bodyguard, threw the body over his shoulder, and trudged through the snow, back to the camp fire. He dropped the man onto the ground, landing with a thud. The man woke up -- "Oh, shit!" -- and tried to get up. Jess, armed with her crossbow, kicked the bodyguard down on his back, pointing the tip of a loaded bolt at his face. "No, no," she said, playfully.

"Ye know, lass," Kilur said with a smile, "Yer alright after all."

Jess smiled back. "I'm here to do a job, and to ensure sure you all get out of this alive. I hope I've proven myself trustworthy."

Kilur padded her back and went off to collect the human and wolf bodies with the Colonel. They dragged them back, one by one, and laid them in a line in front of camp. Kilur figured out the wolves belonged to the men: They had brands near the back of their necks, a symbol that looked like a circle with a line slashed through it from the top right to the bottom left. Kilur then searched through the dead Hunter and Bodyguard, both of whom were covered in tattoos. The pieces were unintelligible, but the style seemed familiar to those made by prisoners. Kilur also noticed scars around the men's wrists. Possibly shackles? He looked at the key he found and concluded that it must've belonged to a large door of some kind.

The Colonel walked toward the dead men and rummaged their clothes. He wore chain mail and didn't feel comfortable with the limited mobility. From the two men he was able to put together a set of studded leather armor. He turned to Jess.

"Should we shake up the survivor and question him right now so that we may deal with him before going to sleep?" he asked.

"It wouldn't hurt," Jess said. "He's awake now."

The man growled. "I'm telling you fuck all," he spat.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

The man growled. "I'm telling you fuck all," he spat.

"Well that's that. I suppose Mumbles shall have to forgo adding a new word to his repertoire this night." Brytter observed.

 

[Nortar]

The man growled. "I'm telling you fuck all," he spat.

"Do not sweat it, lad. I know ye do not know shit. No shit we need to know, anyway. Lads in the know do not get sent to freeze their balls off in the snow at night, ye know". - Kilur shook his head knowingly. - "Do they also set ye to cleaning out latrines? But that is fine, yer a good, honorable lad, ready to take one for them boys in the prison. They would do for ye the same, eh? I bet Thalen would even shed a bitter tear for ye."

Spoiler

An attempt to use "Thieves' Cant" (the unique class ability! to saw some doubts and rattle ex-con's resolve a bit.
And the Persuasion roll is in order to assist to someone else's proper interrogation check.

 

[NJClaw]

The Colonel looked around, waiting for his companions to start the interrogation.

"The last time I was in charge in a case like this, things ended before anyone could say a word," he said, looking at no one in particular, "I tend to overestimate the amount of blood in people's bodies."

He then tried to study the man's face, staring at him with his glacial eyes.

"If he's dead set on saying nothing, we may as well grant him this one wish and make certain he will never open that mouth ever again."

Spoiler

If possible, I try to determine how adamant he is about not speaking.

If he looks like he won't break, I say we just get rid of him right on the spot. If anyone prefers to free him, bring him with us, or take him to the nearest settlement, I wouldn't be opposed to it.