It looked like the other party did not want to start fight around the egg, but she still had that uneasy feeling and was on high alert, prepared to the bad outcome.
The elf looks into the bag of fake diamonds once more, as if to be certain. Her face stays neutral as she cautiously lowers the hide backpack to the ground and backs up, motioning toward the back of the barn to her guards. One of the men walks over to the ladder and hefts the burlap sacks at its base out of the way, revealing a small indentation in the back wall.
"Thank you for your patronage. Remember...five minutes, and then leave," the elf says, bowing low. And with that, one of her guards pushes open the indentation - a hidden exit to the barn, and leads the rest of the sellers outside, closing the door flush behind them.
Zelra goes to pick up the bag with the dragon egg and opens it up again, looking at it with stars in her eyes. "I wonder how much we could fetch with this... I mean, did you see how many diamonds were in the bag? And here we are only getting 30 gold each..."She stares at the egg longingly but eventually sighs and closes the bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She walks towards Ola and takes out her shortsword, handing it to her. "I notice you left your sword back at the inn. After that tense situation, I'd rather you take this in case we run into any trouble while heading back. You better give it back though."
Ola nodded and took the sword, obviously relieved to get a weapon."True, we are not back yet." She thought a little and stated obvious "The egg is a bad possession - a full grown red dragon is after it somewhere. Would not want to be the one who keeps it when dragon finds it".
Otger turns to Zelra, "Thanks to you we got through that. Best be careful with that bag, don't want to damage the goods. I know it may seem tempting to find a fence but not only do we not have connections we would have to hope that, as Ola said, the mother doesn't find us first. Best we rid ourselves of it quick as we can." He walks over to the door they came in from, staying on the inside but next to the door.
Zelra nods in agreement with Ola and Otger and holds the bag a little more carefully so as to not damage it. "Gods. I didn't even think about the mother. Let's hope a dragon doesn't descend onto the town and kills us all."
She sits on the ground, dragon egg in her lap, and waits for the five minutes to pass. She idly drums her fingers on top of the bag, seemingly much more relaxed than the morning. Once the five minutes are up, she'll stand up back up and head towards the exit. "Five minutes is up. Let's get out here before something inevitably happens."
OOC: Moved a shortsword from Zelra's inventory over to Ola's.
Zelra Nature: 10
All looks well to Sylyra at the back exit of the barn. The exit can barely be noticed even with the burlap sacks not covering the latch well-hidden among the back wall. Through the eyes of Sly, Arnald watches the sellers leave, sauntering down the main trail that leads back to Phlan calmly, and the five minutes pass by.
Then a voice interrupts Zelra. "The toll for passage out of this barn is that egg."
A tough-looking half-orc male, brandishing a mace, appears in the doorway of the barn in front of Otger. A heavy crossbow is slung across his back. "I'm sure you will hand it over peacefully so I don't have to take your lives instead," he comments.
"If you can sneak from the back door I'll cover your retreat"Ola addressed Zelra (quietly, for her ears) but looking at the half-orc studying his moves and getting feeling of the future opponent. Even a half-orc could not be so stupid to attack such a big armed group. Something was not right here. She called to the orc, easily covering the space between them with that ocean undertone in her voice.
"Sure you can see there are many of us and we are armed. You can not possibly hope to win. Why don't you let us leave and pretend you came too late?"
Otger sighs. Though troubled he is not nervous anymore. The situation is no longer a tense deception.
"I would take Ola's warning stranger. I am sure you're not alone but you don't have the upper hand here. Just step aside, no need to bring the town guard on us with the ruckus of a fight. Don't think that'd be good for either of us, right?"
Otger moves to stand in front of the half-orc. Not in an intimidating fashion, rather he is holding his left hand out with the right hand on his mace's grip. If attacked he is ready for a fight.
Uragum strides forward and adds his size and presence to the equation. He holds up his fists and let's the bluish, crackling electricity from one of his spells encase his fists. He casts a, just try it, stare at him.
OOC: I'm not entirely clear on how we're positioned. If I'm 20 feet or less from the half-orc , Arnald draws his rapier. Otherwise he draws his longbow
"I do have some tension built up from today's events. Please give me a reason to use you as my release valve."
Arnald directs Sly to come back and sweep the area for any others near the barn.
As the half-orc appears, Zelra sighs. "I knew it."She turns to Ola and whispers back. "If I leave, where am I supposed to go? I'd rather stay and fight." Zelra makes sure that the bag is secure and closed tightly before wearing it properly (if it is a backpack) and taking out her shortbow. She calls out to the half-orc. "I'd really rather not fight you know. One, it's annoying for me and two, it doesn't exactly look good for you. Maybe that's just arrogance speaking, but you do seem to be alone."
A trio of nets descend from the loft above, taking the party by surprise. One snags Ruik completely, entangling him within the threads and effectively locking him in place. Arnald and Ola see it and dive to opposite sides, barely avoiding becoming ensnared themselves.
In the loft, three human men are shaking hay off of themselves and watching their targets. Swords are sheathed at their hips and crossbows are attached to their backs.
Round 1 Order: Players <===== Enemies
Placement: The half-orc is standing at the entrance to the barn. Three humans are in the loft, 40 feet from the entrance to the barn and 10 feet above the ground. Otger and Uragum are 10 feet away from the half-orc. Arnald, Ola, Ruik, and Zelra are in the center of the barn, 40 feet away from the half-orc. Sylyra is outside of the back of the barn, 80 feet away from the half-orc or 110 feet away if flanking around the barn.
OOC: Welcome to our first combat! The characters had a higher average initiative than the enemies, so they are up first. All members of a group act at the same time, so post as you can. When all characters have taken their turn, I will resolve and advance. If a character has not acted in 24 hours, I will bot that character with a standard action or a dodge action.
Note: Ruik's readied action did not take effect because the half-orc has not made a move yet and the nets took him by surprise. Arnald did not have enough time before the attack to look through Sly's eyes but can do so during combat if he wishes.
Otger let's go of his mace and instead turns to Zelra. "Helm protect you." He says as he pulls a page from his prayer book, using it as a focus for his Shield of Faith spell. The paper disintegrates before him as suddenly Zelra gains a faint sheen of radiance across her clothes. Otger then rushes to Rubik's side and tries to help remove the net.
Ola tossed the bag to the elf.
It looked like the other party did not want to start fight around the egg, but she still had that uneasy feeling and was on high alert, prepared to the bad outcome.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
The elf looks into the bag of fake diamonds once more, as if to be certain. Her face stays neutral as she cautiously lowers the hide backpack to the ground and backs up, motioning toward the back of the barn to her guards. One of the men walks over to the ladder and hefts the burlap sacks at its base out of the way, revealing a small indentation in the back wall.
"Thank you for your patronage. Remember...five minutes, and then leave," the elf says, bowing low. And with that, one of her guards pushes open the indentation - a hidden exit to the barn, and leads the rest of the sellers outside, closing the door flush behind them.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Arnald has Sly go high to keep watch. Once he's sure their gone he looks to the others.
"Well, that was a bit tense. But you all did adequately. Are we ready to head back?"
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
Zelra goes to pick up the bag with the dragon egg and opens it up again, looking at it with stars in her eyes. "I wonder how much we could fetch with this... I mean, did you see how many diamonds were in the bag? And here we are only getting 30 gold each..." She stares at the egg longingly but eventually sighs and closes the bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She walks towards Ola and takes out her shortsword, handing it to her. "I notice you left your sword back at the inn. After that tense situation, I'd rather you take this in case we run into any trouble while heading back. You better give it back though."
Ola nodded and took the sword, obviously relieved to get a weapon. "True, we are not back yet." She thought a little and stated obvious "The egg is a bad possession - a full grown red dragon is after it somewhere. Would not want to be the one who keeps it when dragon finds it".
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Sylyra walks over to where the hidden door was and looks around to make sure nothing was left behind to surprise them.
Otger turns to Zelra, "Thanks to you we got through that. Best be careful with that bag, don't want to damage the goods. I know it may seem tempting to find a fence but not only do we not have connections we would have to hope that, as Ola said, the mother doesn't find us first. Best we rid ourselves of it quick as we can." He walks over to the door they came in from, staying on the inside but next to the door.
Zelra nods in agreement with Ola and Otger and holds the bag a little more carefully so as to not damage it. "Gods. I didn't even think about the mother. Let's hope a dragon doesn't descend onto the town and kills us all."
She sits on the ground, dragon egg in her lap, and waits for the five minutes to pass. She idly drums her fingers on top of the bag, seemingly much more relaxed than the morning. Once the five minutes are up, she'll stand up back up and head towards the exit. "Five minutes is up. Let's get out here before something inevitably happens."
Since all pretenses could be dropped now, Ola follows Zelra with readied sword - as a guard now rather than a helper.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
OOC: Moved a shortsword from Zelra's inventory over to Ola's.
Zelra Nature: 10
All looks well to Sylyra at the back exit of the barn. The exit can barely be noticed even with the burlap sacks not covering the latch well-hidden among the back wall. Through the eyes of Sly, Arnald watches the sellers leave, sauntering down the main trail that leads back to Phlan calmly, and the five minutes pass by.
Then a voice interrupts Zelra. "The toll for passage out of this barn is that egg."
A tough-looking half-orc male, brandishing a mace, appears in the doorway of the barn in front of Otger. A heavy crossbow is slung across his back. "I'm sure you will hand it over peacefully so I don't have to take your lives instead," he comments.
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Sylyra sighs and tries to stealthily exit the barn through the hidden door to move around and flank the half-orc.
Ruik sighs heavily. "Nuthins ever easy." he mutters as he prepares to cast Frostbite on the half-orc if it attacks.
Con save DC 13
Ready action of spell.
"If you can sneak from the back door I'll cover your retreat" Ola addressed Zelra (quietly, for her ears) but looking at the half-orc studying his moves and getting feeling of the future opponent. Even a half-orc could not be so stupid to attack such a big armed group. Something was not right here. She called to the orc, easily covering the space between them with that ocean undertone in her voice.
"Sure you can see there are many of us and we are armed. You can not possibly hope to win. Why don't you let us leave and pretend you came too late?"
Persuasion 23
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Otger sighs. Though troubled he is not nervous anymore. The situation is no longer a tense deception.
"I would take Ola's warning stranger. I am sure you're not alone but you don't have the upper hand here. Just step aside, no need to bring the town guard on us with the ruckus of a fight. Don't think that'd be good for either of us, right?"
Otger moves to stand in front of the half-orc. Not in an intimidating fashion, rather he is holding his left hand out with the right hand on his mace's grip. If attacked he is ready for a fight.
Uragum strides forward and adds his size and presence to the equation. He holds up his fists and let's the bluish, crackling electricity from one of his spells encase his fists. He casts a, just try it, stare at him.
OOC: I'm not entirely clear on how we're positioned. If I'm 20 feet or less from the half-orc , Arnald draws his rapier. Otherwise he draws his longbow
"I do have some tension built up from today's events. Please give me a reason to use you as my release valve."
Arnald directs Sly to come back and sweep the area for any others near the barn.
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
As the half-orc appears, Zelra sighs. "I knew it." She turns to Ola and whispers back. "If I leave, where am I supposed to go? I'd rather stay and fight." Zelra makes sure that the bag is secure and closed tightly before wearing it properly (if it is a backpack) and taking out her shortbow. She calls out to the half-orc. "I'd really rather not fight you know. One, it's annoying for me and two, it doesn't exactly look good for you. Maybe that's just arrogance speaking, but you do seem to be alone."
OOC: Arnald would have been in the center of the barn during the negotiations, about 40 feet away from the entrance where the half-orc stands.
DM Screen:
13
7
16
19
20
8.4
30
6
10
15
17
12
34/34
9/9
16/16
16/16
9/9
11/11
Sylyra quickly opens the back entrance and slips out of the barn, but the intruder surely noticed the sudden influx of light from the departure.
The half-orc grins wickedly as the party draws weapons and tightens the security on the egg, "I'll take my chances."
Initiative:
Arnald: 17
Ola: 2
Otger: 11
Ruik: 6
Sylyra: 11
Uragum: 15
Zelra: 14
Average: 10.86
Arnald DEX Save: 7
Ruik DEX Save: 11
Ola DEX Save: 19
A trio of nets descend from the loft above, taking the party by surprise. One snags Ruik completely, entangling him within the threads and effectively locking him in place. Arnald and Ola see it and dive to opposite sides, barely avoiding becoming ensnared themselves.
In the loft, three human men are shaking hay off of themselves and watching their targets. Swords are sheathed at their hips and crossbows are attached to their backs.
Round 1 Order:
Players <=====
Enemies
Placement:
The half-orc is standing at the entrance to the barn.
Three humans are in the loft, 40 feet from the entrance to the barn and 10 feet above the ground.
Otger and Uragum are 10 feet away from the half-orc.
Arnald, Ola, Ruik, and Zelra are in the center of the barn, 40 feet away from the half-orc.
Sylyra is outside of the back of the barn, 80 feet away from the half-orc or 110 feet away if flanking around the barn.
Tracking:
Ruik is restrained by a net.
OOC: Welcome to our first combat! The characters had a higher average initiative than the enemies, so they are up first. All members of a group act at the same time, so post as you can. When all characters have taken their turn, I will resolve and advance. If a character has not acted in 24 hours, I will bot that character with a standard action or a dodge action.
Note: Ruik's readied action did not take effect because the half-orc has not made a move yet and the nets took him by surprise. Arnald did not have enough time before the attack to look through Sly's eyes but can do so during combat if he wishes.
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Sylyra runs (dashes) around the outside of the barn (70 feet).
Otger let's go of his mace and instead turns to Zelra. "Helm protect you." He says as he pulls a page from his prayer book, using it as a focus for his Shield of Faith spell. The paper disintegrates before him as suddenly Zelra gains a faint sheen of radiance across her clothes. Otger then rushes to Rubik's side and tries to help remove the net.
Bonus Action: Shield of Faith on Zelra
Move: 30ft to Ruik. (Description sounds like I am 30 ft away from Ruik, correct me if I'm wrong.)
Action: Help action on Ruik? Not sure how nets work. Just want to help remove the net from him.