So much for the stealthy approach, Raqisat thinks to himself as the scene in front of him explodes in noice and chaos.  He really shouldn't have been surprised... But before he could think on it more than that two of the bandits had dropped their crossbows and pulled out blades and were upon him.  He smoothly sidestepped the first blade with ease but the second managed to catch him.

     Getting rusty, he thinks, scolding himself.  With that hit, and the fact his foes have changed weapons, Raqisat considers doing the same for the briefest of moments... But no.  These bandit scum do not deserve the blade.

     And like lighting, Raqisat flicks out his one hand and creates a crack and a slash, a half turn and the left hand also snaps out creating another crack...  In the time it takes to blink, the cloaked stranger lashed out with two whips to attack the scum in front of him.

Whip vs more western bandit Attack: 9 Damage: 4

Bonus action Whip vs more souther bandit Attack: 7 Damage: 4

...

A delighted pleased hum escapes Cosette from the results of her opening act. There was a smile behind her brown eyes as she watches the bandits surprise, following the fleeing foe south. Dexterous fingers pluck a bolt from its case and clips it into place on a light crossbow. Cos then strides in a wide berth as to not interfere further with Raq and his targets, setting her sight on the runner. She cocks her weapon, then chimes to Raq. “C’mon Raq, whip them like you want to take them home.” She encourages with a smirk. Thuck! She releases her bolt.

Movement: To get within 80ft of the fleeing bandit
BA: Bardic Inspiration on Raq (1d6)
Attack: 17 Damage: 7 

The mysterious whipmaster cracks the lashes at both Thugs but they both raise their maces to deflect the blows.

Cosette's hunting more successful, and the fleeing Thug drops in mid stride with a bolt between his shoulder blades.

Rohuzar's axe bites deep, scraping studded leather and bone.  The Bandit Leader is shocked by the ferocity of the attack, stepping back, right into the arms of a rejuvenated Mr. Howie.  "Gotcha!" growls the cook, grappling the much smaller man in his burly arms.

Desperate and suddenly surrounded, the Bandit Leader struggles briefly but cannot break free.  Instead, he turns his blade on the cook, once again piercing the big man's belly with a shortsword.  The cook drops to his knees, blood pouring between his hand as he holds his stabbed gut before he toppled over once again.  Freed of the cook's grasp, the Bandit Leader makes two ineffectual swipes at Rohuzar and then flees toward the prow of the ship [Rohuzar may spend his reaction on an AoO].  "A little help, Witch?" he barks at the Woman, before taking a position alongside Leelan.  He sneers down at the gnome ranger, though the blood dripping from the wound Rohuzar dealt him suggests he is running out of fight.   [Attacks by the Bandit Leader rolled in the spoiler in #2445]

The Kobold peers from under its hood in the direction of the violence to the northeast, but a whistle from the Woman brings him bounding back to her side.  She then raises a hand and a coil of supernatural flame spirals out toward Rohuzar.

Eldritch Fire: Attack: 11 Damage: 17

1. Cosette/Raqisat
2. Bandit Leader
3. Warlock & Kobold
4. Aubrey
5. Grugga 
6. Boat Thugs
7. Leelan
8. Sniper Thugs
9. Rohuzar 

Keeping a low profile on the gang plank, Aubrey finally notices some commotion over by the snipers. Some unexpected help seemed to have arrived on the scene of the battle. He had to make sure to thank them properly as soon as the Golden Empress was safe and these impudent thugs had all been dealt with. Seething with anger over his brave chef being brought to the brink of death once again by the bandit leader who defiles the deck of the Golden Empress, the young noble makes another flick of his hand as he uses the eldritch power of his talisman to drag the bandit leader off the ship and into the Breitwasser.

Bonus action: Telekinetic Shove on bandit leader, str save 14 or be moved 5 feet towards Aubrey, and hopefully into the Breitwasser.

(I would like to declare Aubrey's action and move after seeing result of bonus action if okay.)

STR: 20

The leader of the wretched bandits is forcefully dragged towards Aubrey but manages to avoid falling overboard. The young noble instead finally scrambles onto the deck of the Golden Empress, over to his brave fallen chef, then unleashing a beam of golden crackling energy towards the despicable bandit.

Eldritch Blast: 22 Force: 8

Rohuzar swipes at the fleeing bandit chief with his bloodied axe

Attack: 15 Damage: 15 

Grugga attempts to hew the bandit in front of him with his sword.

Attack: 25 Damage: 13

Then he whistles for Zip to attack the same target (or if he's dead, then the one immediately behind him.

Attack: 17 Damage: 5

Then Grugga runs up the gangplank and stands at the top, so as to block the way up for any following bandits.

Rohuzar aims a finishing blow at the retreating Bandit Leader, only for the villain to raise a shortsword at the last possible moment to deflect the blow.

[Reaction to use Parry, increasing AC by 2 and avoiding the hit.]

Aubrey's tug on the Bandit Leader fails to pull him off of the ship, and his Eldritch Blast sails high and wide.

Grugga's flamberge is deflected by the Thug's mace, but Zip takes the opportunity to send a laser bolt into the man's exposed ribs, drawing a grunt of pain.  Grugga then moves past Rohuzar, blocking the pathway onto the ship.

The two Thugs rush up the gangplank, trying to shove Rohuzar and Aubrey out of the way.

[Shove with the help action.  Rohuzar and Grugga both need to make an Athletics or Acrobatics check DC 22.  If both fail, they are each pushed 5' back onto the ship, clearing a path on board for the Thugs.  If both succeed, or if Rohuzar succeeds, they stand their ground.  If Rohuzar fails but Grugga succeeds, then Grugga holds his ground but Rohuzar is knocked [Tooltip Not Found].]

Athletics: 14 (rolled in game log)

With the leader approaching Leelan with clear violent intentions, Leelan will shift his focus from the witch to the more immediate threat. He will then make some distance between himself and the bandit leader (move 5 feet away from him in any viable direction).

Drawing another arrow, aiming it quickly and letting it fly.

Bonus action: Shift Slayer’s Prey to the Bandit Leader

Action: Attack: 10 Damage: 8

Slayer’s Prey: 2

(Should this attack bring down the leader, I would like to make it non lethal)

Rohuzar raises his shield and braces for impact

athletics check 26 

Rohuzar is solid as an oak.  Though the two Thugs put their all into a push, they cannot move him and are left stuck on the gangplank for now.

[Grugga's failure doesn't come into play since they failed to move Rohuzar.]

Leelan steps away from the Bandit Leader, draws and fires an arrow, and see it deflected by the rogue's blades.  Even with a few feet of distance, he was in position to get his weapons up into the path of the missile.

Across the battlefield, the other Thugs, though wounded from all of the Shatter spells, continue to press their assault on Raqisat.

Attack: 11 Damage: 8

Attack: 10 Damage: 7

[Rohuzar is up, then back to Cossette and Raqisat to start the next round.]

Rohuzar turns his shield and swings a wide arc with his battleaxe at the thug trying to push through 

Attack: 25 Damage: 10 

     Raqisat growls in frustration as he sees Cosette take down one of the bandits so casually and easily while he's so far been unable to even strike one.  He considers switching to his blades for the briefest of moments but no, these dogs do not deserve to wet his blades with their blood.  Well there was nothing to do now but try to take these two down before Cosette can take down another - He'd hate to have her to rack up a higher body count than he does himself.  Again.

Whip vs Western Bandit - Attack: 23 Damage: 4

Bonus Action Whip vs Southern Bandit - Attack: 15 Damage: 5

Unless, by some miracle, he has taken them both down already Raqisat will Action Surge and strike out once more - First at West if they are still up.

Action Surge Whip Attack: 21 Damage: 5

Hearing the familiar cracks of Raqisat's whips finally hit flesh, Cosette grins further. "Much better." She chimes back to him as she reloads her crossbow. "Now let's see who else I might be able to pick off." The brunette muses to herself as she strides forth to take a gander at the commotion beyond. A low whistle escapes her as her brown eyes peer through the sights and fall over her. Cos runs her tongue along the back of her teeth before calling out so Raqisat could hear her, "Dibs on the ship!" And with a bit of a skip, she hops over some rock rubble to get closer. Then panning through the sight of her crossbow, Cosette decides to focus in on the woman singled out on the rock.

VS Warlock
Movement: Max movement to move in closer
Attack: 6 Damage: 11

Still hungry for blood, Rohuzar's axe again bites down hard on closet Thug on the gangplank.  When he pulls it loose with a rip, the man looks ready to surrender.  Pushed on instead by the Thug behind him and unwilling to continue to face Rohuzar, he lets himself drop off the gangplank into the water below.

Raqisat finds his mark, lashing his foes three times.  With the final whip-crack, the western Thug clutches his face, blood streaming down.  He drops his mace and makes to flee, blinded, to the north.  The southern Thug is hurt as well.  He looked game to fight on, but with the other man fleeing, he hesitates.

Cosette lines up a shot on the Woman on the rock, but a memory tickles her brain.  From a childhood explanation on how to shoot a crossbow... always keep those thumbs down, the crosswire loves to eat thumbs... she notices just as she is pulling the trigger one of her pesky thumbs has indeed strayed too high.  She reflexively drops it in time to save her digit, but the flinch causes her bolt to sail too low.  It clatters off the rock at the Woman's feet, drawing hers and the Kobold's attention.

At Aubrey's feet, the cook draws a ragged breath.

The Bandit Leader looks down at the Woman on the rock.  "About time for an exit strategy!" 

She looks up at him coolly, no trace of her prior mania.  "The Prophet commands we bring him a ship.  Will you return to the forge empty-handed?"

The Bandit Leader lowers his head for a moment, grits his teeth, and then charges Leelan with a roar.  He strikes out repeatedly, but his moves a slow from blood loss and Leelan has no trouble sidestepping each strike before it lands.  [Rolls for bandit attacks in spoiler in #2460]

Below, the Kobold moves to charge off in the direction of Cosette and Raqisat, but the Woman places her hand on its shoulder to stop it.  It looks up at her instead, as she speaks unfamiliar words in an ugly gutteral language... and then she and the Kobold step into a shimmering doorway and are gone.

"... Damn you!" shouts the wide-eyed Bandit Leader at the empty rock.