Ebril watches for a few moments as Annoura and Emel both practice on their own. He turns to Findal, "I don't rightly know what to talk about. Not really been asked to learn how to work with a team before."  He again glances at the elf's exercise and the human's archery. "One looks ready to fight with sword, the other's going to stay back and hit with arrows in a fight. I trust you Findal will be proficient up close with your axes."  He pauses a moment, "I mean I can fight with my stick here and hide behind my shield too, but not sure how that helps you guys. But I can call on Tymora's magic. Disguise myself, help keep the group hidden, charm a person, potential immobilize someone.  And of course, provide healing." He nods towards Annoura again, "I'd guess her goddess provides some similar magic. Healing.  Just trying to think how we'd coordinate."  

Leaning against the table, Ebril then shrugs. "Though, usually I find we just see what the moment brings and we figure it out! That could work for me." 

Emel chuckles. She responds to Ebril without deviating her gaze from the target, her shots remaining fluid and precise. "That's a fair enough assessment. But the bow isn't my only skill. It's just smart to keep your enemy at a distance. Nature is a far more powerful weapon than most would think." As she speaks her eyes begin to change color, first shifting from blue, to green, to white, to pitch black, then finally a deep red, her pupils appearing to be slit like a reptiles, before she blinks hard, her eyes returning to their usual appearance. "Besides." She finally turns towards Ebril, seeming finished with her archery practice,  a mischievous grin on her face. "I'm just as effective in close quarters. I'd be more than happy to demonstrate, if you're up for a sparing session."

"Sure, I suppose we could spar," Ebril says, standing up straighter from where he's leaning against the table.  He takes a few steps out more towards the center of the room. "Guess we'll want to avoid her," he says, tilting his head towards Annoura. "We just start here?"  He stands with his staff in hand, not really looking prepared for a battle. "Just make sure you don't kill me. That would be bad for our little operation," he says with a grin. 

 This  makes Emel laugh. "Just a little bit. Don't worry, I'll keep it non-lethal, though you might be a bit bruised." She settles into a boxing stance. "Let's say... no blades, non-leathal magic allowed? And we start 20 feet apart."

During a short break in her workout, Annoura looks at the others.  "I agree that our tactics will be dictated somewhat by circumstance but I think we can plan generalities," she says.  She gestures at the dwarf with her sword.  "He and I will take the front in combat, with you two providing support, spells, ranged attacks, the like."

"As for our target, we should definitely have a plan on who does what when we get in. Again, we'll need to be flexible for the unexpected but, we should have our jobs assigned," she says before resuming.

"My staff and shield is ok then? Or no?" he asks Emel, slipping his shield from his back.  He is starting to eye the distance to estimate 20 feet. "Non-lethal magic, sure," he replies.  He still doesn't seem to particularly have any stance but says, "Guess I'm ready if you are and we're all agreed." 

Squaring up across the centre of the room, Ebril and Emel watch for an opening. Who will make the first move?

Initiative rolled in Game Log:

Ebril: 18

Emel (+Mep): 9

You may start whenever you're ready.

"Of course." Emel is clearly already enjoying this. "I'll even let you take first shot"

“To most of my people our gods, the Morndinsamman, are like elder family. We ask for guidance or help like a child do from a parent and respect, love them, as such. The religious are different, but I was never one of them.” And how ironic that fact was. “I don’t ken how deities share their power, but everything you said seems frankly incredible. You have truly tactical and, because of that, always essential abilities. I would put you the furthest on the backline if I could choose.” That should preserve a healer while leaving the spells space to wreak the enemies.  “On regards to me in combat, I can use any weapon, even the ranged kind, but work best with the heavier melee. I can take more damage than most, even for a dwarf, but the best way to coordinate with me would be covering ranged enemies I can’t reach.” That was specially true now that he had lost the blades. Well, they didn’t do much for me when I needed the most. “When it comes to planning, Rumnus told us we should expect at least two guards per quarter of the cells. We should advance stealthy, detect them before they detect us and knock them out as fast as we can, then start working on the cells.”  

Ebril moves first, closing the distance to Emel and trying to catch her off guard. He grasps his shield in his off hand while swinging his staff at her feet.  
(Quarterstaff Attack 22) 

(OOC - Do we want to just roll attacks to see if we hit or miss. Then assume damage is 1 hp on a hit - or none. First to score 3 hits wins.  Or do we want to consider damage but we can say it's just temporary sparring damage?  Up to DM I suppose!) 

(Ooc: I agree it's up to the dm. I just assumed we'd be paying attention to damage but consider it temporary.)

(To an extent it's about the character - are they just trying to score a hit, a tap on the chest or shoulder? Or is it about really showing what they're capable of? I've seen PCs that went hard when sparring, no holding back, and that was a perfectly fine choice for that character. 

What I'll say is is roll normal damage, 3 turns each. Whoever has the most hp after that is the winner. Feel free to extrapolate a longer spar from the results but for PbP combat can take a while, as fun as it is. After the spar hp returns to max.)

(Emel, your choice whether to use Mep in the spar, he shares your initiative. If not, you might have to tell him what's going on, I doubt he'll like Ebril attacking you!)

(I'll use mep, and he'll go for non-vital areas. As will Emel)

(Damage from 1st Attack: 3)

Emel flinches at the impact, but her grin is unfaltering "Qm.voni csuvjis. Miv't jewi tuni gyp." She says to Mep, her tone eager. She swings at him with one of her fists but misses. "This is gonna be fun, I always enjoy a good brawl." She says, her eyes glowing green as she does, the same green glow surrounding Ebril.

The drake almost seems to be grinning as well as he scurrys next to Emel,  going for a bite on Ebril

(I also wanna say it's so funny to me how close our names are lmao)

(That's gonna be a 15 from Mep to hit, 8 piercing damage if that hits)

Ebril moves out of the way of Mep's nip. "You sure that drake's bite is non-lethal?" he says with a chuckle.  With a small spin, he again tries to strike Emel. This time he aims for a high blow.

(Quarterstaff Attack: 11 Damage: 3)

She manages to deflect the blow with her arm, but still takes some damage, wincing a little. She laughs when Ebril jokes about Meps bite. "When he wants it to be"  She and Mep both repeat their attacks, both missing g entirely. "You're quite the agile one aren't you?"