Mandaway mentally replied to the message.....do you or the others have a means of sending these two to sleep or something similar?....he moved around to stand between the two Zhentirim nd the large void in the structure as best he could.
Kella turns to you "Ah you misunderstood. We didn't come here because of the attack. We had a plan in place before the attack. Which is why I was already here when the attack happened. Just the takeover was so much easier because of the attack"
Bert messages to Morak, "Hi, it's Bert, the elf with the rapier. Seems Nightstone was targeted long ago? What's the plan -- try to capture these two? You can reply to this message."
Zook throws his arms up the air and answers Kella with obvious gnomish sarcasm in his voice.
"Well, hooray for you! What a stroke of good fortune that these poor people were waylaid, and therefore were not able to inconvenience you and your merry band of ill-mannered Snails when you so kindly relieved them of their village. Shall we do a little dance to celebrate this wonderful blessing of luck that has been bestowed upon you? Perhaps we can play a song together in honor of your valiant deeds... you can even use the flute I gave you."
He then reverts to a more solemn tone. "One question, though. What if the people of Nightstone don't want their town turned into a Zhenty base? What if they just plain don't want you here?"
"We aren't the Snails. We are the Seven Snakes." Kella interrupts "Technically I'm not one of the Snakes. I work alone. And if they don't want us here, they better get used to it. They look like they need us more than you care to admit"
(Bert, due to the 25 word limit, your message is cut off after reply. But meaning is luckily unchanged)
Morak replies "Bert, she arrived about 4 days before the attack. I don't care what the plan is. I want them gone. Alive or Dead. The leader..."
Mandaway tapped his foot, ready to act as soon as he was given the nod.
He smiled wryly to himself as to the strangeness of his position, it had been easy to be a pacifist if everyone you knew could crush you in an instant....now that he was back among humans and their ilk things were much more complicated.
But Kella had made it very simple, the villagers wanted them gone and the Zhentarim refused to leave, best they sorted things out as quickly as possible.
Where is everyone standing and what's around us? Are we all around tables? By the bar? By the doors? Are they seated? What are they visibly holding/carrying on their bodies? How close are people? Do we hear anything outside?
Bert's trying to see if using mage hand to throw something to distract, or steal something from one of the zhents, would be helpful as things get tense.
"Kella, what are you going to do FOR Nightstone? Anything? Or is it something to be used for your goals? Which, at this point, are pretty vague. Lots of conjecture. Might want to work on that, or leave while things are still peaceful here."
Concealing his hands and trying to speak quietly, Bert casts mage hand (which is invisible thanks to his roguish archetype).
Once his armor is on, Halizthan returns to the main room of the inn, his weapons on full display as he looks around to the party and those they are speaking to. "It appears that an impasse has been reached. I would advice your bring us your leader so that we may speak before either your side or the townspeople strike the first blow."
Zook listens to Kella's response and shakes his head with a nearly imperceptible motion. He doesn't respond, though, instead he remains silent and grips his staff a little more tightly, party in a sense of readiness, given the rising tensions between the people in the inn at this moment, and partly out of frustration that it has to come to this.
The usually peaceful gnome would gladly stand his ground against injustice perpetrated upon the good hearted people of the world, but to now be face to face with another monk who has such a vastly different view of the world. He would have thought that someone like Kella would have more honor than to align herself with a band of simple ruffians and opportunities. What kind of personal code would allow that kind of mindset.
He accepts the confusion as yet another sign that he has much to learn about the world, but he keeps his mind alert just in case this whole thing goes bad, which it seems like it just might do...
(Sorry, hectic time) Zook, you get the feeling Kella lied about being a monk by this point. Bert, Slight of Hand for the sneaky casting. Kella replies "Nightstone is to be used for our goals, if the villagers let us remain without ratting us out we will protect the town against bandits." The other one adds "Yeah but that is self defen..."Kella interupts "Shut up! You aren't helping! Go get Xolkin from upstairs (assuming I remembered the name correctly) before you say anything else unhelpful"
The room is about 10ft by 20ft, there are stairs to the north, and a hole in the roof to the south east where a rock has fallen through, creating a 5ft by 10ft area of difficult terrain. There is a door to the north leading to the kitchen area which is where the wall is broken (so you can actually block all exits) and a bar near it. A couple of windows on each wall and 2 intact tables and 9 intact chairs. Bert, no NPC notices the casting of mage hand (haven't checked PCs passive, if it is more 15 or more, you saw the casting)
OOC: we are a group of relatively passive characters! Bert also would not start this kind of conflict but he sees that it's inevitable.
Bert will sheathe his rapier and pull out his longbow, readying an arrow to fire if the other zhent actually goes upstairs. Assuming he is standing by the front door, and the action has shifted to near the stairs. During this period of relative calm, he tries to disarm a weapon he sees hanging from a belt or a quiver or a loose grip from Kella or the other zhent using mage hand.
Roll a slight of hand to try and disarm the zhent, (crossbow or scimitar) or Kella (you can see she now has two hand crossbows you could remove one of, and a sword under her robe that you can't get.)
The other zhent then goes to try and get upstairs, trying to get around whoever is blocking the stairs (roll your attack).
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sleight of hand to disarm the Zhent of his scimitar: 25
Attack readied: Attack: 8 Damage: 10 (this is assumedly a longbow attack aiming for a leg to pin him if Bert is at the other end of the room... or if he's closer and within melee range, he'll switch to rapier and actually cast booming blade on the Zhent, dealing 7 if the zhent moves)
He gives one verbal warning as he draws his bow/raises his rapier: "Let's not trouble him. We can sort this out ourselves. Stay here."
Although he's quite dismayed that the situation seems to be playing out this way, in the back of his mind, Zook sees no other option. These Zhents clearly have no intention of backing down, and if they want to act like bullies, then they'll have to come through our group, who by the way, has proven their mettle against powerful creatures such as worgs and ogres.
Like Bert, Zook knows that the key to gaining the advantage here is to act fast. Like lightning. Like the wind. And they have the numbers: two against five. That said, even though Kella has apparently lied to him, and is not at all what she appears to be, he does not want to kill her. It has not come to that yet.
Zook launches towards Kella, not to attack, but to try and distract her and pull her attention away from Bert and force her to make a move. Rushing forward, he places himself right in front of her and positions himself in a defensive stance, taking the Dodge action against any attack she might make.
It just hits and he screams in pain as he is pinned in place, looking very injured. Kella steps back (Zook you can take an AoO if you wish) and says "Well I am sure he heard that scream so he is probably on his way. Who knows, the others might be alerted as well"
Mandaway mentally replied to the message.....do you or the others have a means of sending these two to sleep or something similar?....he moved around to stand between the two Zhentirim nd the large void in the structure as best he could.
Kella turns to you "Ah you misunderstood. We didn't come here because of the attack. We had a plan in place before the attack. Which is why I was already here when the attack happened. Just the takeover was so much easier because of the attack"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Bert messages to Morak, "Hi, it's Bert, the elf with the rapier. Seems Nightstone was targeted long ago? What's the plan -- try to capture these two? You can reply to this message."
Zook throws his arms up the air and answers Kella with obvious gnomish sarcasm in his voice.
"Well, hooray for you! What a stroke of good fortune that these poor people were waylaid, and therefore were not able to inconvenience you and your merry band of ill-mannered Snails when you so kindly relieved them of their village. Shall we do a little dance to celebrate this wonderful blessing of luck that has been bestowed upon you? Perhaps we can play a song together in honor of your valiant deeds... you can even use the flute I gave you."
He then reverts to a more solemn tone. "One question, though. What if the people of Nightstone don't want their town turned into a Zhenty base? What if they just plain don't want you here?"
"We aren't the Snails. We are the Seven Snakes." Kella interrupts "Technically I'm not one of the Snakes. I work alone. And if they don't want us here, they better get used to it. They look like they need us more than you care to admit"
(Bert, due to the 25 word limit, your message is cut off after reply. But meaning is luckily unchanged)
Morak replies "Bert, she arrived about 4 days before the attack. I don't care what the plan is. I want them gone. Alive or Dead. The leader..."
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Mandaway tapped his foot, ready to act as soon as he was given the nod.
He smiled wryly to himself as to the strangeness of his position, it had been easy to be a pacifist if everyone you knew could crush you in an instant....now that he was back among humans and their ilk things were much more complicated.
But Kella had made it very simple, the villagers wanted them gone and the Zhentarim refused to leave, best they sorted things out as quickly as possible.
Where is everyone standing and what's around us? Are we all around tables? By the bar? By the doors? Are they seated? What are they visibly holding/carrying on their bodies? How close are people? Do we hear anything outside?
Bert's trying to see if using mage hand to throw something to distract, or steal something from one of the zhents, would be helpful as things get tense.
"Kella, what are you going to do FOR Nightstone? Anything? Or is it something to be used for your goals? Which, at this point, are pretty vague. Lots of conjecture. Might want to work on that, or leave while things are still peaceful here."
Concealing his hands and trying to speak quietly, Bert casts mage hand (which is invisible thanks to his roguish archetype).
Once his armor is on, Halizthan returns to the main room of the inn, his weapons on full display as he looks around to the party and those they are speaking to. "It appears that an impasse has been reached. I would advice your bring us your leader so that we may speak before either your side or the townspeople strike the first blow."
Zook listens to Kella's response and shakes his head with a nearly imperceptible motion. He doesn't respond, though, instead he remains silent and grips his staff a little more tightly, party in a sense of readiness, given the rising tensions between the people in the inn at this moment, and partly out of frustration that it has to come to this.
The usually peaceful gnome would gladly stand his ground against injustice perpetrated upon the good hearted people of the world, but to now be face to face with another monk who has such a vastly different view of the world. He would have thought that someone like Kella would have more honor than to align herself with a band of simple ruffians and opportunities. What kind of personal code would allow that kind of mindset.
He accepts the confusion as yet another sign that he has much to learn about the world, but he keeps his mind alert just in case this whole thing goes bad, which it seems like it just might do...
(Sorry, hectic time) Zook, you get the feeling Kella lied about being a monk by this point. Bert, Slight of Hand for the sneaky casting. Kella replies "Nightstone is to be used for our goals, if the villagers let us remain without ratting us out we will protect the town against bandits." The other one adds "Yeah but that is self defen..." Kella interupts "Shut up! You aren't helping! Go get Xolkin from upstairs (assuming I remembered the name correctly) before you say anything else unhelpful"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Sleight of hand: 15
Can you describe the room a bit and where everyone is?
The room is about 10ft by 20ft, there are stairs to the north, and a hole in the roof to the south east where a rock has fallen through, creating a 5ft by 10ft area of difficult terrain. There is a door to the north leading to the kitchen area which is where the wall is broken (so you can actually block all exits) and a bar near it. A couple of windows on each wall and 2 intact tables and 9 intact chairs. Bert, no NPC notices the casting of mage hand (haven't checked PCs passive, if it is more 15 or more, you saw the casting)
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
OOC:
Quite happy for things to step off, but Mandaway is not the one to call it.
OOC: we are a group of relatively passive characters! Bert also would not start this kind of conflict but he sees that it's inevitable.
Bert will sheathe his rapier and pull out his longbow, readying an arrow to fire if the other zhent actually goes upstairs. Assuming he is standing by the front door, and the action has shifted to near the stairs. During this period of relative calm, he tries to disarm a weapon he sees hanging from a belt or a quiver or a loose grip from Kella or the other zhent using mage hand.
Roll a slight of hand to try and disarm the zhent, (crossbow or scimitar) or Kella (you can see she now has two hand crossbows you could remove one of, and a sword under her robe that you can't get.)
The other zhent then goes to try and get upstairs, trying to get around whoever is blocking the stairs (roll your attack).
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Sleight of hand to disarm the Zhent of his scimitar: 25
Attack readied: Attack: 8 Damage: 10 (this is assumedly a longbow attack aiming for a leg to pin him if Bert is at the other end of the room... or if he's closer and within melee range, he'll switch to rapier and actually cast booming blade on the Zhent, dealing 7 if the zhent moves)
He gives one verbal warning as he draws his bow/raises his rapier: "Let's not trouble him. We can sort this out ourselves. Stay here."
Although he's quite dismayed that the situation seems to be playing out this way, in the back of his mind, Zook sees no other option. These Zhents clearly have no intention of backing down, and if they want to act like bullies, then they'll have to come through our group, who by the way, has proven their mettle against powerful creatures such as worgs and ogres.
Like Bert, Zook knows that the key to gaining the advantage here is to act fast. Like lightning. Like the wind. And they have the numbers: two against five. That said, even though Kella has apparently lied to him, and is not at all what she appears to be, he does not want to kill her. It has not come to that yet.
Zook launches towards Kella, not to attack, but to try and distract her and pull her attention away from Bert and force her to make a move. Rushing forward, he places himself right in front of her and positions himself in a defensive stance, taking the Dodge action against any attack she might make.
It just hits and he screams in pain as he is pinned in place, looking very injured. Kella steps back (Zook you can take an AoO if you wish) and says "Well I am sure he heard that scream so he is probably on his way. Who knows, the others might be alerted as well"
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
OOC: Initiative time?
(Might as well roll, but you have a short time if any more dialogue is wanted)
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)