Grimadim

The skies remain clear the whole while his travelling companions are inside with the lady. Having seen many a beautiful day like this he is aware of the lateness to the day. With this in mind he opens the door and grunts inside "Time to go. Sun dropping fast and long way to walk". Without waiting he begins to walk at a slow dawdle towards Phandalin, humming as he walks. The day has him in a happy mood.

((Glad to hear about your daughter. Hope the others get better soon. Same goes for anyone who has friends/family that've been affected ))

"Thank you for the potion. This will come in handy. I agree with everyone we should head out."

((I'm good with the distribution of stuff. And I'm glad to hear about your daughter as well and hope the others get well soon))

As the party heads out, assume the same marching order with Grim and Conen out front.  Conen will be scanning the surrounds as the party make their way back, concious of the fact that night is approaching....as well as getting used to the feel of the hand crossbow as he walks.

Jonah, who will walks right behind them walk up to conen and asks: Are you new to the weapon as well?

Ines walks at a easy pace, in the same order as before. She is lost in thought, wondering if she had handled the beast correctly. 

Ervalin is studying the strange gem, not paying much attention to the road. At some point, he makes an effort to take a break and he asks Ines how she got to know and worship Helm.

Ines looked over at him, coming out of her thoughts. "When I was little my father fell ill. We had no money for healers so we feared the worst. A cleric of Helm came and healed him, claiming it was his god's will. As you can imagine that left quite the impression on me so after begging my parents, they sent me to Silverymoon to join the church. There I discovered Silmot was not unique among the church. Everyone in service of Helm strives for the same goal." She clears her throat then with recites, "Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector."  She offers Ervalin a small smile. "There is no nobler cause."

(OOC: I can't remember if I gave you my back story Revel, but I did tweek it a bit, nothing major just her early life. I posted it on my character sheet)

Half-way through the recital, Ervalin's eyes unfocus as he's thinking "I wonder if I can get it to react to the elements. I have some water and I can make fire. Maybe it's best to wait till we're back in town." He snaps out of it to find Ines silent and smiling, so he matches her smile and says: "That is a noble cause. I hope the pursuit of Helm's tenets brings you great accomplishments."

Shortly after, he pulls out his waterskin and pours some water on the gem to see if it reacts in any way, as he continues to study it.

Grimadim

The sun getting lower in the sky, Grimadim increases his awareness of his surroundings. He knows full well that larger game walks the forest at dusk, with larger game comes larger predators. "We must hurry. Night is catch the day soon". Although he means well, his time comes across a bit gruff. He hopes Conen understands and can help to explain why the group must hurry.

Perception 6

Happy to discuss the new weapon with Jonah he replies "Yes...Whilst I had heard about these I had never seen one let alone held one before.  I grew up learning the crossbow for hunting but this....well it ain't design to hunt a deer"  he hands it off to Jonah "Take a look yerself" all looking the rogue to examine it a while before taking it back. 'Can't  say I agree with healing that beast back there but it seems the gods were okay with it...I wonder if we have seen the last of that critter"

When Grim chimes in with his advice Conen reinforces "Grim is right" Conendyl empasises to the group "We may attract the interest of a variety of predators as Carnes falls...be wary as we walk"

Perception  15

I have to say im fairly new to weapons as well. Id consider myself more a 'Man of the Mind' rather than blades. Jonah eyes the crossbow for a minute and says I would be willing to trade this with my bow, if you are more comfortable with that. I had some training with these so for me, both would work.

Quote from trustlife1990 >>

Half-way through the recital, Ervalin's eyes unfocus as he's thinking "I wonder if I can get it to react to the elements. I have some water and I can make fire. Maybe it's best to wait till we're back in town." He snaps out of it to find Ines silent and smiling, so he matches her smile and says: "That is a noble cause. I hope the pursuit of Helm's tenets brings you great accomplishments."

Shortly after, he pulls out his waterskin and pours some water on the gem to see if it reacts in any way, as he continues to study it.

 

 Pouring the water on it yields no arcane results, but some caked on dirt comes dirt comes off of the gem revealing an intense deep azure blue that mesmerizes you. The gem hums with a familiar arcane presence. The weave seems to cling to it and a faint glow slowly pulses inside. You recognize this item after a while to be a Lapis lazuli . It contains one use of mage armor currently. You know it will work only once and then the spell will fade, leaving the gem empty for another spell to take it's place. 

Quote from MuggsHill >>

Happy to discuss the new weapon with Jonah he replies "Yes...Whilst I had heard about these I had never seen one let alone held one before.  I grew up learning the crossbow for hunting but this....well it ain't design to hunt a deer"  he hands it off to Jonah "Take a look yerself" all looking the rogue to examine it a while before taking it back. 'Can't  say I agree with healing that beast back there but it seems the gods were okay with it...I wonder if we have seen the last of that critter"

When Grim chimes in with his advice Conen reinforces "Grim is right" Conendyl empasises to the group "We may attract the interest of a variety of predators as Carnes falls...be wary as we walk"

Perception  15

 

 While looking the hand crossbow over you notice a faint glint of yellow light emanate from the flat surface on the left side. Upon closer inspection you notice that this faint glow is writing in Undercommon that says "Killer Bee" and feel a faint tug in your chest. A strange feeling you cant quite put your finger on. Other than that it seems to be a normal Hand crossbow.

You all make your way back to town with Adabra in the middle of the marching order. She carries a pack full of clothes and supplies she considers essential. She is still a bit shaken from the whole ordeal with the manticore. The trail is quite, with only a few birds in the distance. It seems quiet, too quiet. Conendyl notices a bush move abnormally to the right and the top of someone's head being revealed, then a hand comes up on top of the head and forces it down. On the other side of the trail he notices a leg move behind a tree about 30 feet away. As you see this a bandit that you can't pin down observes that you noticed the ambush and lets out a disappointed sigh followed by "Dang it Jed!  Let's Just get em!" which for some reason is the signal to attack. This completely negates any surprise they would have had. 

 INITIATIVE 

Players in order of highest initiative bonus + Initiative rolls.
((It seem the forum re-rolls every time you edit. This is why this part following is kinda wonky.))
Conendyl   24 
Ervalin        16 
Grimadim    17     
Jonah          10         
Taraven      14 
Ines             9  

(Bandit initiative rolled with D&D Beyond combat tracker}

Bandit 1: 16
Bandit 2: 11
Bandit 3: 6
Bandit 4: 4
Bandit 5: 2
Jed: 2

TURN ORDER

TURN ORDER

Conendyl

Grimadim

Adabra

Bandit 1 (apparent leader and the one who sighed)

Ervalin

Bandit 2

Taraven

Jonah

Ines

Bandit 3

Bandit 4

Bandit 5

Jed

Conendyl, crossbow in hand just swings it toward the voice, drawing the string and sliding a bolt home with the practiced ease of one who is familiar with (albeit larger) such weapons, yelling to the others "Watch out, get yourselves to cover" and then shoots, mumbling to himself "Killer Bee, lets see what you can do" in undercommon, repeating the name inscribed on the weapon, won.

Conen will move toward the danger to close within 30ft and aims for the leader if he can see him, if not the closest bandit  -  Attack 11  Damage if(Unable to parse dice roll.,7) 

and with his Bonus Action he will attack the same bandit if still standing or the next nearest:  -  Attack 25  Damage if(Unable to parse dice roll.,9)

and will then move the rest of his available movement toward the tree line on whichever side of the road has the most bandits, seeking to put cover between himself any of them with a bow, but still stay at ranged distance (>30 ft away from the nearest as long as that does not move Conen backwards behind the party - he wants to draw attention but stay out of melee range if possible).

OOC: hmm - damage roll formula supposed to check if the previous roll is a 20 then roll critical damage - can anyone advise what is wrong with this formula Damage if([ roll:-1 ],20,[ roll ]1d6+10[ /roll ],[ roll ]1d6+4[ /roll ]) - Revel - note that the normal hit damage roll is valid 

Quote from Treewy >>

I have to say im fairly new to weapons as well. Id consider myself more a 'Man of the Mind' rather than blades. Jonah eyes the crossbow for a minute and says I would be willing to trade this with my bow, if you are more comfortable with that. I had some training with these so for me, both would work.

Missed this interaction - to close it out:  Conen smiles politely before taking the weapon back "I think I can make better use of this Jonah....I've had a crossbow in my hands since I could walk" 

OOC: Conen has Crossbow Expert so gets to make an attack with this as a Bonus Action in combat

OOC: the formula to account for crits, from the dice roller (combat tab): Attack: !roll!1d20+6!/roll! Damage: !roll!(if(!roll:-1:critical!, =0, 1d6, 2{1d6}.expand()))+4!/roll! - I replaced all [ and ] with !

ooc: Initiative seems odd to me. Ervalin who rolled a 10 is bevore Jonah with a 11. Is this right that way?

Revel commented that some of the numbers rerolled themselves.  Obviously Ervalin actually rolled higher on the initial roll.

My bad. must have glanced over that.

Quote from RevelTheMad >>

 

((It seem the forum re-rolls every time you edit. This is why this part following is kinda wonky.))

 This happens when you edit and insert a new roll before an existing roll. The forum records the rolls as a sort of anti-cheat. E.g. your post has 1 roll (10) and the forum records that. If you edit and insert a new roll in front of that, it thinks you are trying to reroll the 10, hence you also get that warning about manipulated rolls