Chapter Four: The Manifest of the Harikan Squall

A beam of pure clear light smites Adan; he recoils from the light and staggers back another step as Mordred calls for guards. As soon as he turns to face the party again, Mordred casts his spell, spraying sheets of flame in a cone aimed directly at him. The false acolyte, a little behind and to the right of Adan, is caught in the blast as well.

Edit: Adan and the false acolyte cover their faces and turn away from the flames, patting their smoldering clothes down as soon as the spell abates.

Some of the beggars and transients on the temple steps have started to stand up and come a little closer, watching the scene at Culsu's shrine play out before them. One of them cries out: "Sorcery! Sorcery, in the sight of the holy places!"

Seeing Mordred as the clearest and most present danger after that display, Adan's false beggar springs up from his crouch towards him, blades flashing.

Edit 2: Mordred manages to parry away the scimitar with his off hand but leaves himself open to the dagger that plunges into his side.

The third combat round begins. Felor goes first, then the false acolyte, then Leth, then Adan, then everybody else in the party, then the "beggar."

Felor presses his faith-based offensive against Adan.

Edit: Adan seems to shrug off the sacred flame and extends his silver sword toward Felor. "You should have stayed in your grove, wood-priest."

Two crackling bolts of pale blue infernal energy shoot toward Felor.

Edit 2: Felor lunges away from the first bolt but the second seems to track his movements, slamming into his chest and bursting into sharp, cascading waves of breathtaking pain.

I mixed up Adan and the acolyte's turns, oops. Leth, you're up.

Zangua, on review the Burning Hands would have broken the acolyte's concentration; you're free of the Hold Person spell now and can act after Leth and the acolyte take their turns for this round.

You know what? Superiority Dice!
Just not sure which attack roll this would apply to?

Edit again: .....sigh.

Leth sends an arrow whizzing past Adan's head.

Yes, he counts as a creature.

"We should have brought more," the false acolyte hisses under his breath as he repeats the motions of his Hold Person spell, this time directed at Leth. Leth, make a Wisdom saving throw.

Somewhere in the distance, you hear bells ringing.

Domarc, Mordred, and Zangua, you can take your actions.

Edit: That superiority die moved the arrow a little closer to Adan's head, but it's still a miss.

Here's a little good news: your saving throw succeeded.

Domarc, Mordred, and Zangua are up.

All heads whip around to the source of the scream. After registering the sight of Zora emerging from an alleyway screaming, Adan looks back, his expression flat. "Darux. Get her."

The "beggar" takes off running toward Domarc-Zora. In the distance, the bells keep ringing.

Mordred and Zangua, you're up!

Zangua's handaxe flips end over end as it flies through the air in a tight, fast arc that ends in Adan's thigh. Adan screams and stands frozen in shock as Zangua closes in and batters him with his club, following up with an offhand swing of his other handaxe that misses its mark as Adan stumbles backwards, badly wounded.

All the poor folk who were resting on the temple steps are up now and watching intently as the battle plays out, and cowled heads peek out of the windows of the dormitory next to Erat's temple. One of them is entreating you all, in the name of the gods, to lay down your arms and stop spilling blood. From a narrow side street on the other side of the temple, orange light and shadows flicker against the sides of the buildings, accompanied by indistinct shouts. And all the while, the bells keep ringing, faint but clear.

Mordred, it's your turn.

As a reaction to the damage I took from the beggar, I am going to Hellish Rebuke him.
Standing up, Mordred closes on Adan (Cunning Action Dash if needed) and takes advantage of his distracted state to deliver a Sneak attack with his sword.

As Darux the "beggar" runs off towards Domarc, he bursts into flames. Screaming, he tumbles on the ground.

Edit: Darux writhes on the ground, and then the flames vanish as quickly as they appeared. He lurches back to a standing position, and casts a dazed look back at Adan -- "B-behind you!" he cries, too late to warn Adan in time to avoid the bite of Mordred's blade. Adan drops his short sword and wheels around, defensively holding the catchpole out before him with both hands, his lips pressed together tightly.

The light coming from the left of Erat's temple grows brighter, and two guards race into view from the side street, skidding to a halt in front of the temple. "Halt! Lay down your weapons!" one of them shouts.

"VANDALS!" Adan screams before anyone else can react. "They broke down the door to Culsu's shrine! I and these others tried to stop them!"

"There are sorcerers among them!" somebody yells from the steps of Ziu-Pater's temple.

The guards exchange a quick look and start to jog toward you. At the same time, Darux remembers his instructions and starts running toward Domarc again.

The fourth combat round begins. Felor goes first, then the false acolyte, then Leth, then Adan, then everybody else in the party, then Darux. I might move some turns around to keep things moving if necessary.

OK here's what I wanna do: Adan and the false acolyte are hesitant to attack the party in front of the guards, so their turns will be delayed until the end of this round. Any party member can take an action now!

As soon as Zangua makes his move, the guards rush in. Adan ducks the blunt end of Zangua's handaxe, but isn't fast enough to avoid the folllowup from his club. The false acolyte rushes behind him to catch him as he stumbles.

The guards will close to melee range next round. Domarc, Felor, Leth, Mordred, you can all take your turns.