The Strangling Sea: Chapter 1

The wizard spun toward the sound of Inidrill's voice and was about to respond when Blackstar's horse began its charge. Her jaw slackened at the sight of a skull-faced creature in strange, bulky armor barreling toward her. She backed toward the white dome, yelling frantically, "Eeeahhh! we're being attacked by demons! Forget about Firigin, kill them!"

The three men left the dome and moved past their leader, putting themselves in the path of the horror that was rapidly approaching them. Gorta crouched low, his massive club held loosely in one hand. He pulled a blade from his belt and flicked it menacingly, obviously quite familiar with how to use both.

One of the others reached into his sleeves and withdrew a pair of daggers. He grasped the hilt of one and the blade of the other, ready for whatever may come.

The last man, who had been using the hilt of his sword to bang against a window, now spun the sword around in his hand, light from the dome flashing off the cold steel. He lithely danced forward, a deadly gleam in his eyes, "Don't worry, Nadda, I've killed a demon or two before!"


OOC:
Roll for Initiative!

Here's how we're going to run combat. Each of you make your post in whatever order you want, and I'll compile them together in a post with what the NPCs are doing in order of Initiative. I recognize this makes Intercept actions slightly more complicated to work out mechanically, but it should make the game flow smoother and combat go faster.

That being said, if you want to Intercept, declare it in your post and recognize that the roll and damage will apply to your character instead of the intended target. If you have questions about that, just let me know. IMO, It's a mechanic that makes a harder transition to a PbP, so we'll have to figure out the best way of handling it. But if no one Intercepts, then there's no issue! ;)

When you post your attack, please roll to hit AND your damage roll. The damage roll will only be applied if the hit is successful.

Nyil's arrow speeds over the heads of the others and strikes Nadda in the shoulder. The force of the blow spun her around, and the look of shocked fury is plainly written across her face.

The dartthrower's hand that held the tip of the dagger was a blur as he let loose three small daggers fly to strike Blackstar, Jeremiah, and Inidrill as they move down the hill. He paused for a second and reared back his other arm to throw another, slightly larger knife at Jeremiah. It whipped through the air toward the small target and passed harmlessly to one side. Frustrated, he drew another knife from a full harness under his shirt.

Jeremiah's eyes are on Gorta as he thrust his schiavona toward his midsection. The thug was more nimble than one would expect, and he sucked in his stomach and twisted away. Despite his nimbleness, the blade still found flesh and a drop of blood soaked into Gorta's shirt. Ignoring the prick, Gorta turned his twist into a spin and swung his club toward Jeremiah, who was both nimble and small and easily dodged the club.

Tearing the arrow from her shoulder, Nadda screamed at Blackstar, "Go back to the Abyss, you foul demon!!!" Her cry rang through the air and a column of fire followed close after. But the pain from the arrow was too much of a distraction, and the fire blast went high over his head.

The dome behind the thugs was glowing brighter than the sun, but it paled in comparison to the the spear of light that Inidrill threw at Gorta. It tore through the distance between them and struck him solidly. He cried out in pain and fear, smoke roiling from his clothing.

The sellsword's eyes grew wide at the display of power that Inidrill showed, but the cries of his cohort launched him into action; he deftly cut the distance to Inidrill and lashed out with his blade. The stab struck true and as he pulled his blade back, blood ran down Inidrill's side.



OOC:
Jeremiah, Blackstar, and Inidrill each take 1pt of damage from the dartthrower (as long as he is not engaged, he deals this damage to anyone who moves)
Inidrill takes 5pts of damage from the sellsword. (Any disengage checks from the sellsword will trigger 1pt of damage)

Nadda takes 9 damage
Gorta takes 8 damage (1 from Jeremiah's miss and 7 from Inidrill's blast)

Escalation Die is at 1. Be sure to add that to your attack rolls!

Your new spell type is defense

(also, you don't need to roll for Initiative any more. In 13th Age, you roll once to set the order for the entire battle)

OOC:

Ah. I realized I'd overlooked the Quick to Fight racial feature and only made 1 roll instead of 2 at the start of battle. I only meant to make 1 additional roll in my last post but I guess I mucked it up :-( Sorry about that!

Nyil Ij had unknowingly bent one of the fletchings slightly as she drew and cocked the arrow, and as it flew toward Nadda, the damaged fletching twisted the shaft off course and it only grazed Nadda's thigh. Nadda hardly noticed it however as she was furiously backpedaling away from the skull-faced demon that was hurtling itself at her. Blackstar crashed into her, the human and skeleton tumbling to the ground. The necrotic energy flowed from him to her in an instant, completely withering her away. A human stood up looking stronger than ever, while the bones of Nadda lay glistening in the sun.

Fear was racing through the dartthrower as he watched the demon jump from the horse toward his leader. He threw a small dagger in the feeble hope it would make a difference. Fear turned to horror as Nadda was knocked to the ground and disintegrate before his eyes. The brief moment when he looked from her broken body to Blackstar seemed to stretch out for minutes, and he knew he would do whatever it took to kill the demon. Whipping his wrist forward, the dagger flew at Blackstar, sinking deep into his abdomen.

Jeremiah and Gorta thrust and parried, slashed and blocked as their blade and club danced. Jeremiah was able to get past Gorta's defenses for a brief moment and leave a small cut across his forearm. Gorta responded by a quick, brutal swing of the club, which Jeremiah deftly knocked aside.

The sellsword caught the polearm's shaft with his free hand and smiled, "Divine though your blood may be, I ain't done spilling it yet!" He stabbed again at her. She ripped the polearm free from his grasp, cutting into his hand in the process and parried the sword away.

OOC:
Nadda takes 29 damage (1 from Nyil and 28 from Blackstar) and is dead
Gorta takes 1 miss damage
Sellsword takes 1 miss damage
Blackstar takes 6 damage (1 for moving while dartthrower is unengaged, and 5 from the dartthrower's attack). You also gain 5 temporary HP from Nadda's death.

Escalation Die is at 2. Be sure to add this to your attack rolls!

OOC:
The last roll was dropped from my post....

OOC: I thought it was only after you cast the spell, but after looking it up, it's after each turn (or standard action if you're able to take multiple). Your spell type for Round 3 is attack.

The dartthrower laughed as he saw Nyil loose an arrow his direction and he threw himself to one side, only being grazed by it instead of being pierced. His dodge however landed him in the path of Blackstar's icy blast. Despite the cold plastering a layer of ice over his skin, he made a stabbing lunge at Blackstar, the blade sinking into the human's flesh.

Jeremiah's blade struck true, slicing deeply into Gorta's stomach. As Jeremiah pulled it free, Gorta grabbed at the wound, blood pouring between his fingers. He coughed then grinned, blood staining his teeth, "That's all you've got? Those Orcs' stings were far more painful!" He swung his club wildly in the air and smashed it at Jeremiah.

The sellsword casually bent away from the hammer, only allowing it to land a glancing blow. He shook his head and let out a deep sigh, disappointed he wasn't up against a more adept opponent, then entered into a series of moves designed to get around the heavier weapon and let the blade taste blood.

OOC:
Dartthrower takes 6 damage (1 miss from Nyil and 5 from Blackstar)
Gorta takes 7 damage and is staggered
Sellsword takes 1 damage (1 miss from Inidrill)

Blackstar takes 4 damage from the dartthrower


@Inidrill, if Elven Grace is equal to or lower than the esc. die, you get an additional standard action, so if you trigger it, it's not an automatic hit. You'll need to roll to attack again if that's how you want to use that action.

Escalation Die is at 3, so be sure to add it to your attack rolls!