Rolf is no stranger to challenge. It seems as if ever since the contest to become a member of the Mage's Guild in Craine, he has faced one adversity after another in quick succession... The massive worm that had nearly killed Darran in the mine only a few dozen miles away, the mad doctor Heraladus... To this point he had overcome all adversity.
Still, Rolf is
exhausted from his casting. It does not escape him that this fight might just be too much for him to handle, especially as he is not sure how many
more of the fighters may be coming. But that does not mean that he is without
any tricks. Shouting for the others to get back, he reaches into his robe, and pulls forth a static ball, glistening with the arcing light of surging electricity.
Already the fighters are moving! The woman at the front charging pell mell straight ahead to assist her comrade. Emboldened by the retreat, the archer too seem to retake the initiative, stepping forward and slashing at Gustav, who easily avoids the blow and lances out his own weapon, though this strike too does not hit its mark.
Rolf throws his ball forwards and over the archer's head... though unlike normal lightning, which sails forward in an instantaneous bolt, this ball seems to
hover barely moving at all,
crawling forward. The woman at the fore dips around the floating orb as she separates from the rest. Rolf barely even notices as the archer switches her attacks to
him, her axe lashing a superficial laceration into his upper hip, his worm-skin armor having taken the brunt of the blow.
BAZZZZZZTTTT!
The ball of electricity explodes into a thousand arcing bolts! Many of them strike the ground, though licking tendrils of the ball lash out at the archer who has stepped back to avoid another blow from Gustav, not to mention the other fighters. The man with the shield seems to get the
worst of the attack, for he is closest and dozens of the lapping tongues reach out to strike him on the legs, the rim of his shield, and the head of his axe.
The man halts mid-step, his body seizing in a moment of agony... But the victory seems slight as the other four attackers seem little bothered by the missile.
Down the hallway, Lisa hurriedly shovers her weapons back in its scabbard, crouching down to get a grip on Terri. She decides to wrap her own arms under Terri's armpits, clasping around her chest so that she can drag the woman backwards... But it is quickly apparent to Lisa that even with Terri's feet dragging behind, the process will
not be quick... She only hopes that she has enough time to get her out.
At the mouth of the cave, Sajaa stares desperately for some weapon to use... Behind her, the two crossbowmen and their weapons lie at the bottom of the slope, far down below where she now stands. Her own crossbow lies up above, a thirty foot climb, and though Sajaa knows she could make it happen quickly under normal circumstances, she wonders how fast she would be without the use of her right arm... closer at hand, there are other weapons, shields, one of which still smoldering from Lisa's fireball, a pair of broadswords, a mace... several steps ahead, Terri's bow and knife lay upon the floor in the corridor. Gritting her teeth for lack of good choices, Sajaa steps quickly over to the side of the cave, waiting to attack any foes that would pursue them.
OOC: Map below. Let's do another 3 seconds. The blondish new character is the deep-voiced woman, who carries a short-sword in her right hand and a knife in her left. I think I covered all my bases, though I did most of this post on Saturday and then got distracted for the rest of the weekend, so please ask questions if there are any.
Rolf's ball lightening was successful, though I struggled a little with the ruling here. The missile itself only flies 3 yards per second (unlike a normal missile spell) and then explodes on command. Controlling it requires concentration. Since you were attacked on the second turn (and did a defense), you required a will-3 roll to maintain concentration, which was originally failed, though I spent a hero point to allow you to succeed it and detonate it in the same hex as the man carrying the shield. The hatchet did hit you, though it caused only superficial damage after your heavy leather absorbed all of the blow (I opted not to use a hero point for your defense, as it mattered little). Please remember that you are at half move/dodge/ST, so even with your bonuses from the shield and fighting above, you are still far from invulnerable
Gustav is stepping (flying?) back in pace with Rolf. I had you do 2 attacks since you were in range. All successful defenses again.
Lisa sheathed her sword and crouched and is ready to grapple Terri on the next turn. You can carry (drag) her out, though doing so will put you into extra heavy encumbrance, with a move of only 1 per second. Your other option is to drop Terri and save yourself which requires a roll against your sense of duty. You can also fight, or do whatever else you can think of if you have better ideas.
I don't see a lot of great options for Sajaa. There are three crossbows, but none in reach. You could climb up to get yours, at a rate of 1 foot/second, which would involve a straight climbing roll (that is after modifiers for doing it one armed). After the 30 seconds to climb up, you would still have to cock your weapon, which may be a trick with only one arm. Alternatively, there are two crossbows at the base, which may be still cocked (if they didn't misfire during the fall), though it is unlikely they are still loaded after the fall. It doesn't look like there are any great throwing weapons around either, though the broadswords appear to be balanced enough to throw. I had you take the last of your options, standing to the side of the entryway as I didn't see any clearly better choices.
