Listening to Cabo, you found out that up ahead were a trio of bounty hunters.  One of them knew the location of a tomb of a dead assassin, and Cabo wanted something allegedly in that tomb.  However, the bounty hunters were there to capture Bruno, your own target.  It wasn't likely they were working for the Guildmaster, because if they were, you would've known about them.  Cabo wasn't sure of their intentions with Bruno, but suggested maybe it was because of something he did as a priest of Bane.  He pointed out he didn't really care.

And it was true.  As the group fanned out near the clearing the assassin had told them about, sure enough, there were three bounty hunters, and two men shackled to a nearby oak.  They were standing back to back.

The bounty hunters were one male and one female.  Both human, or as best as you could tell in this storm.  The male was heavily armored, and the female looked just as rugged.  The third was an 8' tall Lizard with a Warhammer even bigger then the Orc's.  It had on no body armor, but had a massive shield for it's other hand.

One of the men stuck to the tree was Varnik. Before slinking away into the shadows, Cabo cursed and mumbled something about not killing him.

Meanwhile.. one of the two human warriors stood up uneasily and sniffed the air. "There is evil in the air...I can smell it." His nose scrunched together and his hand played with the hilt of his sword.  The woman slowly stood up.  I feel it too."


OOC - Okay, I am giving everybody one turn to do something. Y'all get to make 1 post.  Anything after that will start an initiative round.  They know you're their, but they clearly don't see you yet.  Bruno is looking out and away from them.  Varnik is looking towards them.
This message was last updated by the GM at 08:45, Fri 05 May 2006.

Michaela rose from the brush like some cruel shadow, a monster in the darkness. As she watched them, her irises contracted, pupils shrinking to mere pinpricks. At the same time, the red rings around the blue expanded outwards, until it seemed that her entire eye was aflame... raising her hand towards the fire in the middle of the clearing, next to which the hunters stood, she called out to it.

"Arise." The fire danced up at her bidding, growing taller. "Arise and burn." She commanded, and the fire seemed to laugh before seeming to explode into greater fury, doubling in size and ferocity. "Cleanse them with your purity."

As she called the flames, she smiled. It was not a pleasant smile... more the mindless joy of the true pyromaniac.

[Private to DM Swamprose: Casting Raging Flame on the fire. All nonmagical fires within a 30' burst of the target (medium range) double in size (outward and upward), dealing double damage to those caught within them (ie, 2d6 for a creature set on fire), casting twice as much light as normal, and using up fuel twice as quickly as normal.

Oh, and for next round; Initiative 19.]
This message was last edited by the player at 11:46, Fri 05 May 2006.

Varnik tests the strength of his bonds.  Without the shackles budging after applying some force, Varnik realized that these guys definetely aren't amateurs.  With a snarl of frustration, Varnik glares at the largest of his captures, "How's about you let me go right now, before you end up dead?".  Varnik knew it was futile, but somehow he felt better.

Chained to a tree, but rolling initiative anyways: 18:06, Today: Varnik Yarlin rolled 12 using 1d20+1. Initiative.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:07, Sat 06 May 2006.

  Kilgar stopped a little distance behind the lizard. He raised his maul and shield. "Nobody allowed to have bigger weapon than Kilgar. He thought. And while he wasn't sure what elf tasted like, he KNEW lizard tasted like chicken. He would eat well tonight. He clanked out of the woodline at a dead run. He asn't trying to surprise attack, but he was trying to obliterate whatever that lizard put up.

Elyonna quickly lets an arrow fly toward the less-armored woman, taking refuge against retribution by slipping behind a tree afterwards.

13:04, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 9 using 1d20+3. Initiative for next round.

13:03, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 8 using 1d8. Possible damage.
13:03, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 13 using 1d20+6. Attack with Longbow.

Kilgar, I still need an Initiative roll from you.  Everyone else got theirs in.

The map below is pretty much self-explanatory.  The yellow and red dots are the campfires.  P1 and P2 are Paladin 1 and Paladin 2.  L is for the Lizardman.  Enemies are in Red.  Allies are in Yellow.  Bruno is listed as an allie for the moment, because he's trying to escape too.  Cabo is marked on the map as his last known location.

Each block represents 5 feet.  If you want to move, please list the grid space you are trying to move too.  For the time being the Campfires are acting as Half cover for those on the opposite sides of them due to the obvious distractions to vision.

Any Questions?

<IMG src="http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e136/TheDevilTiger/DnDGameMap.gif">
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:43, Sat 27 May 2006.

I'd like to move to J 15 and take a swing on the lizard.

Okay.  You're on K15.  And he's on K14.  I still need an init roll from you.  1d20+Initmod

Feeling the flames raging within her, echoed by the less ephemeral burning in front of her eyes, Michaela couldn't help but take joy while she was in control. Soon, she knew, she would either have to force herself to go into a trance or give herself wholly to the flames... she both dreaded and anticipated the sense of perfection that came from relinquishing control to the fire.

She realised that she should do as much controlled damage as possible before giving in to the scorch-rage, however, and moved around a little way to get line of sight to her chosen target before calling the fire in front of her to lash out at the hunter beside it.
"Burn!" She commanded, her voice a low growl, and the fire obeyed, launching a fist of flame roiling towards the paladin.

[Private to DM Swamprose: Move to Q12 and cast Lesser Orb of Fire at P1.
00:58, Today: Michaela Lehava rolled 6 using 1d8. Damage (LOoF).
00:57, Today: Michaela Lehava rolled 12 using 1d20+4. LOoF (Ranged Touch Attack). ]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:52, Sun 28 May 2006.

   Kilgar grit his teeth and feigned moving to the right, roaring sheer bloodlust. He ducked low and forced his massive weight to the left and swung the huge maul in a disgustingly big arc that seemed destined to put a large hole in the lizardman's chest. "DIEEEEEEE!" He roared....




You rolled 23 using 1d20+7 [16]. Attack
You rolled 5 using 1d10+4 [1].   Damage
This message was last edited by the player at 01:07, Sun 28 May 2006.

Elyonna stepped out from behind the tree just long enough to fire another shot at the female and then stepped right back behind it again.

08:18, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 3 using 1d8. Damage.
08:17, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 20 using 1d20+6. Attack.

Kilgar smacked the Lizard right in the face with his hammer.  Contrary to what he might've desired, the Lizard looked at him with a blank expression it's it's face.  It didn't roar, or make much in the way of intelligable noises.  Instead it swung back with it's hammer, but the Orc was just too small and so the Greathammer went easily overhead.

Michaela's flaming fury shot out from her fingertips, circled around above her head, and then darted towards the opposing male.  The force clunked into the paladin's shield, nearly tipping him over in the process...yet he remained on his feet and unconcerned with the attack.  Instead he drew a sword and charged forwards, towards Cabo's direction... Where was the assassin anyway?

And then ther was Elly.  She just wasn't having any luck.  For an elf, you'd think she should be a master shot, right?  Well she probably was, but this arrow zinged right by it's targed and thunked into a Treebranch just above Varnick's head.

The Paladin looked up and over her should as the arrow went by.  Realizing that the fire in front of her was acting as cover, she dropped to a knee and turned her bow on a horizontal level and fired right back.  She, clearly, had the same luck.

OOC - That's end of Round 1.  I need some more Initiative rolls, and then I will post the order everybody goes in, okay?

16:10, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 4 using 1d20+3. Initiative.
Gosh darn it and a whole bunch of curse words, the die roller hates me in this game, just absolutely hates me!.

08:28, Today: Varnik Yarlin rolled 19 using 1d20+1. initiative.

Varnik struggles against his bonds, cursing the futility of it. As an arrow from nowhere buries itself in the wood above his head, Varnik gasps and his struggles are renewed.

Michaela frowned as her strike was ignored, then started moving cautiously up towards the fire and the two opponents...

Move to P8.

[Private to DM Swamprose: You're rerolling Initiative every round? Oo

18:34, Today: Michaela Lehava rolled 13 using 1d20+4. Initiative. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Wed 31 May 2006.

Michaela and Kilgar, I need 2 new init rolls...

I appologize for my delay.  Me and that bottle of Baccardi didn't see eye to eye for very long last night.  Oi.


Okay this is the initiative order.

Cabo, Varnik, Galor, Gizelle & Kilgar simultaniously, Michaela, the Lizard Man, and Elyonna.

Cabo is doing something, but he's invisible and nobody can see it at the moment, meaning that Varnik is next.  Varnick, this turn, you will realize that the chains holding you to the tree have gotten remarkably loose, and that you could escape with a successful Escape check (DC15) or a Strength Check (DC 16) to break the tree limb you're attached too.  You may do one or the other and try again the next round.

For the rest of the party, this will be the last round I roll for initiative every turn.  I did it once, and it slowed my game down.  I appologize if you got a crappy roll.

Varnik realizes his bonds are not as restrictive as they were originally.  With a wary glance at his captors, he pulls against the chains again, attempting to free himself.

08:18, Today: Varnik Yarlin rolled 13 using 1d20+1. Strength check.

Varnick tries to escape by breaking off the tree, twisting and yanking on the chain, but the only thing he seems to accomplish is... well, remaining stuck.  Little does he know though, that his struggles momentarily distracted Rebecca, the female paladin  OOC - I appologize for the name goof during Initiative, my B. - which causes the shot she takes to fly wide, clearly missing the Fire Starting Barbarian...

Cabo and Galor are at this time, nowhere to be found...

OOC - Kilgar, you're up.  Michaela, you're on deck.  The Lizardman goes after you two, and then Ely.

   Kilgar easily deflected the blow off his shield and moved his weight so he didn't lose his own footing in the process. It was an excercise in the grace that comes with being an insanely strong creature. After awhile you learned how to just make size and power work for you. Kilgar had perfected the technique.
   So it would not have at all shocked the casual observer that Kilgar took perfect advantage of the lizardman's miscalculation and brought his great Maul around for a blow to the ribs, which had nasty implications. The arc was beautiful. The velocity was perfectly calculated. This was a lesson on how to swing a Maul with grace, finesse, and with deadly intent.
    Kilgar roared and his yellow eyes flashed with twisted glee as he contemplated the damage the stupidly big hammer was going to cause to his foe's ribs on impact. Pure brutal poetry.
     KLANG!
    That was the sound of Kilgar's perfect hit landing on a shield. The half-orc roared in frustration, "Would you just stop and die already!"
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:59, Thu 08 June 2006.

Michaela scans for her target, then her eyes alight on the female. With a growl, she brought her hands up, forming a ball of flame between them.
"Firebolt" She commanded, and the orb shot towards the woman. The flames in her eyes expanded slightly further, the joy of her fire almost overwhelming her mind... The part of her was still rational reckoned that if the fight lasted more than another six seconds, she would be unable to hold back the Fires.

[Private to DM Swamprose:
09:38, Today: Michaela Lehava rolled 4 using 1d8. OoF,L.
09:35, Today: Michaela Lehava rolled 20 using 1d20+4. Ranged Touch. ]
This message was last edited by the player at 08:38, Wed 14 June 2006.

Rebecca takes the small ball of fire on the upper right shoulder while trying to duck out of it's way.  It ends up leaving a black scorch mark, but she otherwise seems combat worthy.

And then of course, there's the fight with the Lizard man and Kilgar.  Kilgar smashed his shield, so of course, Hiss smashes Kilgar's shield with an even bigger hammer, making an even bigger dent.  "NO YOU DIE!" The combination of hiss and screetch made your ears hurt.

Elyonna's eyes flashed dangerously, her anger now at its peak.  Almost ready to jump into melee, seemingly not the best idea the way Michaela was throwing away fire, she tries once more to hit the female with an arrow.

10:51, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 8 using 1d8. Damage.
10:51, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 23 using 1d20+6. Attack.

Finally an arrow hit it's mark.  Ely can relax with a bit of glee in her eyes.  The arrow she just fired hit the woman square in the belly.  She looked down, then doubled over, and finally, collapsed on the ground.

That left only the fight between Kilgar and Hisss, who at the moment, must not have realized he was the only one still standing on his side.

OOC - Init order - Kilgar, Michaela, Hiss, & Elly.  Varnick has decided to bounce from this game, and Cabo and Galor will have the results of that conflict posted after Kilgar's action.  We're almost done here, good. :D

     Kilgar growled something that sounded an awful lot like a vulgarity, then he leveraged his shield against the lizardman's own big hammer, making him take a step back or lose his footing. Kilgar kept coming, again shoving at the lizardman's weapon. Again the lizardman was forced to retreat. Kilgar moved to shove again, feinting, and as the lizardman stepped to Kilgar's right he put his scaly lips right into the path of the swinging maul.
     "Steal Kilgar lines? Now you die!" Kilgar growled. And as he moved to prepare for the counterattack. "Kilgar will feast on your flesh and make necklace from your bones!"


[Private to GM:
14:02, Today: Kilgar Axeface rolled 5 using 1d10+4. hurt the Lizard.
14:02, Today: Kilgar Axeface rolled 22 using 1d20+9. Hit the lizard.
13:59, Today: Kilgar Axeface rolled 13 using 1d20+6. Init.]
This message was last edited by the player at 18:17, Wed 14 June 2006.

Seeing her target go down, Michaela lowered her hands. Surrounded by fires, she seemed to glow with baleful witch-flame. Hanging her head down, she closed her eyes, arms hanging listlessly by her sides. She began to breath more deeply as she focussed, bringing her emotions under control and suppressing her inner fire, starting to slip into a calming meditation, blocking out the sound of Hiss and Kilgar in an attempt to find her centre. As she concentrated, the aura of violence around her began to fade, her hair settling down, the heat given out by her body fading.

[Private to DM Swamprose: No action. The concentration check was to see if she could avoid Raging - I've decided that if she's in combat for more than six rounds, she goes into rage involuntarily unless she can pass a DC 15 Concentration check. It just seemed... appropriate for the character.]

With the action clearly set against it, the Lizard Man opted to flee and fight again.  At first, Kilgar kept up, but soon the creature was diving underwater while he was getting stuck deeper and deeper inside of mud pits... it was crappy, but it was a fight that would have to wait.

As for the pair of paladins?  Well they were both dead.  Cabo had liberated a sword from the woman, and had taken back Varnick, the priest who was captured and chained to the tree.

Sadly enough, Bruno, the man you were after, had managed to escape during the fight.  Whatever happened next, was up to the three of you.

    Kilgar returned from the battle with some annoyance, cursing and randomly putting his big meaty, gauntleted hand through branches. "Stupid swimming lizardman. Who in the Hell's swims anyway? Swimming stupid!" Kilgar stormed through the forest and punched one last branch, this one was maybe just a touch too thick, or maybe it was just a touch too alive. Whatever the reason, it didn't budge. "Ooooooowwww! Stupid wood!" Kilgar demolished the thing with the maul. There was much more cursing, stomping and general breaking of stuff.
    After a second he looked at the elves, "You can cook Kilgar some food now."

Elyonna carefully searched the bodies of the paladins (take 20 while Kilgar's off chasing the lizardman), stowing her findings in her backpack.  She paused and watched the temper tantrum thrown by Kilgar as he returned with disgust.   "Cook your own food, I believe you said you were going to eat that lizardman," Elyonna replied pointedly before completing her careful search.

   "You want me to eat you? Cuz if you don't cook for Kilgar, Kilgar eat cook you." He stuck his thick fleshy tongue out. "What you take off pansies?"

Elyonna calmly finished her search, not wanting to miss anything and ignoring the big baby.  She did take a moment to grin over at Michaela and shake her head.

The search through the paladins' belongings turned up some useful equipment, along useful information, and a bit of gold.  The male Paladin, while swordless, was wearing an amulet made of some type of strange black stone, with the symbol of Tyr carved on the front.  It felt hot to the touch.  As far as his obvious possession go, he carried a backpack full of foodstuffs, a rope and grappling hook, some torches, and what looked like a bottle of wine.  He was wearing some heavy plate armor that was too big for both of the women, and not nearly wide enough for Kilgar.  His longbow was, by elven standards, a piece of crap, but he made up for it by having some nice arrows.  Unfortunately, his quiver was most of the way empty.

The woman was just as well equipped.  She was wearing chainmail and a ring on both of her hands.  Her shield was no match for Kilgar's in size, but the small round piece of metal glinted with glossy blue and white paint.  Ironic, the shield didn't help her any in the fight a moment ago.  Her shortbow was nothing to scoff at, but she was carrying three complete quivers and a dagger with a cross on the hilt.  She must've been the one carrying the sleeping bags, because her pack was empty except for a scroll.

It was written in Orcish.

After having calmly pocketed the last of her discoveries, placing the larger items in a sack, Elyonna took a moment to look at the scroll written in a language unfamiliar to her.

20:34, Today: Elyonna Shadowright rolled 19 using 1d20+1. Decipher Script.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:35, Fri 23 June 2006.

OOC - Elly hon.  You can't carry that much, and you really can't put that much in a backpack.  The platemail itself ways 50 or more pounds, and it's too big for you to wear... You guys can divide the stuff up, or bury it somewhere here in the swamp or do whatever with it, but it's too much for 1 person dear. :)

     Kilgar looked down at the elf, obviously not in an entirely good mood having had his lunch swim off through a swamp and then getting covered in mud. He stood there, with what looked like a dumb expression his face. But his eyes revealled he was looking at something intently, the scroll Elyonna seemed to be struggling with. "Kilgar can read that."
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Fri 23 June 2006.

"Bla bla bla. Bla bla. Bla bla bla bla. Bla bla bla. We killed a few goblins. bla bla. Bla bla bla. We've made contact with Hiss. Bla bla. Bla. Bla bla."  You skipped over to the next bit and stopped, immediately going back to the part about Hiss as it dawned on you Hiss was the Lizard man.

"...As it turns out, Hiss is the youngest of a trio of brothers.  Together, they leade a secret shrine of hunters and gatherers that make the swamp their home.  They remain invisible because they're careful...bla bla." You had to pause to catch you're breath.  ...He's a warrior who is still too young to be considered Ms-Ds, or High Druid.  The eldest of the Brothers, King Cosss, is the largest and smartest.  He is known to weild the Leghammer, a Maul made of wood and bone, and known break legs (or at least knock assailants over)." It goes on for another few sentences before picking up into something more useful.

"Strangely enough, only elves, or those with elf in them, seem to encounter these Lizard people, which is really benificial to us Harpers, who need a friendly face or two in this cesspool."  The letter ends with a smear.  Apparently you interrupted the writer.

Michaela refrained from offering to cook Kilgar, but only barely, and only because she'd just managed to get her fire under control.

"<Red>Only elves, huh? Well, I suppose we should get to finding that priest. He appears to have escaped...</Blue>" She looks for his likely path, eyes narrowed. "He'll likely have gone back to his original path if he can find it...".

[Private to DM Swamprose: What I wouldn't give for an action point right now. I rolled a 4. ><]