Tim side-hugs back.

Meriele answers, "My name is Meriele. I have known no paladin to forgo the use of armor."

Timothius says, "Cleric like me?"

Meriele answers, "No. I am what is known as an avenger. The wrath of the gods comes through me more than even invokers."

Raichel says, "Wrath? So you're a justice sort?"

Meriele says, "Yes."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:36, Mon 18 Apr 2011.

Mittens double-eyebrow raises.

"Re-heeeally?" she asks, "Well well well!  A bona-fide 'kill in the name of the gods' type!  Timothius here is the exact opposite.  He's a 'heal in the name of the gods' type.  Even heals badguys sometimes.  I can see this as being a bit of an issue if ever we wind up fighting villains together.  Slice to knock out if at all possible.  Or your efforts stand a good chance of being undone.  Unless you're so righteous that the gods suddenly take away his ability to heal that which you've slain."

Timothius says, "If killing your mark is more important to you than my heart, I will ask we not fight at each others' side, yes. But I recognize what you are and that you serve the gods. For my sake, please do not kill around me."

Meriele raises her eyebrows also. "Very well. For your sake. For the heart of one who is pure outweighs the need for any one villain's death. Or to put it in a more commonly known phrase; better that 100 guilty men go free than for 1 innocent to be imprisoned."

Raichel glances to Meriele. "...really. You believe in that?"

Meriele says, "I do. For the just should not be punished. And the guilty will be punished, whether it is today, or another day. There is no big hurry, but rest assured the gods are watching and they make sure the guilty are punished swifter... or at all."

Timothy nods. "Thank you."

"Well that went... better than expected," Mittens says, "Glad you agreed to refrain from the executions while around my bro.  At least he's not so far gone as to 'catch and release.'  Even I'm not that crazy.  If we catch a bad-guy, we hand 'em over to the authorities to deal with.  And yeah, I'd rather a lot more than 100 villains be splattered as a result if ever I have to sac myself."

The foursome comes upon the Antler and Thistle Tavern.  A lively conversation can be heard going on from inside.

Raichel says, "Sounds lively in there. I wonder what could be so exciting..."

Timothius says, "It's a tavern. A simple card could be all the excitement they need."

Raichel says, "You mean like someone cheating in a game?"

Tim nods.

Meriele says, "Be careful. If the excitement gets too hot, we may find ourselves in trouble. And I promised those guards I'd try to keep you bunch *out* of trouble."

Raichel says, "We need to check. If a fight *is* brewing, then we need to prevent it from happening."

The twins look over at Mittens. Meriele looks as well.

Mittens grins and thumbs up at the cuties looking to her for leadership.

"Excelsior!" she cheers before she marches up to the tavern door and boldly barges in!

The tavern is pretty standard.  Lanterns compensate for the lack of sunlight entering through the windows plastered with ads, shaded with awnings, blocked with blinds and curtains.  It's much cooler inside than outside, but still hot as the dickens.  The fireplace in the center has long since been left unused.  A lone dwarf silently sips his ale in the southeast corner.  Near the entrance a young couple exchange glances.  In the northeast corner, a noisy discussion between 3 card players suddenly turns to complete silence at the arrival of such strange visitors.

"You lost or something?" the bartender asks with a suspicious squint.

"As in GET lost!" one of the card players shouts.

  "It's a hot day with barely any seats filled, you sure you want to drive away a whole table's worth of customers from our host?"  Just like... Whoever it was two tables to the left of the card players was a narrative blank, so had been Kyle between there until just now.  A travel tanned Human with Brown hair matched by brown leather, crossbow at their side (the more melee oriented Girls would notice one leather glove thicker than the other from the bar).  Either clear adventurer or a guard taking a break.

  A bit of both would be the technically accurate case there.

  "I might offer a round, but I got my own expenses to deal with and cheap bastards haven't gotten around to paying me yet."

OOC Style:  For Style reasons May should be familiar with, Mr. Spiked Gauntlet has been replaced with a Talid.  Which is one of the many Dark Sun 'Identical except it has a different name and is made of leather and maybe chunks of animal or something' variety weapons.

  I'll get around to replacing Mittens Pyro's Arc Lightning after I eat something.

Having plenty of gold left, Meriele says to Kyle, "Thank you, sir. Do not worry about covering for us. Rather, let me cover for you."

She looks around at the people present, holding up a holy symbol. "Are you sure you would not rather that I, in the name or Erathis, buy a round of drinks?"

Meriele has a compelling argument. But these men do seem uptight and just vying for a fight. She isn't sure even being a religious lady is going to save the trio of cat-siblings from an inevitable fight.

Timothius can't help but find it ironic that Mittens, despite being all about fire, could make the room, or drinks, colder via prestidigitation. But he knows to keep quiet. ANYTHING he says could be construed as either a lie... or a threat.

"Customers?!" the card player scoffs, but before he can come up with a clever reply, Meriele offers free drinks.

"Well!" he says, his mood obviously improved, "Free drinks in the name of a god is still free drinks!"

"Well that was generous of you," Mits says to Meriele, "But very effective.  I'm impressed."

Tension melts as drinks are served.

"So what...  You like...  part of the circus or something?"

The gentle hubbub of an evening at the Antler and Thistle
tavern is shattered by the crack of the front door flying off
its hinges to land amid the nearest tables. Four hobgoblins
rush into the bar, swords outstretched to skewer the nearest
bar patrons. “For Sinruth! For the Hand!” they cry.

(( mits init 19 + 1 = 20))
((Meriele init 20+0 = 20))
((Raichel init 11+4 = 15))
((Timmy init 12 + 2 = 14))
((grunts init 7 + 4 = 11 ))
((Kyle Initi Durp 5))
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:39, Tue 19 Apr 2011.

Two of the grunts attack the couple seated closest to the door.  The gal screams and cringes, holding out her arms defensively as the grunt gashes her across the arm!  The guy springs to his feet to defend her, but the other grunt skewers him through his heart, killing him instantly!

The third rushes to the east, the fourth charges at Meriele and slashes her with his longsword!

(( Lol surprise round.  5 damage.  Merielle HP = 19 Lady Patron wounded, Boyfriend Dead. ))

"Villains!" Mittens shouts, "You'll pay for that!"

She rushes forward and unleashes her biggest fireball, incinerating two of the grunts!

(( Move from f10 to i14.  Burning hands defeats Grunt 2 and Grunt 4. ))

Meriele immediately retaliates on the one who hit her by unsheathing her sword. No really... she unsheathed the sword, hitting the guy with the hilt and knocked him out. She remembered her promise to the cleric shifter. But even as she does this, an aura of protective divine energy surrounds her.

(Minor: Oath on Grunt 1)
(Minor: Draw weapon)
(Standard: Bond of Retribution v Grunt 1. Hit. KO.)
(Move: Towards Grunt 3)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:12, Tue 19 Apr 2011.

Raichel is startled and looks from one part of the room to the next. She sees Mittens burn a couple, Meriele take one out, and then there is still one remaining. In fact, it's the one who skewered and killed the boyfriend. She holds her hand forward and lightning shoots from her! The grunt shutters from the shock and collapses to the ground unconscious.

(Standard: Lightning Strike v Grunt 3. Hit.)
(Move: To Patron to help Tim as needed.)

Tim hurries over to the patron with Raichel and, seeing the threat over, prays over the skewered patron. If there is anything to remove from the wound, Timothy would remove it. He looks around, hand still on the guy as he looks cautious.

(Move: To patron)
(Minor: Healing word on Patron. Bring Patron back to full HP before death can even fully settle. Besides... Patron hasn't had the chance to do a death save throw. XD)
(Standard: Readied Action: Astral Seal v first enemy to appear, just in case.)
This message was last edited by the player at 06:31, Tue 19 Apr 2011.

  Kyle sees carnage both commence, and finish before he even has a chance to swear in an uncreative manner.  So, at least no swearing then.  Of course, considering his view out the window from where he's seated... "*censored*, more of them outside."

  The sane thing to do would be head out the back door, its why he was within a double move of it after all... But sane doesn't always work out.  So instead he heads for the larger unoccupied table and tilts it over for a makeshift wall to the side of the cold fireplace.

---

Minor: Draw Sup Crossbow.
Move: double move out back exit Duh,
Standard: Tilt Table.

Kyle HP: 28/28 S 9/9 V 7 INF 2

"Legitimate Play", It's all fun and games until someone is permakilled right in front of you.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:46, Tue 19 Apr 2011.

"Billy!" the young lady screams as she embrases her lost loved one in her arms.  She just holds him and cries.

The craziness caused the card players to duck under their card table with a "Yikes!" or two.  The patron that was seated closest to Kyle flees out the back!  The bartender rushes to the back room to look for a weapon.  Lastly, the dwarf patron that was in the southeast corner grabs his chair and prepares to swing it at any more badguys that should come through the door.

Mittens spots the enemies outside and fires a fireball at them, defeating two!

"That one's got some fire weapon!" she shouts, "I'll teach it who's the fire power around here!"

Timothius' astral seal also hits the blackblade!  Mits fires another fireball, defeating the seventh grunt while the blackblade screams!  Mits then charges out the door!

(( Scorching burst hit, hit, hit!  ACTION POINT!  Scorching burst misshit thanks to astral seal!, hit!  22(max) damage!  Grunts 5-7 defeated!  Blackblade HP: 3  Move from i14 to i19.

The importance of whether objects and scenery count as "creatures" that "must" be attacked when throwing around fireballs is illustrated here.  The last scorching bursts would have exploded the torch in the blackblade's hand, and all the torches carried too. ))

Meriele heads over to finish off the blackblade and succeeds. With a swipe of her sword, then a deft twist of her wrist, she smacks him silly with the flat of the blade. Looking to her left, she sees more on the street. "There's more out here!" she calls over her shoulder. She is surrounded again with a radiant energy. Granted, it's not a glow that lights anything up, but it does kind of have a "warning, you will hurt if you attack me" about it.

(Move: To blackblade)
(Minor: Oath v Blackblade)
(Standard: Bond of Retribution v Blackblade. Miss, hit. Neener neener avenger.)
 dmg: doesn't matter. Minimum of 6 vs his 3 HP = KO

Blackblade HP: 3 - 6ormore = KO

Raichel says, "On it!" and hurries to the doorway. Even as she does, she calls over her shoulder, "Hold tight!"

Raichel shoots lightning and the bolt causes the nearest (yet far away) grunt to shutter, lightning bouncing from him to the other guy right next to him, knocking them both unconscious.

(Move: To doorway)
(Standard: Lightning Strike v Grunt 8. Hit.)
 Part of power is to choose another enemy within 10 and do 4 dmg to them.
 Chose Grunt 9.

Seeing how far away the enemy is, Timothius prepares himself for healing his sibs or Meriele should he need to. "That man back there is dead. There is nothing I can do for him right now. We need to make a stand and make sure these guys don't get the chance to enter again."

(Move: To the other three that aren't Kyle.)
(Standard: Ready Healing Word on any ally who drops to low enough HP to justify Surge+4+1d6 healing. None of my powers have enough range to bother readying this round.)
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Tue 19 Apr 2011.

  With the curiously clustered enemies all obliterated within an instant, Kyle passes Timothy as each of them head towards opposite ends of the Tavern, and levels his crossbow towards a window.  "I'm not exactly a Cleric, but I can give someone a boost if they need it.  Provided they pay it back later.  Think closer to Paladin, but I can take donations to keep healing people."

---

  Move: Duh
  Readied Action: Magic Weapon Vs Blackblade once they enter LoS through window.  I'll call initial shooting through class cover, so Kyle would only have a +6 Vs AC Shot.  If it hits, the Dwarven Patron(if they are still next to Kyle) gets the buffs.

Kyle HP: 28/28 S 9/9 V 7 Inf 2

The blackblade and grunt down the road rush closer!  Kyle sees them through the window and fires, but his bolt deflects harmlessly off the blackblade's leather armor.  The bartender emerges from his back room with a rake in hand, and he rushes toward the door!  The dwarf rushes out the door and hurries toward the enemy with a battlecry while the rest of the patrons keep doing what they'd been doing: crying, cowering, and running away.

"Burn!" Mittens shouts, firing another scorching burst that drops the grunt as she charges at the enemy!

(( Baddies, dwarf, and bartender double move.  Kyle readied attack missed.  Mits move from i19 to o25.  Scorching burst hit! hit!  Max damage again!  Grunt 10 KO.  Blackblade HP: 14 ))

Meriele hurries after Mittens and smacks the blackblade a good one. For half a second, he looks dizzy before he collapses in a heap. Meriele looks down the path, making sure nobody else is coming. She is silent, not ready to converse just yet until she is sure this team of villains is dealt with.

(Move: To N21)
(Move: From N21 to Blackblade)
(Minor: Oath)
(ACTION POINT)
(Standard: Relentless Attack v Blackblade 2. Hit!)
 dmg: exactly 14. XD

Blackblade2 HP: 14 - 14 = KO

Raichel calls out, "Thanks, everyone who helped! Are there more?" She too is cautious, her left hand sparking with electricity as she prepares for any others.

(Standard: Ready Lightning Strike for first enemy in 10.)

Tim calls out, "Yell if you need me!" and goes back to the table with the dead patron, looks sad. But then turns a furious gaze at the downed grunt who was responsible. He kneels down and tears the grunt's shirt off. "The authorities will know who murdered this man..." he then glances at Kyle. "Thanks for your help, sir."

(Move: To grunt/kyle/table)
(Standard: Shirt Ripper!)

  Kyle shrugs, "I'll accept thanks for my attempt at help at least.  This problem would have been solved just as fast if I wasn't even around.  Not that this is a bad thing."

  He heads next to the window and takes a look out at the end results, and comments "Your drink offering friend seems the most in need in of Medical attention that will still do any good.  Maybe one of you could grab that bolt in the grass while your near it, please?"  Hey, Ammo is Ammo.  And Meriele definitely took a heavier hit than the surviving lady of a customer.

  Hey, Kyle just met these people.  He can't quite eyeball the fact Meriele can full heal with a normal surge.

Move: Durp.
Minor: Reload.