Sora roars at Cutter 2 who yips and dances about, dodging the concussive force! Sora turns to look at Cutter 3 and yells, "I'll take you ALL out!"

(Move: H8 to I10)
(Standard: Concussive Spike v Cutter 2. Miss(10))
(Minor: Battlemind's Demand v Cutter 3, marking him.)

---

The cutters all close in. "Swiftly! Attack!" One goblin slashes Pyrus while another manages to pierce Sora's armor! The third one clangs his sword against Sora's shield! "Pyrus!" she yells in concern.

(Move: To their respective targets)
(Standard: Short Sword v Pyrus, Sora, Sora. Hit(17), Hit(21), Miss(14))
 dmg: 4

Pyrus HP: 11 - 4 = 7
Sora HP: 33 - 4 = 29

  "So, wait.  Scaring them off was a failure but getting our asses kicked would be a success?  I think he's making this test up.  Also missed the point where I spelled out I'm not exactly a 'true warrior'... Where was I?  Oh, yes.  People trying to kill us."

  He waggles his wand in a Cutter's general direction as he backs off.  "Your Mom doesn't think you're are cool."...  Rhagar, the power is called Vicious Mockery.  Still, can't fault the end result of the Cutter dropping his weapons to curl up in a little ball crying his eyes out.

---

  Rhagar
Move: Shift to H8
Standard: Viscous Mockery Vs Cutter 3, Hits. KO

Cutter 3 HP: 1-Cry= Whaambulance.

Rhagar HP: 30/30 S 11 v11
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Thu 08 Sept 2011.

"DIE!" Pyrus shouts when struck by the cutter before unleashing his fire breath incinerating the goblin.

"I wouldn't waste any time trying to untangle the madness of that fool coward Tiefling, Rhagar," he continues, calming a bit and jogging over to be next to the last goblin, "While just as senseless, these goblins at least have the courage to face us in combat - and that without shields."

---

Dragon breath hits.  Move from e6 to h12.

Cutter 1 HP: 1-whatever=dead.

Sora swings her sword at the cutter, who deftly dodges, but then Sora breathes a wild wind of frost, freezing the cutter, who falls to the ground unconscious from the flash-freeze. Sora glares about before calming down and standing straight. "What on Earth was that all about?" she asks nobody in particular.

The tieflings are both long-gone.

---

(Standard: Miss(10))
(Minor: Breathe! Hit(15)!)

Cutter HP: 1 - whatever = KO

"A survivor," Pyrus notes, "Good.  Let's take it back to town.  Stupid as this may sound, the lies of those two tieflings may be all that is needed to ruin our reputations, and we may need this goblin to tell the truth of the matter before all is said and done."

He wraps the shivering enemy in his bedroll after binding his hands and feet.

---

Assuming song of rest, spending 2 surges for full HP.

  "If they even believe that, you mean.  While Morthos isn't exactly known for having a clear head, the woeful tale of two Teiflings would have more credibility at face value than shoving a Goblin forwards and demanding they explain things."

  Rhagar's regularly scheduled Cynisicm is accompanied by ANGRY BONGO.  Really, Song Of Rest could be accomplished through Mime acts or interpretive dance too.

  "Of course, if we came back with something to actually show for this trip, people might stop caring what they have to say because oh look shiny relics.  Or maybe not so shiny if they were tomes."

  OOC Style:  Yup, Song Of Rest like with your bards are auto-assumption convenience :D

To move story along, the narrator fast forwards to when the group arrives back at town. There appears to be no angry glances, evil glares, or any other indications of the people disliking the heroes. Sora comments, "Well I guess news didn't travel quite THAT fast, thankfully. Let's act quick."

"Indeed," Pyrus answer as he nods and snaps his fingers to the manly beat of Rhagar's angry bongo, feeling more reinvigorated by the moment.

---

Back in town Pyrus nods to Sora, takes a deep breath, and bellows at the top of his lungs, "People of Kora!  Let it be known that this is the sole surviving goblin of a failed plot perpetrated by the devious and cowardly Tieflings Drak'thul and Morthos!  The father asked us to 'rescue' his son whom he claimed had been kidnapped by goblins.  I did not believe him but agreed on the chance the story was true.  No sooner did we we rescue Morthos than he begins challenging Rhagar to a duel!  Then when the challenge was accepted, Morthos fled and ordered the goblins to attack!  The goblins fought to the death, but we kept this one alive as witness.  Let it be known that I will be staying in town until tomorrow morning to await any challenge they may dare!"

He heads for the nearest law enforcement center.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:08, Thu 13 Oct 2011.

  It's several steps back on the way towards the ruins, before Rhagar realizes his friends are making a U-Turn because of insane whiners.

  Retcon Alligator wuz here.

  "I do not look forwards to getting my ass handed to me for the sake of honor, because why would they challenge someone who could beat them?  Some days, honor is mentally challenged."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:21, Thu 13 Oct 2011.

And look who just showed up! Even as Pyrus is addressing the crowd, he and Rhagar can see Morthos standing there. Rhagar also notices Morthos doesn't have his armor and looks shocked at the announcement (Pyrus does not notice this). A few people in the crowd also notice Morthos and look at him annoyed. Some look like they are preparing to apprehend him (at best) or hurt him. Sora didn't notice Morthos or the angry people in the crowd.

---

Set a DC 10 in my mind for noticing Morthos. DC 15 to notice he isn't wearing his armor. Why hard? Because you're all so pissed off at him, that detail would NORMALLY go un-noticed. And Pyrus totally didn't notice or care to notice.

Rolls:
Pyrus: 10 + 1 = 11
Rhagar: 17 + 0 = 17
Sora: 3 + 1 = 4

"Not everyone thinks that way, Rhagar," Pyrus answers, "In fact, many believe that the greater the challenge, the greater the valor of the one who takes it.  By your own words earlier you showed that you believe that to challenge one less powerful proves little."

When he spots Morthos, he sees his opportunity to prove his story.  He looks down at the prisoner.

"We kept you alive so you could at least have some payback against the one who set you up.  Point him out!"

---

(( Assuming it took 5 or more minutes to rest and return to town, the prisoner should be awake according to game mechanics.  Retcon gator waits to see if said assumption was valid.))

  "Was the plate armor a rental or something Morthos?  Or did you actually feel like taking up Pyro's crazy suggestion of dropping your gear before you try to kick my ass?"  Okay, the surprised look on their face could be for many reasons.  But the sudden lack of heavy gear was a bit more strange.

  "Something is off here, I'm not sure what yet."

The goblin points at Morthos. "Him!"

Morthos looks at Rhagar and says, "Do I know you? What are you all raving about?"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:40, Fri 21 Oct 2011.

Satisfied his story has been proven, Pyrus glances between Morthos, the goblin, and Rhagar.

"Indeed," he says in a low, cautious tone, "He looks honestly surprised.  I wonder if maybe this is a Changeling co-conspirator, twin, or illusionist.  Or if perhaps the one who sprung the ambush on us is one of those things.  Maybe this was some vindictive ruse to mar this Tiefling's reputation.  Whatever the case, what I saw is what I saw.  But I will not allow myself be party to someone's scheme.  If your name is Morthos, then you would do well to get to the bottom of this as well.  The first order of business would be to establish where you were in the past thirty minutes or so."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:28, Sat 22 Oct 2011.

  "I wonder if this is going to become a theme, where each trip to explore ruins gets sidelined by some other bizarre matter instead."  Sure, this is only the first attempt.  But now we're having a mental image of level 30 Dragonborn going 'okay, this time we're finally going to those ruins.  Only for Tarrasque to step on said ruins.

Morthos says, "I was here in town, trying to figure out who stole my armor. I've been all over this area of town and talked to plenty of people."

The stirred-up crowd go to check up on Morthos' story and find it to be true. People begin murmuring on how they're supposed to tell the real Morthos from the fake. Or for that matter, the real Drakthul from his fake.

Pyrus is looking rather sour.  "When I'm through with whoever's behind this, they'll look like they were eaten by Tiamat and dumped over a cliff!" he rants.

He casts a glance at Rhagar.  "I won't allow this matter to delay us too much.  I intend to set out no later than noon tomorrow, even if I haven't had my revenge by then.  Recovering our birthright is more important than my having satisfaction."

To Morthos he suggests, "If you whisper to someone a secret of theirs they know you keep, they can verify your identity.  The next step is to return to the scene and track our quarry.  If we brought some blood hounds, that could speed things along.  We should visit the authorities on the way out."

  Is it a strange irony my character who can most easily prove that they are not a shape shifting impostor is my changeling Sorcerer?

  "Just so we're clear, which head would be doing the chewing?"  Hey, these are important details if Pyro wants to make good on his threat.

Sora answers Rhagar for Pyrus, "All of them." before looking back at Morthos. "Now's the time to clear your name, tiefling. I'll watch you and then you can come with me so that there isn't a mix-up again until we catch whoever is framing you."

Morthos looks around, spots a human lady and goes to whisper in her ear. She blushes some, smiling and swaying her shoulders a little. She looks at the dragonborn group and nods. "This is Morthos."

Morthos then whispers in some dwarf's ear. He smiles proudly and nods. "Yep! It's Morthos!"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Mon 24 Oct 2011.

"Thank you, Sora," Pyrus says, "I suppose now that identities have been established we should make a password between us for in case we get separated."

He leans over to whisper the Draconic word for justice in Sora's ear, "filkiati."  He then moves to quietly share the password with the others.  If no objections, he then leads the way.

"Let's see if Human law enforcement make themselves useful."

  You need to go on three more quests before the local authorities ask you to stop a bank robbery... Wait, wrong human authorities.

  "Why the hell would you use 'Cheese Danish' as a password?" This is a Bluff.  People with stealthy skills that may be snooping normally have crap Insight, after all.

  "I don't suppose you actually do own platemail and large sword Morthos, that would be convenient if someone were violently opposed to you clearing your name."

A nearby human passes by... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvdf5n-zI14

Sora glances at Morthos and back to Pyrus. "A different password for him? Or the same one?"

Once a password decision is made and such, Morthos answers Rhagar, "I do own armor and a sword. But they've gone missing." he proceeds to describe the armor the group has already seen.

Pyrus shakes his head at Sora and whispers to her, "Rhagar spoke a false password aloud to throw off any spies who might be watching."

When human law enforcement proves to be unhelpful Pyrus shakes his head in disapproval.

"Worthless human law," he grumbles, "But who's surprised?  Not me.  I only went through the motions to prevent our enemies from using the law against us.  Next step is to find someone trained in tracking.  I've been away too long so I do not know who to ask.  If none of you are a tracker or know one, Sora's parents might know of someone."

  Downside, nobody in the party any good with Nature or Dungeoneering.  Upshot, Rhagar's Streetwise skill is just fine.  Though that depends to be up to the whims of module or narrator for if that's very helpful or very useless in a location with streets.

  "Heck of a thing to go missing, but then I can understand now wanting to go around in plate unless you had to."

Sora says, "A wise choice, Pyrus. Better to be on the safe side concerning the law... as for a tracker, well... I know one."

Morthos pffs. "Yeah. I don't tend to wear armor every day. Went to the market the other day and came home to find my armor missing. MAN i was ticked! But what could I do? I searched all over the place."

Sora, meanwhile, leads the group to a house. A human girl either in her late teens or early 20's, answers the door. "Oh! Hi, Sora!" the human says.

Sora says, "Hello, Butterfly. My friends and I could really use your tracking skills."

Butterfly says, "Oh! Of course! Let me get my things!" The girl rushes off.

Sora gives a smirk to Pyrus and Rhagar. "Met her about a week ago. A human, raised by elves, loves nature and has picked up on things to impress the culture she came from. She is here visiting friends of her family, so we're in luck they haven't left yet."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:14, Fri 04 Nov 2011.