As Selvin tears into the Chokers, Chandanar realizes that he has a few more moments before he would need to join actual melee. In fact, he might not even need to.
Tarrov's warning makes his head snap around and the priest chants for the guidance of Iomedae to battle their foes. A bright longsword, shimmering with a divine blueish light appears above the hooded axe-wielder and strikes at him.

---

Standard: Cast Spiritual Weapon at the humanoid figure
rolled 28,5 using 1d20+10,1d8+2. Spiritual Weapon (attack, damage).
Move: Ready Shield, move closer to where the figure appears, so if it attacks an ally it will be inside range of Archon's Aura

Spells in effect:
Protection against Evil
Archon's Aura DC17 (Will)
Haste
Spiritual Weapon
This message was last edited by the player at 05:43, Wed 08 July 2015.

Selvin heard Tarrov's cried-out warning but he was busy with the Chokers at the moment so he hoped that the other man could hold things for a few more seconds at least. He kept up the attacks on the chokers with his symbiote's claws, fangs and tail stinger.

OOC: Full attack on the Chokers again. Hit ACs 22, 28, 19 and crit 30 (& 19 confirm) for 10, 10, 9 and 14 damage respectively.

09:29, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 22,13,28,19,30 using d20+10,d20+10,d20+10,d20+10,d20+10. Attack on chokers.
09:30, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 19 using 1d20+10. Critical hit confirmation.
09:31, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 10,10,9,14 using 2d6+3,2d6+3,2d6+3,3d6+6. Damage including critical hit as the last one.

Izzick formed an orb of fire in each hand this time, not requiring something as big as a fireball, but rather two scorching rays to focus the new executioner-esque target.

Scorching Ray
12:16, Today: Izzick rolled 20 using 1d20+7. Ray 1.
12:16, Today: Izzick rolled 17 using 4d6+1. Ray1.

12:16, Today: Izzick rolled 25 using 1d20+7. Ray 2.
12:17, Today: Izzick rolled 14 using 4d6+1. Ray2.
Ranged touch attacks, so pretty sure I'll hit and hard!

Nice double team by the spell casters. Vaddis I did your haste for you on the last round. You crit'd. My dice continue to love you guys.

As Selvin and Vaddis  cut another swath throug the Chokers. Five more go down. One manages to snake it's arms around Zac's neck. It squeezes.

The burly man gets hit in the head with the glowing ethereal sword and then seared by the twin rays. He stumbles backwards, unsure of what exactly just happened. His swing at Tarrov goes wild.

The remaining Chokers fall back, scrambling for the walls of the surronding buildings. Only the one on top of Selvin/Zac is still wihtin range.

You all hear someone curse. Whoever it was does not show themselves.

Alright. One choker and one axe man left. I figured you guys wouldn't have any problems with this.

Chandanar stays close to the brute to thwart his aggression with his aura.
Form the corner of his eyes he notices that Selvin might be in Trouble but does not expect him not to be able to handle the single remaining Choker himself.
The bright sword continues to slash at the hulking figure. That tower of a man seems to be able to take a lot of punishment.

---

Spiritual Weapon:
rolled 18,10 using 1d20+10,1d20+5. SW: Attacks.
rolled 10,9 using 1d8+2,1d8+2. SW: damage.

Standard: Delay
Move: Stay close to the hooded axe-wielder, so if it attacks an ally it will be inside range of Archon's Aura

Spells in effect:
Protection against Evil
Archon's Aura DC17 (Will)
Haste
Spiritual Weapon

"Hah, look at the yellow bellies scatter! Come down and meet us on equal terms, your minions failed to make a mark, coward!" Vaddis challenged the 'man' on the roof.

He then shifted to attack the choker on Zack.

09:18, Today: Vaddis Sonaden rolled 13 using 1d20+11. longsword attack.

"Damnation!"

Damnation indeed.

The Choker sort of looks back at you Vaddis. It kicks back a foot in the direction of your face at the last moment. You have to step back and your swing goes sideways. It begins to squeeeeeeeeeeezzzzeeee Selvin/Zac's neck.... 8 pts damage. Dice got uppity on ya Selvin.

The hulking figure grunts as you slash at him Chandanar. You hear the bard chanting...or maybe that's the sorcerer...but either way you are too preoccupied to take note. Big Hood manages a glancing blow off your shoulder. 'Glancing' in the same way as an umberhulk landing just to the left of a chicken's egg. Shell may not be cracked but you do feel scrambled. 9 pts Chandanar.

Izzick saw the blow and knew the best he could do was hopefully weaken the target and make that axe too heavy to carry.

13:41, Today: Izzick rolled 18 using 1d20+7. Ray of Enfeeblement.
13:42, Today: Izzick rolled 7 using 1d6+4. Str loss.
He loses 7 strength, Fort DC15 for half
This message was lightly edited by the player at 21:33, Sat 11 July 2015.

The choker grabbed Selvin and apparently started squeezing immediately. But like the old saying goes about grabbing a tiger by the tail...you've still got a hold of a TIGER! Selvin twisted about as he lashed out with his symbiote's natural weapons at the creature 'holding' him.

OOC: I assume if you can attack while grappled, then you can full attack but if that's wrong, ignore all but the first attack. So hit AC 26 for 10 damage (and if I get the other attacks I also hit AC 27 for 11 damage).

13:29, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 26,16,13,15,27 using d20+8,d20+8,d20+8,d20+8,d20+8. Attack on Choker.
13:33, Today: Selvin Larst rolled 8,2,9,2 using d6+3,d6,d6+3,d6. Damage on choker.

The pressure around Zac's neck lessens Selvin. Choker goo squirrs out over the two of you as you tear the beastie apart.

The hooded man makes another swing at Chandanar but misses.

You guys go 

Vaddis steps up to the big guy in black and sinks his blade in deeply! "Die hell spawn!"

07:38, Today: Vaddis Sonaden rolled 7 using 1d8+3. longsword damage.
07:38, Today: Vaddis Sonaden rolled 26 using 1d20+11. longsword attack.

How had he ended up standing right next to the brute?
He did not have a good recollection. The brute must be quicker than he had anticipated and so the priest was busy defending himself.
The summoned blade continues to slash at his foe but fails to do any damage.
Chandanar slashes out with his own blade, causing a deep gash in the brute's forearm.

---

So it looks like I am in melee with the brute after all...

18:53, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 12,3 using 1d20+8,1d8+2. own attack damage hasted.
18:53, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 13,4 using 1d20+2,1d8+2. own attack damage 2nd.
18:52, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 9 using 1d8+2. crit damage.
18:52, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 21 using 1d20+8. confrim crit.
18:51, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 28,7 using 1d20+8,1d8+2. own attack damage 1st.
18:50, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 11,9 using 1d20+5,1d8+2. SW, attack damage (2nd).
18:50, Today: Chandanar Jedekiah rolled 11,6 using 1d20+10,1d8+2. SW, attack damage (1st).

16 damage vs AC21

The hooded man's head turns into a brilliant wet, red firework. His arms pinwheel and he slumps backwards as he dies.

You all peer into the gloom of the night. No other attackers issue forth to challenge you.

"Looks like we have a few more enemies than just the maidens," Izzick said as he looked down at the man, trying to see if he had anything on him that could identify his person.

The priest looks at his companions, none seemed to have taken any major wound. He Refrains from healing the minor bruises and scratches.
"No sense in lingering too long, the crossbowman msut still be here somewhere.", he urges them to continue.

Vaddis quickly searches the bodies physically to determine anything he could by what he found.

Selvin sucked in a gasping breath as the squeezing stopped and caught his breath once more. Then he grinned, "Maybe we should'a kept 'im alive t'question 'im?" He chuckled and began loping along again.

The large man's chest has the same tattoos you saw on the bodies of the doctors back in the...whatever that underground place was. Red Mantis. It seems the Queen has retained the cult's services.

One of the chokers has a pouch slung over it's shoulder. Inside are a collection of various pieces of jewelery. Probably taken from victims. This one must have been a vollector of shiny things. Most of the items are junk. But there are a couple of pieces. Some jade earrings and a small silver anklet with amthyest inlays Worth 500 and 750 gp respectively.

The big man's axe is finely made. Not that he used it well. But the fault was not with the weapon itself. Masterwork battleae He also has a small scrap of paper wedged into a pocket. It is just a note reading Targets are high priority  and listing allof your names except Chandanar's.  Though it does add 'unidentified priest' at the end.

The crossbowman seems to have decided escape is the better part of valor here. Or stealth is the better part. No bolts come flying towards you.

Withnothing else to find here, you begin moving. The sun is just starting to shade the horizon with the color of a bruise when hou arrive at the theater.

Exemplary Excrements has seen better days. Or maybe with a name like that it has always looked like this. The theater is run down with large holes knocked in several of the walls. A smell like rotting meat reeks from inside and inside the lobby you come across the body of a dead pig. The pig looks like it was beaten to death, though the rats have been at it. Oddly it seems to be covered in dried blood. Completely covered. It should not be this covered from it's wounds. The lobby itself looks torn up as if some ferocious battle occured here. But other than the pig, there is no sign of what became of the losers.

The theater itself is empty. A quick inspection shows no living soul. There is an office upstairs. It has been ransacked. Someone has painted the words REVEL SWINE! I AM YOUR KING!!!  along one wall. Backstage are several dressing rooms and a space which appears given over to set design. A large backdrop obviously for a show is set against the back wall. Many of you have never seen one of Salvatore Scream's paintings. But the rumors about his work don't do justice to his...talent.

The backdrop is fifteen feet long and twenty feet high, painted on heavy wood. The scene it depcts is Hell. There is no other place it could be. Heaps of damned souls erupt from the landscape like burst postules on a leper's skin. Against the crimson sky, winged figures descend to swoop up the doomed from their heaps and lift them up to be torn apart in midair. Behind them all sits a massive figure in the distance. A dragon perhaps. It is hard to tell. Or more accurately, it is difficult to stare at it. Even at a distance it is too disturbing a figure to focus on. The work is skillful in the worst kind of way. The painting suggests a sort of realism that can only come from experience. Salvatore Scream must have looked into Hell. And from what you can see here, Hell must have looked back into him.

As you stare at the painting, sounds carry towards you. Voices. Someone has entered the theater from the stage door.

"Is it back here then?"

"Yeah. Damn thing's massive. Gonna take us all ta carry it."

" Why tha hell he want it anyway?"

Another man laughs. "Tell ya what. Why don' ya ask tha Emperor that yaself an' see what he tells ya..."

Five men, all commoners from the look of them, are heading across the stage in your direction.

“Well, that’s disconcerting,” said Tarrov, tapping the paper that listed their names.  “But it’s a good sign as well, I suppose.  We’re definitely annoying somebody important enough for them to want us out of the way.”  He went over to look at the battleaxe-wielder’s tattooed skin.  “I’m not sure what this design means,” he looked up at the others, “but I think we can be confident that whoever’s wearing it is up to no good.”

Tarrov frowned during the entire journey to the theater—not the usual thing for such an affable young man.  Their arrival didn’t make him feel much better.  The dead pig, the strange words, and the “art” combined to create a very foreboding atmosphere.

The bard looked around at the others, motioned for them to hide, then strode across the stage towards the men.  “Who are you?”  He queried imperiously, as if he had every right to be in the theater and the commoner workmen most definitely did not.  “And why are you here?”

The five men come up short, staring at you all as if you were hobgoblins dressed in formal ballgowns. They look to be run of the mill cmmoners, armed at best with long knives and wooden mallets. They narrow their eyes and mutter amongst themselves when they see Izzick. Then they see Selvin/Zac and begin to dance around in place.

"Wha's that then? Tha glowy elfy lookin' whatzit?"

"'s like Sam's mudder. Hairy. Mean lookin'. And always got an elf inside it."

"Oy! Don't be talkin' about my mudder. "

"Oy! Cheez it! These guys look wobbly! Mind your yappers!" One of them glares at the others than looks back at you, licking his lips nervously. "We're jus' some blokes. Jus' some loyal followers a' his newly self-appointed wondafulness King Pig. Tha's all. " He points at the backdrop you were all 'admiring'.

"We jus' came for that. King Pig wants it. Alrigh'? I mean it iz hiz an' all."

"The queen married a pig?" Vaddis asks.

Chandanar almost chuckles aloud at Vaddis' words, but can hold on. He had hidden as Tarrov had bidden as was listening closely and attentively to the strange exchange.

Selvin sits down behind Tarrov, looking for all the world like a bored bodyguard, as the 'cat' started to lick it's paw and claws one by one. He stayed silent and let Tarrov do the talking, while he tried not to be too intimidating.

"This?"  Tarrov hooked a thumb over his shoulder, towards the backdrop.  "Did he tell you that personally?  I was planning on using it for a production of my own, and I thought he was okay with that."  Tarrov pondered.  "Maybe I should go talk to him myself."


OOC:  Knowledge - Local Check re: King Pig

Using Lore Master Ability, Knowledge Check is 30.

This message was last edited by the player at 20:47, Thu 16 July 2015.

Vaddis' comment draws outright laughter from the five men.

"Well why shouldn' a sow marry a hog?"

"Sure'n the right feller 'ld make her as happy as a Queen 'n shit! "

"Kinda gives new meanin' ta tha sayin' 'pig in a poke' huh?"

"Quiet you," says the one in charge, though he is grinning as broadly as the others. The tension in the air has melted. Guy-in-Charge shrugs happily at Tarrov. "Don' know nothin' about any a' that. If tha King says fetch we fetch. I mean it is his theater," he says gesturing to the space you are standing in. "So if he wants his weird-as-ass paintin' who'm I ta say the nay? C'mon. Give us a hand gettin' this on tha cart an' we'll walk ya over."

Tarrov, from the man's comments, it seems safe to assume King Pig is the former Swatsel Pitts, owner of this fine theater. From what you know of Pitts, pig is the right animal. Though his elevation to royalty is a more recent development since you've heard nothing about it.

The men have a mule team and cart outside. The backdrop is heavier than it looks and it takes you the better part of an hour to get it into the cart and lashed into the cart. Guy-in-Charge motions you to follow and off you all go. A few questions get you some of the story and confirms what you've probably guessed at.

"Oh yeah," says one f the men. "When tha Blood Mist hit it took us here in Ol' Korvosa first. We had 'em dyin' on tha streets."

"So her Pigginess Queen Bitchy tha First slaps uppa wall on the bridge an' tells us 'good luck wid all that dyin', ya hear'.  "

"My Josephine got taken. Heaven rest her soul."

"Ain't you sleepin' wid Josephine's sister? "

"Point is we all loss those near an' dear ta us." He glares at the other man than shakes his head wearily. "So's a' course we starts a' riotin'."

"First it was burns tha dead. Then burns the dyin'. An' soon anyone who's coughin' has a crowd surrondin' 'em, dousin' 'em with oil and roastin' 'em like fish onna stick."

"Well ya know how'n it is. Ya set one guy on fire, ya get the hankerin' ta set his missus on fire..."

"Anyway," Guy-in-Charge says as he clouts the last speaker on the head. "It was all mad chaos over here." He looks at you all. "I'm guessin' ya came from over tha bridge since ya didn' know none of this." He shrugs. "Can't help thinkin' things has been pretty much tha same over on tha other side a' that bridge. Well here, durin' all the lootin' an burnin' an' killin', King Pig started speakin' up. He went from corner ta corner, offerin' up prett words. People started lissenin' and put down the torches an' bricks. Mr. Pitts says tha Queen left us ta die so she ain't got no right to be our ruler no more. He says we can rule ourselves. So we says 'Nah on that. But how 'bout you do the rulin'?' An' he says yeah. So we gots us a King Pig now."

As you've been chatting, you've come into a more populated area. Slowly, more and more people are visible out on the street. They seem happy though you wonder if their joy might be shock induced. Children are busy kicking charred skulls arouns the street like balls. Women smile nervously and travel in groups, avoiding eye contact with any group if men they pass. Men are digging through rubble for anything of value that can be salvaged.

The cart turns a corner. "So anyways, here'ns tha King's house..."

House. Down the street is what remains of a more affluent section of the slum. The buildings are nicer at any rate. A block of buildings seems to be undergoing a transformation. Catwalks have been steung up between rooftops, connetcting building to building. Workers seem to be busy knocking down interior walls and building fortifications around the outside, turning the five or so buildings into one large makeshift keep. Pitts is building his castle. It seems some pigs really are more equal than others.

(Please move to the Court of King Pig thread. Thanks.)