"Yes", Neide nodded, "Let's go"

As they headed to Veles' shrine, she allowed the cleric to take the lead, as she assumed he would know the best way there.

The two hurry to the shrine.

Once there, supplies have been provided for Aden and the cleric. "Glad to see you again," said Aden. "Ready to go...?"

"I guess so...", Neide sighed, "Well, you know - I'm not *really* ready. Even this morning, I wasn't expecting to be leaving this town... But I'm as ready as I can be. We can go..."

She gave Aden a weak smile.

"Anyway... thank you for helping me out."

"It is literally what you did for me... Let's go, shall we...?"

"My plan is to go east, straight out of town, and then north, through the woods, maybe a little easterly, too. Any objection...?" the cleric asks Neide...

"The woods are a good idea", Neide nodded, "But we need to be really careful while moving through town... I fear me vanishing could've already been noticed."

She looked over herself, still clad in Temple of Alara's colours.

"Do you have any disguise or spare clothes I could use? I think I'm quite easy to spot like that..."

"All we have is a robe, like I'm wearing... but it would make it rather awkward for you to draw your sword in a hurry..."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:10, Fri 05 Apr 2019.

"I see", Neide replied, "I guess we'll have to try not to get noticed, then..."

She turned to Aden.

"All right", she said, "I'm ready to go, if you are"

You manage to make it out of town, and into the woods to the east.

(Make a stat check, please...

+DEX if you focus on using stealth to move through the woods

+WIS if you focus more on listening and watching for anyone else moving through the woods.)

To Neide's relief, she and Aden actually managed to get out of town and into the woods. Now, they needed to get as far away from the town as possible. Aetkins might've sent people after them...

OOC: Going with option #2:

00:43, Today: Neide rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,2.  WIS check.

Gah! I think that's bad...

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and -1 to her next roll...)

Neide and her two companions are surprised, after a couple of hours' travel through the woods, by Lieutenant Aekins and six other Alaran soldiers, just as they're crossing a trail. "There they are," said Aekins. "This spot's fine-- in a few days we'll come back, say we found the bodies, and they must've been killed by bandits. Kill 'em."

There is one instant to say or do something before anyone acts... does Neide say or do anything...?

"Stop!", Neide said loudly and looked at the soldiers that accompanied Aetkins, "I beg you not to do this. What the Lieutenant wants you to do is neither lawful, nor just. This is not Alara's way!"

(Hmmm... give me a CHR check... but remember you've got a -1 penalty coming...)

02:41, Today: Neide rolled 3 using 2d6-2 with rolls of 3,2.  CHR check.

Hmm. This seems bad.

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and -1 to her next roll...)

"I beg you not to do this. What the Lieutenant wants you to do is neither lawful, nor just. This is not Alara's way!"

Lieutenant Aekins is not impressed, and neither are those with her. "If you understood Alara's way better," says Lieutenant Aekins, "perhaps you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Alara's law and justice isn't always the same as that of mortal laws and justice..." She raises her sword. "Especially when it involves her own children..."

They attack.

...Well, they start attacking.

They all stop suddenly when something CLANGS loudly off Lieutenant Aekins' sword.

Everyone looks at where it came from.

Standing over to the side is... an Easterner! One can tell because her clothes are, well, foreign... but mostly because she's got no hair... it's been cut so short that it was probably shaven bald a week ago... Everyone knows that Eastern women tend to have super-short hair... "Three minutes ago, this had nothing to do with me," she says. "Alara and her ways mean little to me. I follow Ossein. But it's obvious that some sort of crime is about to be perpetrated here, and the odds aren't exactly fair. And when I was allowed to come and study in this country, I swore to follow all the laws, and not to do anything illegal. So I'm not about to aid and abet three murders, am I? If you want to harm those three people... you'll have to also learn what a life lived honoring the ways of Ossein have taught me." She draws a large knife from her belt. "I guarantee you it will be a hard lesson."

The Alarans all look at Lieutenant Aekins. Aekins only hesitates for a moment. "So be it," she says, and she rushes at the woman, and all the other Alaran soldiers attack.

Two run up to Neide...

Neide eyed the Easterner with surprise... but there was no time to ask questions.

As two of Aetkins' soldiers ran at her, she pulled out her sword and steadied herself for the fight...

OOC: I assume Neide *has* a sword, right?

Also, please walk me step by step here. What do I roll to attack / defend?

1. Sword: Yep. Here's what you're carrying (besides the locket (as I recall) that was important to you, I'm saying you already had that on you)...

- Sword - Range: Close
        - Sharp (+2 piercing)
        - Well-crafted (-1 weight)
        - Look: Unblemished
        - (Weight: 1)
- Scale armor - Armour: 2 (Weight: 3)
- Rations - 5/5 uses (Weight: 1)
- Healing potions - 2/2 (Weight: 0)
- Money - 22 coins (Weight: 0)

2. Attack: To attack in melee is the Hack And Slash move, so you roll 2d6 plus your STR modifier... so, 2d6 +1.

I see. What about the initiative in combat? What should I do in a situation when I want Neide to fight defensively - or, at least, not to be the first person to attack the enemy? I see that there is the Defend move, but it seems to cover a whole action of protecting a person, a passage etc., not a single instance of defending oneself from a strike?

The Defend move also notes that it can be used to just Defend oneself.

Defend
When you stand in defense of a location, item, or person (including yourself), roll+CON.
On a 10+, hold 3.
On a 7-9, hold 1.

As long as you stand in defense, when you or the thing you defend is attacked you may spend your hold, 1-for-1, to choose an option from the list below:
■ Redirect the attack from who/what you're guarding to yourself.
■ Halve the attack’s effect or damage.
■ Grant an ally +1 forward against this enemy.
■ Deal half your damage (rounded up).
■ Hold them back
■ Draw all attention from your ward to yourself

The red options would still apply.

Okay, so let's have Neide Defend herself:

23:02, Today: Neide rolled 3 using 2d6+1 with rolls of 1,1.  Defend.

Oops...

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and takes -1 forward.)


(16:07, Today: The GM rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 4,6.
16:07, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 3,3.
16:07, Today: The GM rolled 2 using 1d10 with rolls of 2.)

Whew! The first soldier missed, the second didn't-- but Neide's armor protected her from harm.

(GM rolls more dice)

The cleric got a cut, but smacked his attacker with his staff... Aden dodged, but nearly got hurt...

Lieutenant Aekins attacked the Easterner... And got a magic bolt in her left shoulder for her trouble! So that was what had clanged against Aekins' sword! The Easterner was a mage!

But Aekins had closed ranks now...

But in a way, the most surprising action might have been Aden's... he broke into a chant... A fast song of battle and mayhem... and the air seemed to shimmer... Neide felt different... stronger...

(If Neide hits any target in the next round, she'll do an extra 1d4 worth of damage...)

Neide didn't even have time to curse, as the blade of one of the soldiers slid off her armour. Instead, she immediately swung her sword at her attacker...

OOC: 22:55, Today: Neide rolled 5 using 2d6 with rolls of 2,3.  Hack and Slash.

Oh, for crying out loud..!!!

(Neide gets 1 new xp, and takes -1 forward.

10:17, Today: The GM rolled 6 using 2d6 with rolls of 1,5.
10:17, Today: The GM rolled 7 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,1.
10:17, Today: The GM rolled 10 using 1d10 with rolls of 10. Neide takes 8 damage.)

Neide misses... and so do one of her attackers... but the other does not. Now she's really in trouble...

(GM rolls many more dice...)

--Perhaps the use of magic is throwing Aekins-- she misses against the easterner, and gets another magical bolt, this one in her ribs, for her carelessness.
--The cleric also does well against a soldier, although his opponent is still fighting...
--Aden dodges attacks once more, and tries a different chant... It's faster, more spirited... (Neide gets 5 points of damage healed...) Neide feels much better! As long as nothing happens to Aden, maybe this fight can be won after all...!

OOC: Okay, a question - Neide was previously at -1 to rolls and this round she took another -1... Are these cumulative? Does she roll at -2 now?

No. It's a matter of terminology...

"Take -1 forward" means it's a one-time deal each time.

"Take -1 ongoing" means a -1 penalty of some kind until something changes (like, until combat ends, or you kill the spellcaster who hexed you, or something like that.

Each of your -1 experience have been a one-time thing each time, and your next roll uses it up.

OOC: Thanks!

Neide cried out in pain, as the soldier's weapon cut her flesh... She secured her grip on her sword - and, to her surprise, she noticed that her wound seemed to be knitting itself close! It seemed like Aden's chant caused that...

She'd have to ask Aden about that, Neide decided - if they survive this fight...

Focusing her attention on her opponent again, Neide hacked at him once more.

22:57, Today: Neide rolled 10 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,4.  Hack and Slash.