Following Lysande, Joseph cast a worried glance towards Aelynia, before focusing on what needed to be done.  He was far from used to staying hidden in this sandy environment, where he was from, they had trees to provide cover and hide behind.  Still, he had been there for some time, now, and after a moment to clear his mind, the ranger followed behind the elf and half-elf.

Those climbing to the top of the ravine are able to make good use of rocky cover, and everyone continues more or less southward toward the lookout post.  Ha'laam stays a few hundred yards behind with the Zhentarim and horses.


After about twenty minutes, those at the top spot motion about 100 feet away.  After taking cover, you can see the head of a man as he peers over the edge of the ravine into its shadowy depths.  Clearly, he has spotted the 'bait'...

OOC:  Trying a map using Dungeoncrafter 1.4 -
Squares are 10 ft
Yellow is the bottom of the ravine
The trail is pretty much a wideledge running along near the top, about 60 ft from the bottom
There is another 20 ft to the top
There are a number of stoney outcroppings providing cover along the trail
You can see one raider (R1) looking over the edge - you know there are at least a couple more

Tuar slipped forward along the edge of the ravine, his bow ready in his hand.  He was trying to get close enough for a clean shot without revealing the presence of the hunters above the 'bait'.

Lysande followed Tuar, intent on finding more raiders rather than just the one they had spotted.

ooc: Spot check 18.

For the moment, the raider at the top of the ravine appears to do nothing but watch as Alister and Aelynia make their way though the passage (who cannot see him), but you all hear what sounds like the cry of a large desert hawk.

Within seconds three black-robed men appear from some hidden shelter in front of Alister and Aelynia one man who looks of Bedine descent (RA), steps foward threateningly with a large two-handed curves blade.  The other two men, who don't look like natives, threaten with loaded longbows.

The sword-wielder says something in the Bedine tongue, then address the 'bait' "Now where you going?"





This message was last edited by the GM at 02:13, Sun 04 Mar 2007.

"I'm a sand-beaten traveler.  Do you have water?"  Alister cheerfully asked.

Lysande looks at her companions and gestures while she whispers "I see another near the one on top of the ravine. See, over there. First objective: Eliminate these two, silently! - Then we give our friends below cover or we will cancel the element of surprise." confident that her friends understand her reasoning, the sun elf proceeds to sneak closer in order to get a better range of vision.

Playing her part as well as she could, Aelynia swayed a bit and nodded.  Since she was already quite hungry and thirsty thanks to her vows she already looked a little undernourished and dehydrated.  So far none of her companions had noticed how carefully she rationed the tiny amount of food and water she carried with her.  But that was a good thing for Aelynia, she couldn't rely on others and she was supposed to suffer to better serve her god.

Nodding in agreement, Joseph followed slightly behind Lysande, hoping that her plan would work and that they would be able to aid Aelynia and Alister from above. . .

For those near the top of the Ravine-

You can either make make a bow attack, or rush up to the lookout and make one melee attack.  The former must make it past the rocky cover.  The latter will require a Balance check to keep from tripping on the rocky path and creating a ruckus.  What do you want to do....?

For those near the bottom of the Ravine-


The lead raider sneers at Alister, "Very amuseeng El-Berrani. Now drop ze weapons and ze gear!"

Aelynia opened her arms, causing her robes to fall open and show that she had no weapons nor anything of significance.  Of course, that also showed the hopefully lonely man that she had on little clothing beneath that robe.  Aelynia took a tiny half step forward, looking quite pitiful, and pleaded,  "Please sir, I am so thirsty."  She was not lying, she was incredibly thirsty, but she did not know if her act would be enough to keep Alister and herself safe.

Lysande held up a hand before the others could proceed "I just realized the danger will be too great that we are discovered and the advantage of surprise is lost. Take your bows and aim at the one visible. I shall take out the one partially covered with my magic." the wizardess whispered and stored her bow on the rock directly before her. The spell was short, the faint blue light of the missiles could barely be made out in the bright sun but they struck the man unerringly.

"Why?  Oh are you trying to rob me?"  Alister smiled as he tries to size up his opponents.  Luckily Lysande can hit almost anything with her magic.  They just need to end it as quickly as possible.  He could try and summon Pepin.

---ooc
Hehehe

Tuar grimaced.  He'd much prefer to get within blade range, but saw the wisdom of Lysande's plan and nodded.  He drew back on the string of his bow and loosed, shading his eyes to see if the arrow struck true.

21:14, Today: Tuar rolled 18 using 1d20+4. Arrow attack.
21:14, Today: Tuar rolled 6 using 1d6+3. Arrow damage if needed.

OOC:  Sorry, I was sure I'd posted something here. . .  I wonder if RPoL ate it?  :p


Joseph readied his longbow, taking aim at the bandit.  But, as he soon remembered, the bow was designed for someone of his normal strength, and while it had been a few days since then, the poison he had been affected by still made him weaker than he had been, and so, he was unable to use his bow properly, the arrow hitting the ground between them and the bandits.

Lysande's magic drops one man, but  even though three arrows from Tuar and Glim strike the other, he remains on his feet.  He turns to run with a weak cry that echoes in the ravine.

The men at the bottom stop their leering at Aelynia to look up, but seem unsure as to what is going on above. The leader nods to one of his men who turns to run south.  He then growls at Alister and Aelynia, "Don' you be mov-eeng! And I am still waiting for you to drop your weapons!"

OOC:  I'll update the map if needed, but I think we can continue the encounter without doing so at the moment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:55, Thu 15 Mar 2007.

"You can't make a demand like that..."  Alister summons his faithful mount and mounts he runs after the one who is running.


---
actions - mounts on horse - move towards running person.
Can I still draw a weapon?
This message was last edited by the player at 09:26, Thu 15 Mar 2007.

A grunt of dissatisfaction comes from the sun elf's throat as she jumps up and plants a hastily aimed arrow in the sand near the fleeing man. "Quick, we need to take him out before he can alarm the others. - I'll see how I can help our friends below." with that she bent over the edge in order to make out a target for her bow.

On her own Aelynia would have tried diplomacy one more time since those above still seemed to have some element of control, but Alister changed her mind for she could not let him into battle alone.  She ran forward extremely quickly, letting her robe fall to the ground for two reasons - to keep it from getting in the way and also to hopefully further distract the men who were ogling her just moments before.  Some men, at least, had a problem slipping their swords through naked flesh and Aelynia, robeless, had a lot of it showing.  Aelynia's kick towards the leader was just a bit ill-timed thanks to the mount that Alister had summoned, it distracted her and a mild elven expletive slipped from her pretty lips as her foot just missed the leader's midsection.

Drawing another arrow quickly to his bow-string, Joseph let it fly after the fleeing bandit, but again, his arrow fell much too short.

Tuar moved forward, trying to get into blade range, firing another arrow as he advanced.


20:05, Today: Tuar rolled 7 using 1d6+3. Arrow damage if needed.
20:05, Today: Tuar rolled 19 using 1d20+4. Arrow attack.

At the top of the ravine, Tuar's arrow fells the wounded man before he can get too far.

Down at the bottom of the ravine, Alister suprises the raiders by summoning Pepin and racing after the runner.  The leader shouts to his other man "After heem!" then he turns toward Aelynia, massive sword raised to strike.  After dodging the monk's kick, his blade slashes Aelynia's exposed flesh, drawing blood.
 (OOC: 12 dmg from the falchion Aelynia)

Alister gallops round a bend about 30 feet away to find his prey about 15 feet up a hidden ladder, but he forgets the other man behind who nicks the paladin with a lucky arrow. (OOC: 3 dmg from the arrow)

---
ooc, let me confirm this.  The man I was chasing is now climbing a ladder.  Is both his arms on the ladder and has his back on me?  Is he a candidate for a coup de grace?

OOC: The man's back is toward you, about 15 feet up the rope ladder.  you cannot reach with a melee weapon unless it has reach.  He is not a candidate for a coup de grace, although his movement is restricted.