Gustav moved directly to the next door, fortunately on the other side of the building and went on guard ... he expected the Wazifis to be there any time ...  We need to keep moving if we can or we will be blocked in here as well.

Rondald looked back through the entrance to see if there was a Wafazi he could target with his crossbow, or Terri with her bow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:30, Fri 03 May 2019.

Leaning tiredly on his staff for support, Judoc nods confidently, though the wizard is sweating with exertion. ”Of course I can heal him. He’ll be back on his feet in no time. But we need to find a defensible position, quickly. I’m not keen on leading them back to our mounts. Let me check with Aiah—we need some intel.” He concentrates for a moment.

Then, Judoc turns to Bjorn and quickly examines the Northman’s injuries. Kneeling, Judoc concentrates for a moment, draws a cross in the air above Bjorn’s body, and touches his comrade.

Then rising again, he turns to Teri. ”How are you holding up, Teri? Do I need to heal you now, or can you wait until after I’ve rested?” He considers where they have explored so far and thinks about a good place to hole up.

OOC: Cast On Bjorn.

Noticing the other door, Rondald spoke up.

"I don't think this is a good place to rest. I am pretty sure we can count on them knowing about that other door here. Is there a way we can get to one of those automations, and put it between us an them?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:25, Sun 05 May 2019.

Though the six have made it out of the fire, and the immediate danger of the fight, there is little suggesting that they have reached any real safety.  Rondald steps towards the small hole they just entered through, though he sees only the quickly expanding fire and the plume of smoke that gathers about the ceiling.  Magnus look towards the doorway leading out, already concerned about a second potential attack.

Judoc and Terri look to the immediate needs of the wounded.  Judoc steps down towards Bjorn, placing a hand on the man's injured side as he channels his mana into the wound.  Though it is not the greatest healing power Judoc possesses, the magic is draining - though the price is worth it.  Judoc can feel with his power the veins forging themselves back together, the skin mottling over with an angry red scar.  Certainly, the magic is not complete, but as Judoc steps back, Bjorn coughs and groans, his body tightening up into a fetal ball.

"What the fuck hit me?"  The Northman grunts as his eyes press more firmly closed.

Terri resorts to much more mundane methods of healing however.  Leaning her bow against the wall, she grips she shaft of the arrow with both hands, tearing the weapon out of her skin with a moan.  Though her face pales slightly, she seems little fussed, stuffing a wad of bandage between her tight-fitting armor and the skin.


OOC:  Sorry for the lag on this one.  Things have been busy, but I've been trying not to let you guys get too far ahead now that we are out of combat.  Bjorn is awake and moving, though still significantly injured.  Terri seems to be fine for the most part and has bandaged herself in a hasty fashion.  As for defensibility, there aren't any really great places that stand out.  Finn has his protective spell active in the stables, though Judoc would know that Finn is the only one now who can walk into it (since he was the only one present when it was cast).  None of the other rooms you have been in seem to stand out, though if you want to hide, you could always rush out of the building all together.

OOC: In game terms, Bjorn is half move and dodge, but he’s capable of walking as far as is needed.  As far as fortifications, there are the remains of a ruined desk and a few wooden shelves, though nothing really you would feel confident trusting your safety to.  Also, the room is only about 15'x20', which leaves very little room for fighting with the six of you if someone else tries to barge in.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:45, Mon 06 May 2019.

"We've gotta ago man" Magnus insisted, physically hauling Bjorn to his feet. Without waiting for any further delay, Magnus pressed for the door with the intent to make his way out into the alley. Although he never would have considered the differences, the Minotaur was blessed with a curiously accurate internal compass, and felt that he knew exactly where he was going, a confidence evident in his hustling stride.

"Wait. They will be expecting us there. What about heading back the way we came, while they are all rushing around to that door and breaking it down?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:25, Tue 07 May 2019.

I'll see

Gustav cracks the door and looks out, hen opens it bit further so he can see between the door and the wall.

Haste is the order of the moment, and as Magnus hauls Bjorn to his feet, the latter emitting a groan as his only protest, Gustav checks the single doorway leading out of the small apartment, declaring it clear of any foes.

Distrusting the most obvious way out, Rondald presses his face through their makeshift entry but steps back immediately, his eyes squinted shut as he coughs hoarsely.

"Well, that settles that."  Terri interjects, pushing her way past Gustav, her bow readied again in her left hand.  "The fire's only spreading and we've got to move before we get trapped in here."

Terri pushes on into the next room as Magnus and Bjorn move to follow.

"The alley looks clear!"  Terri calls from the next room as the others collect their things to leave.

OOC:  Not a bad thought Rondald, but walking back into the spreading fire puts you in an extremely hazardous area and doesn't even really guarantee you a clear path once you are in the alley.  It seems pretty clear to everyone at this point that the only option for fleeing is through the door on the north side (opposite side of the building as you entered the other room).  The only question at this point is where are you going?  Note that you guys have gotten a little ahead of Finn so it might be a bit before I move you forward.

Rondald will cross the room and move ahead of his wife, crossbow ready.

"There seems to be a door just opposite ours. Lets try to get in there and close it before they get here!"

[OOC: This may back onto the Garden. How far ahead are we of Finn?]
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:52, Tue 14 May 2019.

Magnus barely looked both ways as he dashed across the alley and tried the door, intent on putting his hoof to it if it proved to be an obstruction in any way. His desire to get away from the flames and the concentration of murderous Wazifi's evident in his every move.

Gustav faced opposite to the way Terri did in the alley as magnus moved to open the door opposite

With the all clear from Terri, Rondald bursts through the doorway into the alley, his crossbow held close in his left hand as it leans against the weight of its strap.  He passes by his wife, who has set a watch facing eastward, and makes his way immediately to the small doorway directly across the path.

Magnus too follows closely behind, his mail shirt jangling with each impact of his hooves, his shield still gripped across his forearm as he hustles, his nostrils flaring with each breath.

Just further behind, Gustav presses out of the room, turning to face the plaza to the west to ensure that no one can approach from that direction undetected.

Judoc and Bjorn make up the tail of the party, each breathing heavily, Judoc still recovering from an exhausting bout of spellcasting while Bjorn winces at the pain of his half-healed injuries.

Rondald shoves open the doorway ahead, revealing a narrow but long hallway within.  He barely catches a glance at the floor, its stone surface scattered with bits of broken, colored tile before his head snaps back over his shoulder, Terri's scream having filled him with a sudden panic.

"Finn!"

An arrow knocked in her bow, Terri steps forward.  Dozens of yards ahead and floating high above the path, Finn's back is turned to the party as he writhes midair, his bow hanging loosely clutched along his left side.  Just beyond, turning the corner at the end of the path, one of the Wazifi archers appears, his bow held aloft as he fires and Finn's body jerks wildly to avoid the dart.

OOC:  Thanks for the patience guys.  Rondald has pushed open the door on the north side of the path (directly across and slightly to your right) which opens up into a narrow hallway running parallel to the path.  Finn is something like two dozen yards to your east (towards the edge of the map) and twenty feet or more up in the air.  The archer rounding the corner is probably something like 30 yards away.

In reply to Raddek (msg # 56):

Rondald steps forward and aims at the archer, bracing himself against the wall and ensuring that others can enter the doorway behind him.

Magnus paused only briefly and then barreled ahead. While the beast man was known to carry a sling rolled up in one of his belt pouches, he had only ever used it for target practice around camp. The time it would take to procure it, it's ammunition, to put his things away. There simply was not time.

Instead he worked on clearing the hallway ahead of them for the others, his pace slowing significantly as the light dimmed and his eyes tried to adjust.

Gustav looked about... we all need to get in this door quick.  He followed his own advice ...  he turned left on entering the hallway and exposed his light stone to see in the dark.

Stalling not a moment in the open space of the little alley, Magnus thrusts himself into the narrow corridor, giving his eyes a moment to adjust to the relative darkness.  He shuffles aside a small bit of debris with his hoof, the painted rock emitting a light and high clattering as it skitters across the floor.  A glance reveals where the stones have come from, for a wide latticework of chalky mortar still clings in some spots, long since dried out and crumbling.  The empty tile-space reveals little of the pitch black emptiness above, though thick, wooden crossbeam supports cut across the hallway each few paces.

Along the other side of the hall, three wooden doors stand closed, at uneven intervals.

Just behind Magnus, Gustav and Judoc push their way in, pausing as well to take in their surroundings.

---

Only feet away, Rondald raises his crossbow to his face, leveling his bead towards the archers at the far side of the alley...  It's a far shot, but he hasn't yet found a target that his failed to hit with deadly accuracy.

Finn, glancing over his shoulder for only a moment, continues his hummingbird like float slowly over the roof of the outer rings of the building.  An archer flings another arrow skyward, though Finn is out of sight by the time it climbs to his height.

[Language unknown:  ”Son esth n n thi allencher meugh foosro o arttharea avehouest i plurte mo witat celopa?”]  Finn shouts at the top of his lungs.

Silence spreads out across the distance, that is, until a man takes a running leap from the low roof on the right side, across the alley, clasping at the roof of the outer buildings for a moment before he scrambles up to the top.

"I'm going to the horses!"  Finn shouts in Anglish though he is long out of sight.

"Shit!"  Terri squeaks, for the two archers at the end of the alley avert their gaze toward the three remaining in the alley, and Bjorn steps forward, clutching his axe as he steps up to Terri's flank.

"We takin 'em?"  Bjorn asks, his head turned towards Rondald as the sailor levels his crossbow towards the two Wazifi.


OOC:  It's about 1300 on the 14th of May.  I've got the small hallway depicted above, sorry for the half-doors, I'm sure you understand reasons for the awkward cut.  You guys just stepped into the door at the top of the map.  Rondald, Terri, and Bjorn are just outside the doorway, though Finn is no longer in sight.  Sorry if I was unclear in the last post, but the debris in the hallway isn't big enough to have to clear out of the way, though it may be just big enough to annoy Magnus, with the bits of stone catching in his hooves.

The archers at the end of the alley aren't advancing yet, though they have definitely caught sight of the three of you left out in the alley.  Bjorn seems amenable to tracking them down and killing them if Rondald wishes to do so.

"I am just providing cover. Get into the hallway! Move!"

He squeezes the trigger of the crossbow, aiming at the first archer's torso. Once the bolt flies, he gets up and follows whoever has gone in through the door.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:38, Tue 21 May 2019.

Gustav goes to the door on the left (as you enter) and listens, he looks for any cracks to see through and if he sees/hears nothing opens the door carefully with his sword on guard.

Magnus was behind Gustav, but there was nothing careful about the Minotaurs pell mell rush down the hallway. When he reached the end of the hall, he put his hoof to the door roughly where any latch might have been, the need to catch up with Finn and to get away from the Wazifi army foremost in his mind.

Bjorn grunts at Rondald's refusal, turning towards the door as he slowly limps along.

Twang!

Rondald's bolt streaks down the alleyway, straight towards his mark, the archer on the left that seemed to look the meaner of the two.  Mean, perhaps the man is, though he does not appear stupid.  As Rondald recoils from the shot, the man dives to the ground, spilling his quiver of arrows all about himself.  The shot hits just above him, shattering into pieces against the wall in the same space the man just vacated.

Not waiting for any response, Rondald turns towards the door, letting the crossbow swing back to his side as he runs to catch up with the others.  Terri and Bjorn a few steps ahead of him.

Gustav, turning left as soon as he enters the hallway, races towards the first and only door at that end of the hall.  He pauses to listen momentarily at the door, though Magnus charges in behind him, shoving his way through and planting a hoof neatly at waist level.

The door explodes inward, smashing through part of the rotted frame!  Both Gustav and Magnus look inward, and indeed they see again the small overgrown bit of garden where they first started this adventure.  The wall just on the left is smashed through, a small collection of the broken stone pushed up in the far corner...

OOC:  Everyone is at least into the hallway now and Magnus and Gustav are looking into the same small garden where we started things.  The giant hole in the wall is on your left hand side, and the small hallway with the horses should be just through there.

Gustav heads into the Garden , on guard.

Rondald now enters the door, pushing any in his way further in if they stop for whatever reason.

"Keep moving. We have to keep going unless you want to take them here. But I suggest this is not the best place."

Once inside, he will let folk move at more their own pace whilst he recocks his crossbow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:23, Wed 22 May 2019.

Magnus did just that, hustling with labored breaths towards where the horses had been hitched. He was tired and soaked with sweat, and while the absence of a plan in the wake of what had happened weighed on his mind, he would feel much better once he had assured himself that Finn was alright.

As he reached the intersection between the stables, he did a quick peek to his left to make sure that the Wazifi's were not charging down the road after them.