Daken hesitates as he considers the speed at which the gate is closing and his own agility but that momentary gap is enough to cause him to be on the wrongside of the gate closing. Cursing he starts to summon up magical energies to gird himself in conjured armor.

OOC: Casting mage armor on himself. Adjusted AC is now 15. He has 7 level 1 spells left.

Seeing that Chakha and Nameless were handling the villains to the South she quickly turns and rushes the nearby pistoleer swinging her mornginstar with wild abandon. Just as she is about to swing the voices in her head scream at her and for a moment her concentration falters and the swing falls completely short of the target.

Meanwhile she is studying her targets to try and figure out if these are some kind of undead or some other foul creature of dark gods.

OOC: Charging to J5. Adjusted AC is now 17

Attack roll was a miss (AC 8 D:)

15:25, Today: Ren Ulyms rolled 13 using 1d20+3.  knowledge religion.

The man with the axes is struck hard by Chakha's heavy blow, disoriented and with blood in his eyes he attempts to fight back, flailing his axes wildly in the air and missing her. The three others on the ground each take quick steps back from those charging them, and then there's a sound as from catapults assaulting the fort as they fire their hand-held weapons. The bullets flying from those small, metallic objects punch hard into Ren and Chakha... and as if on a signal (perhaps their weapons could not be used more than once!), each of them draws a dagger.

On the western wall, another thug comes running. Pistol in one hand, with his other hand he pulls off the crusader helmet and throws it down on the courtyard. The other thug, the one maneuvering the portcullis, opens the door to the gate house, pistol in hand.

'Thith ith thniler land now'? As Ren ponders who or what these creatures are, she cannot reach any other conclusion than that they are all humans... But disfigured, scarred, tortured humans. Thniler? Without their lips, they seem to have trouble pronouncing several words... Could he have said 'Smilers'? It would go along with the look of their ripped cheeks. And the Smilers are supposed to be one of the gangs in Scrapwall!

---

Hatchet-hand: Full attack Chakha, I won't even mention the roll results out of embarrasment. Miss.
Smiler 1: Five-foot steps. Fires at Ren with the pistol, narrowly hitting her charge-penalized touch AC for 7 damage. Then draws a dagger.
Smiler 2: Same as 1, hitting Chakha for 4 damage.
Smiler 3: Same as 1, hitting Chakha for 3 damage.
Smiler 4: Moves, opens door.
Smiler 5: Opens door, moves.

Chakha continues to chop away at the ax-man smashing him again with the a sideways slash.

If the axman goes down she steps forward over his body to continue to threaten the other smilers.

OOC: Chakha hits AC 20 for 24 pts of damage. Adjusted AC is now 17 again and her HP is actually 44/43 due to +8 temporary HP for raging.

If he drops 5' step to I11


10:54, Today: Chakha rolled 24 using 2d6+14.  damage.

10:53, Today: Chakha rolled 20 using 1d20+12.  chakha smash.

This message was last edited by the player at 15:57, Tue 18 Sept 2018.

With Chakha attracting everyone's attention Nameless flits around to pin down one of the smilers from behind. He stabs forward with his blade into the back of the ganger.

Meanwhile he looks around for markings and symbols to properly identify their opponents.

OOC: Move action- circling around to F11 (15) -> F13 (25) -> G13 (30) to flank with Chakha

Nameless hits AC 20 (18 w/o flank) for 10 pts of piercing damage (4 w/o sneak attack)



11:00, Today: Nameless rolled 18 using 1d20+11.  knowledge local.

Daken looks around for a way to help his companions. Hearing that reinforcements were coming he dropped a big blob of grease down in front of the tower doorway to slow or trip up the incoming Smilers.

OOC: Hitting F5, G5 F6, G6 with grease. They must make a DC 10 acrobatics check to move through the squares at half speed.

6 1st level spells remaining

Ren steps forward and smashes her morningstar down on the smiler in front of her.

OOC: Ren 5' steps to K6 hitting AC 19 for 7 pts of b/p damage.


12:28, Today: Ren Ulyms rolled 7 using 1d8+2.  damage.

12:28, Today: Ren Ulyms rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  attacking smiler #1.

Chakha finishes the leader of the group, as the rest of her allies efficiently attack the gang members. Their morale does not seem significantly affected by the leader dying, perhaps it just makes them more committed to defeating their enemies. Ren smashes one, who jumps back with the blow, his scream at the pain turning into strange, gurgling sounds as he picks up a metallic canister from a belt bag and from it spreads a clear pink-colored substance over the fresh wound from her morningstar. His head tilts back and he shudders in pleasure as the wound stops bleeding and closes into something that still looks like a open flesh wound or perhaps the scar after a life-threatening burn. Further in on the courtyard, his ally steps up next to Chakha and after a failed thrust of the dagger harries his closest ally into also attacking Chakha. 'Take her. Take her. TAKE HER! Take her! NOW! Take heeeeer! Take her down!' The second stab lands where it is aimed, but the wound is not much for the barbarian.

Out of the gate house, the fourth smiler walks right onto the grease - steadies his legs, and stops where he is. He aims his pistol at Ren, not far away, and with a BLAM! fires a bullet into her body. The last one is doubtlessly on its way, too.

Nameless does indeed identify their enemies. Smilers. One of the gangs of Scrapwall.

The smilers, identifiable by the flesh wounds spreading their cheeks into wide smiles - wounds probably healed by the same salve Ren just witnessed used, are one of the gangs in Scrapwall. One of the most mighty gangs, as a matter of fact. Are they trying to spread their area of influence, trying to gain ground? Have they suddenly been pushed out of Scrapwall? Who knows. They're not in any way connected to Meyanda, that's for sure.


Meyanda wore that claw-symbol, and the claw statue in the church-like room looked the same. No such markings or symbols are visible on the smilers.



That machine in the warehouse, Meyanda had it set up as far as you gathered... And it transmitted energy to Scrapwall? Or somewhere close to it. There's no telling if the Smilers are connected to that... Or if they too, like the orcs and ratfolk encountered in Torch, were on Meyanda's payroll. You're not very far from Scrapwall, you will probably soon find out.

---

Smiler 1: Five-foot steps. Retrieves item, spreads over wound, healing.
Smiler 2: Five-foot steps, attacks Chakha, missing
Smiler 3: Same as 2, hitting Chakha for 5 damage.
Smiler 4: Moves, stopping, shoots Ren for 5 damage (spending a grit to hit touch ac).
Smiler 5: Double move.

Chakha barely registers what is going on. There are enemies to fight, a sword to wield, and a chant to Gorum for glory on the battlefield on her lips.

OOC: Attacking #2 hitting AC...oh man I forgot how amazing she was. She hits AC 27 for 28 damage

16:14, Today: Chakha rolled 27 using 1d20+12.  chakha smash.
16:14, Today: Chakha rolled 28 using 2d6+16.


edit: If that finishes him off she'll then turn and move to B7 to start getting ready to attack the next one.

This message was last edited by the player at 21:19, Wed 02 Sept 2020.

Nameless pauses and gestures for Ren to set him up for a flanking position.

OOC: Nameless delays until after Ren

Daken is still trapped on the other side but as he sees Chakha he casts his Enlarge Person on  her, growing the barbarian to truly fearsome size.

OOC: Her adjusted AC is now 15 and now does 3d6+18 damage...

Ren circles around and tries to smash the smiler with her morningstar again.

OOC: Ren will move to K7 (avoding any AOOs) and hits AC 15 for 4 damage

16:23, Today: Ren Ulyms rolled 4 using 1d8+3.

16:22, Today: Ren Ulyms rolled 15 using 1d20+6.  attacking .

With the Smiler's back turned Nameless charges across the battlefield hoping to stab him in the back.

OOC: Charging to I9 hitting AC 17 for 6 piercing + 7 precision damage

The smilers are slain one by one, through tactics and magic. The one with the gun charges at Chakha, falling to the ground in pieces after she swings her sword.
AoO on moving through the threatened 10 foot range, worked as expected.
Moments later, the last of the smilers comes running out of the same guard tower. He stops for a moment to assess the situation, appears to prepare for a charge on Chakha, looks around one more time, and then that wicked smile is suddenly just visible on his cheeks - his lips tell a different tale. He drops gun and dagger, holds up his hands, and with an unsteady voice says "I gith up! Pleathe!"

You hear no more people coming to attack you, the area is quiet. You're standing in the courtyard of this small crusader fort. To the south, a faint trail of smoke is rising from the stables - it must've been burning not too long ago. Locked double doors to the south-east lead to the chapel, and to the west is a watchtower, the door to which is barricaded and blocked from the outside.

The gate can be lifted for Daken, DC25 strength, but the winches to open it are easily found on the inside.

Nameless goes for the winch to let Daken in while Ren disarms the Smiler and Chakha keeps an eye out for anyone else to cut down, slowly riding down her barbarian's rage.

Once she was satisfied the Smiler was disarmed Ren sat him down before her to have a talk.

"Alright, time to play a game. It's called "Tell Me What I Want To Know" and if you win, we'll cut you loose and you can get out of here.

So, ready to play? Question one, what happened to the crusaders?"

Ren will pump the Smiler for information, trying to figure out how many more there are and what other dangers might be waiting for them.

"Okay, okay!" The smiler is disarmed of his dagger and the simple (as compared to Meyanda's) yet unusual pistol-weapon. These ranged weapons are not an entirely uncommon sight in Numeria, the country where most unusual things are in fact not uncommon. Experienced gunslingers are usually specialized in fighting with this type of weapon to the extent their mode of fighting will be unpredictable by those not proficient with the weapon. The smilers did not really impress in that way, however. The smiler did also carry a metal-and-glass canister with pink fluid contents, same as one of them used after having been hit by Ren.

Meanwhile, Chakha moves about the area a little bit to ensure no-one is in wait to ambush the group. The doors to the stable building to the south are partly open, and looking inside, Chakha sees a pile of plundered weapons and armor, and close to them the cadavers of several horses. Worse, bodies of humans lie there as well. Some are easily at this distance identified as smilers, others appear not to be from the gang... All of the bodies are mutilated, bone showing in some places where someone has cut deep into a leg or torso and removed the flesh from the body.

"They were killed, okay? Killed them. Needed to. Hatchet-hand ordered uth to. Marrow ordered him to. We needed to! We took thith fort, we needed it. We died too, okay? It is for our scrap-worth. Lords of Rust are taking it all over, THEY ARE TAKING ETHERYTHING!!!" The gang-member goes up and down in pitch as he speaks, eyes darting in different directions, only occasionally meeting Ren's. He does not appear to be trying to lie, rather he appears disturbed, uncomfortable and threatening - and he appears to be trying to comply with Ren's request.
Ren Sense motive roll: 19
He continues, with a smoother voice, as if telling a story to children or reading a book. "Marrow thinks we can give the fort to the Lords of Rust. Marrow has been looking for something. It has been hard for Marrow. They say one of the Lords died. We don't know how, we didn't do it. Outside of Scrapwall, they say. On a mission. Marrow has had it hard since, as have the other gangs. But smilers are strong, smilers ARE STRONG!! We take the fort, we give it to the Lords of Rust! For Marrow!" He looks up at Ren, smiling as he works himself up. "Smilers are strong! If you think not? Ask the knights of the fort! All in there, all that are left!" He points to the west, to the large guard tower.

As the barricades are removed, the double doors are opened on a dark and stinking room. Four naked bodies lie on the ground, all of them moving. One of the two men rolls over on his back, squints at the light coming from the door, watching, and whispers desperately with a hoarse voice. "Save us, please, before they come again. We are knights of the Dawnflower."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:37, Sun 06 Sept 2020.

As the bodies of the crusaders are found Ren points at them angrily and looks at the smiler with a fierce glare.

"Then what are they for? Food for later? And where is Hatchet Hand?"

Nameless meanwhile absorbs the information and ponders on what he knows about the Lords of Rust and what might be relevant to this situation.


08:05, Today: Nameless rolled 21 using 1d20+11.  knowledge local.

"Yeth, yeth, food for later..." The smiler cowers under Ren's fury. "Hatchet-hand is dead now." Not even daring to look up himself lest he should meet Ren's gaze an provoke her further, he raises a hand and points at the body of the leader-type gang member that Chakha killed in her rage. The leader does indeed have an axe fastened in the stump of his left arm, and in life he held an axe also in the right hand. "But Marrow ith not here, Marrow'th in the base, in Scrapwall... Wouldn't want to meet you I think, or you wouldn't want to meet her!" The smiler looks at Ren out of the corner of one eye, a careful smile on his lips. Then he looks down again, his back bent into some parody of a politely bowing gesture. "I tell you only the truth! Please, if you let me go, I will tell you anything you need, anything you want. If you have a map, I can point out the nicer places, yes? So you don't happen upon more fighting, yes? Everyone in Scrapwall will fight you, if you have no scrap-worth, and we are from Scrapwall. Not a nice place, for you. Maybe they won't even open the gate for you! But outside Scrapwall, no gangs. We thmilers only came here!"

Nameless knows that the Lords of Rust is currently the top gang in Scrapwall, the bosses among the gangs, the ones with the highest scrap-worth. One would need to gain quite a bit of scrap-worth oneself to meet those Lords of Rust, even more to intimidate them or their followers. The Lords of Rust is said to be a very meritocratic organization, not built around any one person's ideas but rather ruled by those who have claimed the power and defended it - hence their dominance in Scrapwall. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is said that among the leaders of these Lords of Rust one can find an orc, a troll, and even an ettin.

Ren nods and they pull out a map, using sticks to draw rough outlines in the dirt for added detail if necessary so the smiler can point out items of interest.

In the meantime Dakon looks around for food and water and clothing to give to the crusaders.

"Once we've finished up here is there someplace you can go? We're heading to Scrapwall ourselves but we don't want to leave you to the elements. You're free to come with us if you'd like otherwise where would you go?"

The smiler begins pointing. "Okay, so there's Scrapwall here, yeah? Then outside to this side is here, where we are now. This is... Mostly safe... But the Smilers went here now. Okay, if you go the other way out of Scrapwall, it is mostly safe... And then east and west... yes, safe. But it is Scrapwall, you will be in danger there, yeah? You have no scrap-worth!"

The men and women get to their feet, unsteady, dress in simple robes from their equipment. "Thank you. I am Captain Andalen Kraklos, I'm in charge of this fort. Did you defeat the intruders? Good. They surprised and killed several of us, those crazed criminals... We will restore this fort to conditions we can live in, and stay here. We have lived here for long, and I don't think we have faced an attack as bad as this one in a long time. But we will stay here, and welcome the next group of traveling crusaders to pass by - they always bring supplies. You say you're heading to Scrapwall? That's only just over an hour from here. You're welcome to stay with us should you wish to come and rest."
This message was last updated by the GM at 10:38, Mon 14 Sept 2020.

Ren nods, accepting his offer. After their fight it would probably be best to head into Scrapwall well rested and ready for an attack. She pointed to their Smiler prisoner.

"Is it okay if we leave him with you. I suppose we could put a chain around his neck and make him guide us through Scrapwall but something makes me think he'd be more trouble than he's worth. I imagine you will want to enact justice for what they did to you and yours, correct?"

The captain looks at the smiler with disgust, as his fellow knights work through the smilers' pile of loot and the bodies. The knights' equipment is all there to find, and they find several corpses of friends. "I cannot let my feelings get the better of me. But we will hold a trial in the name of Sarenrae and the name of our fallen brothers and sisters. We will take care of this criminal. Tanea, Sindre, make sure this... scum... is locked away." The two women grab the whimpering gangster under the arms and drag him into the tower.