"Kosara!" Victoria screamed with disbelief. If she weren't holding one of her prized violins, Victoria would have facepalmed. In the chaos of the moment she might even have committed to something similar, were she positioned for it. But Victoria was a little better fortified for close combat than a pure spellcaster. A little. It was either brave or deadly foolish and she couldn't tell which, but it was the circumstance of the moment and they had to work with it. If she got herself flattened by the mismatched jumble of wererat parts, Victoria could at least keep her alive from a distance. Ever the versatile one, she had a spell for that. Marita was obviously better suited for thorough and divine healing, but she was also one of the minority of people potentially capable of standing in front of one of these creatures and not being turned into a fine, semi-gelatinous paste on the immediate, and thusly might have other things to handle.

At least Victoria had personal backup, if it came down to closing into melee. She had a bright, shiny, silvered sword and her Morty to give interference or assistance. Was it cheating? Probably. Dishonorable combat? Sure, if you believe in that sort of thing. But this wasn't a duel and stakes were more than honor were up in the air. Not that it really mattered to her so long as the results leaned to their victory and the Cecily, Lizbeth, Lea, and Daisy were safe. Maybe even the fisherman. He seemed like he was okay. Why he was insistent upon grabbing his fishing pole in the face of his own impending destruction was beyond Victoria's ability to guess, but it didn't matter much. If she felt so inclined, she could have her undead, porcine servant nudge it a little closer after they covered the distance. With Kosara now a viable target, she needed to move forward and act quickly to minimize their disadvantages. Morty had standing orders to accompany and bodyguard, so all she needed to do was advance and it would follow.

Then Marita happened. "...Jas damn it..." she muttered, powerlessly invoking the name of a deity with influence over magic, the dead, and law alike, as Marita's own godly invocation bore significant power - though only against her animated assistant. Morty was repulsed in the wake of this divinity, moving as far away as it could without bringing itself to harm. "And here I thought you were finally opening up to the little guy!" she uttered sarcastically in the Cleric's direction. But no, grand scheme of things, Victoria got it. It revealed a useful piece of the puzzle and prevented her from attempting spellwork with the same assumption that the Rat Abominations were undead. Because of her area of expertise, this did limit her effectiveness in this fight.

So Morty was out of this for a while. This also limited her effectiveness, unless she could find something else suitable for animation. There was no time to look for that now. Instead, Victoria took up the attitude of what a typical True Bard might do in in an adventuring group, and moved to assist her party in a more conventional manner. First, she moved to stand next to Marita, casting her a wry smile as the stepped into place. Her violin was rested upon the edge of the fountain in the move, to allow her hands better freedom - one to lay upon the hilt of her rapier and the other to gesture in the direction of the rat-thing next to Kosara. Her hand moved as to shape the air while Victoria whispered out melodic, timed notes; a song to herself but for a greater effect: The image of Constable Cavendish clarified into the air in front of the cage holding Lizbeth, like unfocused eyes righting themselves after being rubbed a bit too hard. It was most of him, anyway, covering the damage already done to the cage, disembodied and floating without his lower portions, waist-up with a hand held in a HALT gesture. Purely two-dimensional, but subject to scrutiny from the monster's point of view.

Now for their Celestial Warlock who intentionally put herself in harm's way. "You have the blood of Devils and favor of the Holy with you, Kosara! It is nothing before you! We've got you, girl!" A little support never hurt anyone.


@Remipa Awesome Kathryn is up next.
@rivaan Kosara now has a 1d6 Inspiration die. Yay!

Kathryn felt the wind forced out of her like a melon squished to the point of exploding to bits. Despite her attempt to block the force that hit her she found the wind knocked out of her. What she could surmise from this brute force? The creature was damn strong. Damn strong. And worse? It was damn fast to boot. Once the party established itself into defensive positions against the creatures, they pushed passed the party without a care in the world. Though not without taking punishment for it. But the creatures seemed either ignorant, or uncaring to the punishment they were taking. Despite blow after blow, it seemed until the creatures were flattened into mush they would keep crawling on to follow their orders. The goons have bought themselves more time then Kathryn thought they would. Cavendish's remark pissed Kathryn off more. Giving her a second wind of sorts as her motive to absolutely flatten the bastard increase. "You're running out of time Cavendish!" Kathryn replied to the taunt. Sure, she would deal with these beasts first. But then Cavendish. She was unsure how they could deal with such monsters. Especially before they got to the hostages.

Kathryn began to book it to face off against the creatures. She had a brief moment of consideration as she debated which to take on first. Watching Kosara blast one of them with her Celestial blast was something both terrifying and amazing to watch. But as she approached the creature, Kathryn realized the arguably most likely to get eaten member of the party was attempting to face off against the beasts head on. "Oh shite..." Kathryn mumbled under her breath. Kathryn thought it brave the tiefling would attempt to use herself as bait, but it still worried Kathryn. Kathryn approached the creature looking for a good opportunity to dish out some punishment to it. Supporting words from Blackberry were reassuring. She wouldn't feel like she was leaving members of her party out to dry. But they needed something fast if they were to even the odds. Maybe they had some sort of weakness? Some sort of gimmick to make them tic? Or... untick? Kathryn didn't know those terms too well either, she was a warrior, not a scholar. "On It!" Hearing Marita do another one of her abilities was also reassuring. Until it seemed not to work... How could they not be undead? "If they're not undead then what in the fourteen hell's are they!?" Kathryn said disappointed that Marita's ability didn't give them their needed leverage, and worried. Then she said it. Fire...

Kathryn knew she was far from the smartest, the wisest, the most socially adept person of the party. And her ability to physically punish things though useful, was limited to solely those situations. Kathryn saw an opportunity to carry her own weight and then some. And maybe even deal with Cavendish and his goons. Kathryn paused a moment, getting ready to redirect her strike when seeing Cavendish appear near Kosara and the beast she so graciously wanted to dance with. The pause was long enough to notice Victoria, and Kathryn hoped that this was some sort of magic trick she was doing. Putting herself between the beast and where she last saw the Constable, Kathryn prepared to try and protect herself and the people trapped inside. But this also gave her an opportunity to strike, and strike hard.

Putting the hammer back in her belt Kathryn freed up her hand and pulled herself alongside Kosara. Kathryn bent her knees down, pressing the top of her shield into the creatures gut and pressed it inwards. With her free hand she grabbed the creature by its arm. Extending her knees in a split second motion after her shield made contact she grunted as the large heavy beast left this planet to briefly join the heavens. Passing over Kosara, away from the cage, and soon over Kathryn. Held in the sky by The Noble Lady of the VanEmbar family Kathryn attempted to not only move the beast as far away as she could from the cage, but from Kosara, and to bring it down as hard as she could towards the Constable. Maybe she'd even hit him in the process? One could hope. She felt her strength waiver for a moment. The creature was heavy, and had the full means to not only fight back, but cause her serious harm. A single slip of the boot and she'd be crushed, and likely killed afterwards. "AAAAHHHHHHH" Kathryn let out the violent cry as the weight of the creature was released from her shoulders, and sent plummeting against the barrel with her full strength behind it. Sending it and the barrel toppling as she regained her footing, preparing to dish out whatever punishment she could to it should it still want to face her.

@Sigil OKAY! Ready for the next round of retaliations!

The ineffectual attack from the Dragonborn's shortsword was seemingly quite forgotten, were it given notice at all in the first place, allowed the collection of giant, anthropomorphized rat parts given locomotion all of the necessary opportunity to heap a punishing strike upon the prisoner's enclosure once again. The damaged beam splintered inward, showering shards of inexpertly crafted wood upon the occupants therein. A sizeable hole had been opened which one might have been able to wriggle a human-sized torso through, which might have been advantageous were it not loomed over by a grotesque abomination bent on murder. Lea screamed in utter terror while Daisy and the girls from the Honey Barn shrunk back as far as they could from the crude opening, pulling the inconsolable barmaid with them.

This attack out of the way, the creature quickly swiped at Baronfjord, the closest reachable enemy to it. Its body rotated with the strike, committing a staggering blow to the monk while displaying a lack of passion in the whole affair. It remained where it stood, committed to task.

Baronfjord has taken 13 points of bludgeoning damage.




The Constable, if that title really applied to him anymore, could finally be spotted from behind the higher blaze to the north. This was thanks to the one toppled barrel, spilling its flaming contents across the thoroughfare and a bit to either side of the overturned mess. The illumination was such that things were better revealed, if perilous. Point of fact, the trunk of a stout tree nearby got splattered with a good amount of the sticky, burning stuff, promising to turn the tree into a great, greenwood torch in short seconds.

While Cavendish could be spotted from certain angles on the battlefield, his Guards could not. Where the might have gone to, none could reliably say in the moment. Instead of crossbow-wielding wererats, there was a multitude of regular sized ones, not unlike the swarms milling about town just out of the radius of light sources, between the Constable and the rest of the battlefield. Not all of them were living; the fire had claimed the lives of several from either direct contact or the inability of some to escape the heat for the presence of others. The great swarm did begin to scatter, though by no means did they yet give unfettered and easy ground to the principle antagonist.

A look of surprise could be seen on the Constable's face, as well. The sort of alarm that came from an unexpected but not wholly unfamiliar factor could be seen from the direction of Kathryn and Kosara, which was swiftly replaced with determination. He saw something working up in the situation that he could try to circumvent, and he was eager to do so. First, he whispered a short incantation and pointed at the woman who caused all of this mess, releasing bargained-for power into her. His eyes darkened briefly during this spellwork, with single points of light emanating from the black in a way that only Kathryn could see. A weary heaviness took over her limbs; a slight slouch as if given a burden.

Secondly, his words went to the burning creature under his control, though his words did not fully align with a master confidently maintaining something that resembled control, more than one attempting to re-assert it. He spoke with an air of firm persuasiveness, though it was impossible to fix the exact words unless one had a grasp of the Infernal tongue. Whatever he was saying, it didn't seem to help matters much.

Kathryn is now affected by a Hex spell which is targeting her Strength.




The creature had a blow lined up to flatten Kosara where she stood. No evil gleamed in its eyes; no malice or thoughts of revenge, but it was coming. This action was paused for just a moment by the sudden appearance of its master floating before it, giving a gesture that it did not recognize any more than a wooden mallet would know which spoon to stir one's tea with. But for whatever reason, it did pause. This momentary opening was enough to get the Rat Abomination snatched up by Kathryn and shoved into a flaming pitch barrel. It was at this moment that something within the creature snapped.

It rose from its position on the ground, covered in the sticky, burning pitch it was deposited into when the barrel toppled. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of squealing rats scattered but were too late to avoid their incoming doom, but this was not the greatest part of the problem. No, this thing was on fire, and for the first time since it rose from the fountain, it looked ANGRY. Attached and unattached nerves in the being's face attempted to move in howls or sneers, alternatively, and blind rage colored this hellish thing with greater coverage than the fire. A dry, raspy roar slipped from long unused, staled vocal cords, and it set its sights upon the first living creature it saw.

From its vantage, no, it was not the woman who put it there. It was the rats. Heavy double-fists smashed down upon the cobblestones, obliterating the rodents and smashing some into paste. The beast was reckless with fury, uncontrolled by its master despite what was most likely a harrowing but as yet attempt to bring it back to subservience. It is pissed off and beating to death whatever it can get its hands on.

Several rats are dead and/or on fire, and the area to the north that is not aflame is considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties.



I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

The above excerpt from the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow should serve to highlight the location of Guard 2. That is to say; You don't know, and if he knows, he's not sharing. Best of luck with that.





@rivaan Kosara is good to go. Please tag me at the end of your post. Map setup and kicking off the next round, etc.

“I got it!” Kosara exclaimed in turn to V.

Their ever so blue Berry Pie guy went in to fight the other giant rat creature, whacking at it with sword and fists of fury, but Kosara was able to note in his call out while she too was trying to hinder and pull the attention of a giant rat thing, that they were apparently immune to regular swords… probably. Well if Kosara ever swung her golden hilted scimitar at it, it was likely to do damage since this was not a simple scimitar. It was grandpa’s scimitar! It was magic!” NOTED!” Kosara called in return.

Next burst of activity came from somewhere in behind with Martia’s call of a miracle of Shield and then an attempt to turn the foes in case they turned to be undead. Shield was to have some effect Kosara knew vaguely how the spell worked, but she could only note that the creatures weren’t turning away and hearing the cleric’s conclusion that they weren’t undead. Well they didn’t look undead-y. More like monsters so the dancer was thinking they were some kind of aberration instead.

What followed next was a flurry of activity as Kathryn stormed over, grappled and wrestled the rat thing and tossed it into the fire barrels, opening a spot of view on the other side. She could spot the illusion from V appearing by her and could easily hear Cavendish trying to order the things into control as the one on fire began to rampage about. There was also the impact from the side where she spotted the other one whack Berry something good. Kosara could practically hear the effect it had on the bones underneath!

Snapping back to attention, Kosara found that V, made her feel somehow especially invigorated by the bard’s cheer, it was strangely encouraging!” Your praise feels me with joy! HERE I AM! ROCKING YOU WITH MY SACRED FLAME!” She roared aiming her free hand at Cavendish, focusing the celestial energies coursing through very body, eyes locked into evil constable through the hindrances in the way. It was the one spell that would directly as she felt the energy snap up and away from her before descending rapidly into flame-esque radiance from above at Cavendish’s spot.

And with that she did a backward hop, making a bit of space between herself and Kathryn and striking a heroic pose, her long white braid dancing from the activity. And if somebody expected her to not be needlessly theatrical they obviously haven't met her before, because this is Kosara and of course she does such. She also didn't forget her most favorite fruit themed dragonborn friend she had now. Seeing him hurt that badly she quickly focused the healing energies and unleashed them on him to help him heal some and hopefully keep him alive!

@Sigil There we go!
Edited: Made the Edit to mention the healing at the end of the post

The overturned pitch barrel made the area to the north more hazardous, but provided needed illumination to offset the obscuring balance of light and dark; even the massive flare-up caused by Cavendish's magical enhancements was offset to a good degree. What it revealed to the north was a little disturbing to your average observer. For starters, rats. Lots and lots of rats, filling the ground and making the area hazardous. Thanks to the efforts of the berserk monster and the flaming pitch, many of those were already dead. The effect remained the same, living or not, as the area now counted as Difficult Terrain. The flaming barrels which still stood continued to give Cavendish soft cover from several angles.

As for the Constable's accompaniment, so far as the Guards are concerned, they were nowhere to be seen. Hiding nearby or run to save their own skins when the opportunity presented itself, only they could say for certain. Aside from the party, there were but two hulking abominations and one put out wererat Constable. Oh, and the many swarms of rats. Lest we forget.

The scuffle of feet and movement of bodies near to the leftmost cage did well to nudge the fisherman's pole a little closer to him, allowing his calloused fingertips to grasp the very end. He finally pulled it closer and got it into the cage with him. "G'mornin'!" he said with grim determination. If asked, he might well confirm that this is indeed a nice day for fishing.



@Arty Fox Baronfjørd may now lead us into the new round.

In time with Marita’s cry BlackBerry saw the shimmering golden light race across his scales, and was quickly followed by a beam of light from Kosara, and felt the energies from the two mingle together and merge with his spirit and bolstering the flames of his astral limbs. A shinning light in this moment of darkness, he would have to thank them both for it later.

He then returned his attention to the Beast in front of him. Its humongous arm filled his vision. All BlackBerry could do was hide behind his arm and brace himself.

The blow from the beast hit harder than before. It caught his elbow, battering straight through and into his chest driving the air out of him. BlackBerry felt something in his elbow, and in his ribs, tear and snap. The world became dark again, the floor seemed to roll beneath his feet when he stumbled back under the Beasts brute strength, only just managing to stay standing. The first breath came slow, with a wheeze and so much pain. He felt something rattle deep in his chest. That wasn’t just one broken rib, that was several.

Ow

He pushed the breath out of his lungs. Pain. He pulled his eyes back up to the Beast, it was already turning its focus back to to the cage. Pain. He could feel his power falter and the flames of his astral arms flickering in turn, reflecting his physical state. Pain. His form was now loose and drooping as if under a great weight, and his forearm hung from his elbow at an odd angle, barely holding onto his sword. Pain. BlackBerry gritted his teeth bolstered himself with a deep breath, pulling the world around him back into sharpened focus. Pain. The astral arms snapped out at the Beast, a quick step forward to reclaim the distance, lashing out at its arms trying to deflect them from getting any further into the crate. But again the Beast didn’t seem to care. Pain.

The hostages screaming drew his attention back to the present. Pain. His gaze snapped to the cowering hostages and he spotted Lea in the flickering firelight. Pain. Realisation brought a new found horror as he understood her silence from earlier in the night; she had been taken right from under his nose.

But there was hope, he noticed that beast had snapped one of the bars of the cage and created a hole that the hostages might be able to escape through, if it were big enough and if the Beast weren’t blocking the way. Pain. One problem at a time. His sword was useless against the Beast but against already weakened wooden beams it might prove useful. Pain. While his vision swam BlackBerry eyed the other bars of the cage and knew wouldn’t have a chance to cut them apart himself while also fighting the beast. Pain. From where he swayed he passed the sword beyond the corner post and into to the cage itself. Pain. He couldn’t reach much further as his elbow felt as if it were grinding against itself beneath his scales.

“Hurry. Cut your way out if you must.” He let the blade clatter to the floor, trying not to show the relief on his face when he let it go.

Marita had mentioned fire and something had loudly crashed behind him just a moment earlier. Pain. He no longer dared to take his eyes off the Beast in front of him to check what had happened, though he had some idea and some hope about Lady Kathryn and Kosara had managed to do. Pain. BlackBerry took another deep breath and pooled his power in his core, folding it in and over itself, sending a frantic buzz through his limbs. Pain. BlackBerry focused his mind on the Beasts next movements, trying to avoid the next attack, knowing he couldn’t take another hit. Pain. He pulled his arm in close to his stomach to protect it.

“The Beast.” He shouted, his voice rattling with injury and panic. “Nearly through.”


@sigil Guards turn! Please be gentle...
Edit: added heals from Kosara

For lack of a better way of putting it, Guard 1 is beyond the perception of the party. Hiding, possibly. Biding time, if you will. Regardless, no action nor discernible movement on the Wererat Guard's part has been noticed; no overt hostilities extended as of yet.

@Dragoknighte Marita is good to go. Best of luck.

Well, it seemed that Marita was correct, at least partially. She wasn't entirely sure just how effective fire was just yet, but this sudden change in behavior was much more satisfying than the no selling that had been the norm up to this point even if it was rather alarming to see such a huge mass of flesh go absolutely berserk. The far more vindicating part of the scenario of her being correct was that Cavendish had bitten off more than he could chew. He was trying his damnedest to reassert control of the flaming abomination, but it didn't seem like his words were having much of an effect on it.

In a moment of ingenuity, this feeling of schadenfreude of watching the situation start to slip from the sheriff's control and the desire to humiliate him even further brought about another idea to the cleric's mind: what if they could have the two meat piles destroy each other rather than attacking the cages or any of the party? Usually this would come off as something of a pipe dream, however many of the details of the current circumstances lined up in such a way that it could actually work out. Many things still had to go right, but it was actually doable. First, she would need to demonstrate to Cavendish how one really asserted command over a creature. Focusing directly on the thing still enacting its intended mission Marita spoke again, using her voice to speak with the full weight of the force of Law behind it.

"Approach."

She was quickly wearing her throat out and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it much more in case there was yet more to do tonight, but unlike most of what she had attempted in this battle up until now, this felt good. That was step one out of the way. Marita quickly hustled over to stand near Kathryn and Kosara. It was about as close as she dared to go to the rampaging one, and if it stopped right in front of her, the three of them would at least body block it from reaching a cage. Now to make sure the rest of the team knew what she was planning.

"I've Commanded the thing to come up to me. This is about as close to the rampaging on as I can reasonably get it. Kathryn, let's try to put it into position where it and its 'brother' can take their aggression out on each other." This was a pretty big ask, but Kathryn was able to move one of these things, maybe she'd be able to do it a second time. Or if multiple people worked together it would be a reasonable task.

@Sigil V's up

"I must be crazy," whispered Victoria. "This is NOT what I do." Sure enough, it most certainly was not. The actions she had already taken during this scuffle were not subject to her scrutiny as they all seemed fitting. Unfortunately, the one she was already tensing up to perform was subject to second, third, and fourth thoughts, which she might have heeded were she to allocate any time for consideration. Rational thought was the enemy here, if her survival was top priority. In fairness, it usually was.

A tiny glance was spared behind her, to see the retreating form of Morty (who was subject to the full blast of a Clerical Turning). If the beast was even in range to receive mental commands from her, it might not even respond. Her smoky, porcine bodyguard would not be available to assist in their struggle, and there wasn't a dead thing close enough for her to animate temporarily to take its place. So when she began to mentally put together the overall plan and the approximate reaction times of all parties on the blood-soaked chessboard that was the fountained square, the realization slammed into her that she was the optimal piece to make the move. Not an undead stand-in, as she might have utilized otherwise.

Victoria had to be foolish, and close into melee with the meaty juggernaut as Marita drew it close. Goblins were one thing - small creatures not prone to organization, the last group of them drunk beyond rational thought - but these creatures were another thing altogether. It was the height of personal stupidity and bad execution of her talents to move that near. Yet, as she heard the screams of the prisoners and remembered the mockery of the Constable, saw the faces of the people in trouble, the plum-hued Bard already felt her feet moving.

The newly silvered rapier leapt from its sheath, fitting comfortably in her hand as she surged forward into melee, following close behind the compelled movements of the Rat Abomination. Victoria met Kathryn's glance, nodding as she did to convey the unspoken message of her coming assistance, however minor it may have been considering the disparity in power and mass between the two women. Perhaps she could give just enough oomph to affect the success of her maneuver. Whatever she could do - grab a leg, tackle into the creature's side, flash her cloak in front of its eyes - she would do. More than likely slam into the thing at a critical moment. "I hope the Lady of Ravens is merciful. Or at least finds my life interesting." The latter was a more likely possibility.

@Remipa Awesome Kathryn has been given Advantage to her next grapple attempt, negating the Disadvantage of the Hex spell in this instance.

Kathryn's visor locked with Cavendish's eyes as she spotted him past the fire barrels. She took note that the guards were not present. She hoped they backed off, but she couldn't bet on that. She had to assume they were still a threat until proven otherwise. Between herself and the constable, was a rather large swarm of rats. Many had burned to bits from the exploding barrel, though most seemed to remain. Had the rats and the fire not been in the way, Kathryn was pretty sure she could close the distance to Cavendish and send him into the floor. But not only were those obstacles in the way, one of the beasts was between them as well. On fire and in a frenzy, and lashing out at everything around it. There was the second beast too, which Kathryn turned just in time to see it give another heavy blow into Baronfjørd. The hit looked brutal. Kathryn couldn't risk going after Cavendish just yet. Deal with the beasts, keep her team alive, keep the hostages safe, then they could go after Cavendish. Thankfully, Kosara was on the case, sending a blast into Cavendish now that he was exposed. It looked like it hit true. "Great work Kosara." Kathryn gave her approval to the tiefling as she hopped back into her very dramatic pose. Kathryn thought it was silly, but a hit like that how could she place any judgement? Plus, it was a good hit. And a cathartic hit at that.

Baronfjørd worked on trying to get the hostages out, or at least gave them tools to do so. Kathryn also liked Marita's plan to get the beasts to fight each other. Sure, the party could dish out a fair amount of punishment. But it didn't seem to be going fast enough. If they were busy on each other they would have more time to reorganize, replan, and maybe even get another shot at Cavendish. At the very least, approach the next stage of this fight how they wanted too, instead of just reacting to the beasts ahead. The complication that now faced Kathryn personally, was Cavendish. Though she couldn't strike him, he had his own abilities to strike out at her. She briefly saw him beginning to whisper, and his eyes go dark. Kathryn struggled to process what was going on. Stunned at first at what could be happening. Then she felt it. Her limbs felt like they were made of stone. And for a moment she wondered if she could stand much longer. She corrected her posturing in an attempt to counter the magical effects. But this wasn't something she could just tough through. She could still stand, she could still walk, she could still fight. But it was going to be a lot harder for the time being.

Kathryn would still do her best to assist in Marita's plan. And she did her damnedest to make sure that the weakness she was feeling wasn't showing. "Just get that creature to me, I'll do the rest." Kathryn said with confidence in her tone. She wouldn't let the weakness she felt show. She wouldn't let her party down. She wouldn't allow such a cruel and inhuman person like Cavendish win. She looked over in time to see Victoria by her side reassuring her that she wouldn't be doing this alone. As the creature approached, Kathryn gripped her shield to use like a lever. Just like with the last one, the beast would be heavy. Kathryn dropped to one knee and lifted her shield into the creature's gut to begin the lifting process. Her free hand had gripped the beast around the neck, but she struggles to get her grip. She could feel the leverage but still she couldn't get it to budge. She felt the push from Victoria, and for a split second, Kathryn thought she could still pull the maneuver off. The moment her foot shifted to attempt to lift the beast, she could tell it was already too late. Her strength had been tapped and her leverage was lost. If she didn't disengage she could be crushed. In a split second she pushed the beast off herself. Not moving it at all, not even sure if she got it off the ground. "I- I can't..." Kathryn said weakly while catching her breath. But she wasn't crushed, and it still would have to go through her to attack the cage.

When her strength failed Kathryn had remind herself to stay focused. The failure to pull off her duty hit her hard. But she was still standing, and still had a job to do. And if that job just consisted of keeping herself between this creature and those that it would want to hurt that would be enough for now. She drew the hammer and raised her shield to prepare for another blow.

@Sigil Ready for all the retaliation as we prep Plan B!

Under the Command of Marita, the sewn-together monstrosity plodded directly to her as she moved. Kathryn's attempt to grapple and move the beast failed, even with Victoria's help, and the magic which compelled its movement also prevented initiation of further action for the time being. Some may call it a blessing, others may make not that it now has a variety of targets available in melee range.




The intonations in the language of the Infernal continued, alternating between stern and condescending in tone, even if one did not understand the language. For those who could speak Infernal, Cavendish was addressing the monster as one might an unruly servant, with just enough reassurance and understanding necessary to attempt a correction of action yet completely devoid of compassion or most indications of respect. Now, it could be stated that the Constable was a man with force of personality; just the thing needed to reassert control. And so the creature slowed its assault on the rats nearby.

A broad smile took over Cavendish's features as he loudly commanded (in the Common tongue, this time), "The Devilspawn that burned me - KILL HER. Bring me the horns from her corpse."






A glimmer of understanding came over the great and terrible mishmash of anthropomorphized giant rodent parts; likely as response to the words of the Constable. Red eyes reflected firelight as it stood there, looking about absently. It seemed to listen to the words that its master spoke, and was compelled to act. Within the confines of this action, anything resembling the barest twinkle of cognitive thought or capacity to listen halted instantly, like a cookfire doused by a great bucket of water. It ceased its senseless attack upon the swarms of rats milling about around it, and turned toward its target with readied pause.

It turned toward Cavendish. The abomination's apathy shattered once again into mindless, bloodthirsty rage as it charged toward the master wererat, disregarding and almost slipping over the squirming mass of rodent bodies in its seeming urgency to cause damage. It stumbled close enough to make a first, wild swing, which the Constable avoided in a striking display of coordination. Once its footing was better established, it struck out again, this time delivering a hefty package of impact. Cavendish reeled back with the sudden involuntary acceptance of that much physical energy all at once, and brandished his wicked looking shortsword with a new target in mind.


- Several rats are dead and/or on fire, and the area to the north that is not aflame is still considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties.

- Concentration on the Hex spell currently afflicting Kathryn has been broken.



Unseen, unnoticed, and/or elsewhere, Guard 2 remains. Place whatever bets you need upon when he might show up next and what he might be doing at the moment.



@rivaan Kosara ends the round for us. Once again, please tag me so that I may get us set up for the new round.

Combat is a fast thing, an event where a single moment was oftentimes enough to decide life and death. That said, the battle at the Avonshire’s Square naturally followed suit. Within a few brief moments they had went from fighting 2 monsters to 1 of said monsters attacking it’s master by the looks of it. Spells and attacks and apparently curses were flying abound with little care for holding back. This was a matter of life and death and it felt like it at least Kosara could take some pride and amusement in big monster rat number 1 going berserk and attacking Cavendish. This was good and it bought them some much needed time. That said, Marita’s rather surprisingly move of pulling the second rat into their faces left the tiefling a bit stumped and surprised as she had to halt all movement and backpeddle a few inches when the thing stormed right up to their little group.

Up close like this she had noted earlier the monsters did look quite a big bigger, but they had little time to spare on pondering the mysteries of life. All she had in this were a few brief moments to act and it was up to her to figure out her next course to take given the rather uneven hand she had been dealt because of their Cleric. Now she didn’t hold it against Marita, she just didn’t expect to get one up close again after Kathryn tossed the other one into the fire. Well, there was Cavendish’s orders which were VERY rude. Who was he to call her Devilspawn!? Well… she was a tiefling, but still! It was an incredibly rude way to go about it!

Thinking fast and making a snap decision, Kosara dove into activity. She weaved in between the rat monster and V, then a few steps forward to stand by Kathryn near the barrels. Kosara’s idea was quite simple. If giant rat was in melee range she was going to melee it with her fancy golden magic sword, BUT she was going to go one step further. Now that she was in reach of the flaming barrels, she just poked the blade into the flaming pitch covering some of the blade with it, turned around, with a gracious light spin, moved a step over, flanking the beast with Marita and then delivered a powerful stab with the flaming golden blade right into it’s open unprotected back, since the thing was facing Marita because of her spell.” HAYYYYYYAH!” Her attack struck true, piercing through hide and between bones and as an added bonus let out a small burst of flames as something briefly caught fire for even more harm caused.

@Sigil There we go time to roll out!

The state of illumination and fog was such now that Cavendish could not hide in the gloom any longer. He maintained the effects of soft cover from most angles, thanks to the roaring flame coming from the pitch barrels to the north and the semi-gelatinous burning hell which sloshed about on the fitted stone of the town square, this factor thanks to the involuntary impact of one of the fleshcrafted monsters just earlier. The fog which stood more than a few meters away from the flames remained as oppressive as ever, seeming to seal everyone into their own little world of fire and blood about the size of Avonshire's square.

The Constable's personal attack monster was living up to its name, pressing vicious attacks against its master with confused, unbridled rage even as swarms and swarms of rats milled about around them both. But speaking of rats; there seemed to be almost as many dead ones as live, thanks to the earlier attentions of the Abomination and the spilled, burning pitch. The area is still counted as Difficult Terrain. Flaming barrels which still stood continued to give Cavendish soft cover from several angles.

The rightmost cage, now relieved of its previous assault, stirred with a different sort of activity. The barmaid of Neil & Bob's Public House, Lea, had taken up the shortsword and began working at widening the hole that the monster had started, be it with inexpert strikes. The lefthand cage (and the one with the best, most horrifying view of the action this round) is making a little more noise. The damaged section of the cage here has a stout fishing rod placed into it, the other end held by the fisherman and Cecily. "If you can squeeze out, you keep running. Okay, miss?" she said to a young woman recognizable to those who have attended Madame Marcie's Honey Barn.

"Nice day for fishin'," stated the fisherman with an urgent, imperative tone, the muscles of his arms straining hard against the wood of their enclosure.



@Arty Fox Baronfjørd's moment to shine.

It had damn near been a moment of bliss fe BlackBerry when, hearing Maritas command rising above the din of the fight, the beast had turned and lumbered away from him an the hostages. He hopped to the side to let the beast past, lunging out with a snapping strike with his phantom limbs as it went.

Spinning around he now had a different view of the world and a lot had happened while he had had his back to it. The other beast was now rampaging through fire, throwing the small broken bodies of BlackBerry could only guess had once been rats, and the Constable he could just make out through the flames seemed to be having some trouble. But the glaring fire from the barrels made it had to see anything more than fleeting shapes and shadows

I would wager he didn't think the beast would turn on him.

Yes, it looked to BlackBerry that the tables were slowly starting to turn. He allowed himself a moment of hope thinking perhaps they could beat the beasts and get all the hostages free. But they would have to handle themselves for now at least as there was too much else to consider at that moment.

Still cradling his injured arm BlackBerry dashed forward towards the others to lend a hand but stopped mid way, next to Kosara. Beyond the burning barrels he saw the Beast, from his viewpoint it had completely eclipsed Cavendish standing directly on the other side of it. A straight line from here to there. He cast his gaze from the Beast to the other surrounded and battered by the others, weighing up the options.

The Beasts had been single minded in their attacks and mostly ignoring him and the others. But that had been when it was under Cavendish's control with a direct goal in mind so now it might just be lunging out in a maddened rage, blindly attacking whatever it saw as a threat.

No… He looked back to the Beast surrounded by the others, and then at the one attacking Cavendish. The Constable didn't attack first, The Beast attacked through it's own volition. He grinned. An idea had arrived.

BlackBerry took a few steps back keeping roughly enough room between himself and the barrels for a Beast. He double checked the distance as best he could from behind the flames and with Cavendish out of sight he could only hope the ruffian was still infront to the Beast.

"Get the Beast in front." He turned to Kosara with the other Beast looming behind her, hoping the others could hear him. "I can hit them all"

He pulled upon another power, another energy that sat in his core. This one didnt swirl and twist, it jumped and jittered on it's way. He Clamped his mouth closed down hard, locking the power behind his teeth as much as he could. Some.escaped however and danced across his snout, filling his nose with the a pungent sweet smell and his vision with blue arcs of lightening.

@sigil back to guard 1 wherever the blighter is...

He is the wind, blowing about with no more than a whisper upon the trees surrounding them. That, or squatting like a toad on a stump, trying hard not to ribbit too loudly and alert others to his presence. OOH! Like a cabbage! A steamy, boiled cabbage that was left on a picnic blanket after the rain ruined their little get-together! Yes, Guard 1 is definitely somewhere, doing something, and boy-oh-boy is it ...ongoing.

Yeah, this guy is out of sight and not making himself known.

@Dragoknighte Marita is ready to roll. You're up.

Well this situation had taken all sorts of turns that she couldn't have foreseen, and she was a bit at a loss of what exactly the best action would be at this point in time. Just hitting it with her mace might do nothing or it might send it into a frenzy, which she would rather not be standing next to it for. The previous plan of having them fight each other no longer seemed on the table since the berserker decided that it was now on the party's side and that Cavendish was the enemy. On top of that, none of the blessings she had available to her at the moment seemed advantageous enough for her to strain her voice further.

It was then that Baronfjord came up with his own plan that required the thing to be in front of him. She wasn't sure what exactly he was going to do, but it was likely better than anything she had. Now the problem was how to move the blasted thing when even V and an admittedly compromised Kathryn working together couldn't. She wasn't going to try using another Command, there wasn't a good way to make it go where it needed to with only a single word. The cosmos did not reveal to her any other options so finally in a bout of frustration she shouted.

"To Hell with it!" Without thinking on it any further, she took off and slammed herself shoulder first into the thing. Adrenaline kept her from having to thing about how gross it was and how if she made it out of this alive she'd need to thoroughly wash her clothes and hope the filth that covered it would come out. All she had to focus on was how heavy it was, like trying to push a brick wall if it could also push back again you. For a bit it seemed like she would fail as well, but then she felt her feet gain a bit of purchase. That little bit of progress gave her the spark of hope necessary to gather all the power in her legs and keep going. It was a protracted struggle and her legs were burning by the time she had moved them a relatively short distance, but that was all she needed to do. The thing was going right into the fire and there was nothing it could do about it.

@Arty Fox @Sigil BB makes his readied action or V goes? I'm not sure what the exact order of operations is here

Blackberry held back a cry of delight when Marita managed to push the Beast directly in front of him. The sheer size of the Beast nearly block his view beyond it entirely, not that it mattered at the point.

His jaw snapped open. A blast, a torrent of blue lighting tore violently though the air towards the Beast in front of him, but unlike natural lightning that would be drawn to and stop at the nearest target, it instead rolled across across the Beast like a boulder caught in a raging river. The forks of lightning which hit it arced across its body, jumping gleefully over and through making it’s grotesque muscles spasm uncontrollably and it's legs buckled beneath it. The remaining forks of lighting curved around the nearest Beast and sprinted towards the other, and Cavendish.

BlackBerry gave a cry and bounced from foot to foot with glee; his plan had worked. Over the twitching Beast infront of him he saw the second Beast and Cavendishbeyond enjoying his attack in the same manner.

“Haha!” BlackBerry cackled. A left over bolt arced over his nose again. “Bet that was a ‘shock’ was it not, you horrid beast!”

However, the joy as very short lived. He watched some of the residual arcs of his lightning hopping and skipping across the Beast in font of him completely lacking the expected scorch marks. In fact, he could see blue streaks tracing along the fraying threads, pulling them back together, tightening and closing the gaps that had begun to open between the mismatched lumps of flesh. When the last Arc had finished its journey the Beast in front of him looked horrifyingly a bit better than before. BlackBerry’s grin dropped like a stone.

“I mean…” He winced and grimaced “You are welcome.”



oops....@sigil V's turn!!

A dark sort of glee twinkled in Victoria's eyes. This dance of fire, magic, and steel started as a chaotic swarming of her party around creatures that proved to be far too powerful for any one of them to handle alone. Now they were displaying coordinated attacks to a specific end, and it looked like it was working. At first.

It was a grand idea, well reasoned and cleverly executed. The bravery of her team was obvious and well noted, the roles necessary were filled. It was a little clumsy, but effective. How were they to know that a lightning based attack was going to give them a second wind? The optimistic bent to her face left. She could not see past the flaring blaze in front of them to determine whether Cavendish and the other Abomination were likewise affected, but one could surmise.

The Bard herself generally saw her actions as best in a supporting role rather than as a primary protagonist, unless social functions were at the fore. As there was zero desire to engage in conversation with, or impress, the creatures in front of them, this aspect of her usefulness was moot. Her capacity for casting spells was her best contribution now, even if the well of her capacity to channel magic was running low. To that end, greatly desired to reclaim her preferred musical instrument and magical focus. So, while the others drew closer around their target, Victoria broke off and retraced her steps back to the fountain, dancing with practiced, twirling steps. She paused just long enough to snatch up her violin and bow with her free hand. A mote of attention was spent to attempt reestablishing contact with her animated companion, Morty, but sadly the poor, undead thing was beyond her ability to command. There was only one thing left to do.

She wielded her slim, silvered sword in the hand opposite the one which held her instrument, and it led the way as her dance-like steps drew her closer to the beast. Perhaps her blade, inlayed with the precious metal as it was, could bite where iron could not. The sword turned perpendicular to the cobblestone ground, before her face in quick salute before it plunged forward, its razor edge and deadly point seeking to impale flesh where it might matter. Unfortunately, no matter what performative efforts went into the attack, she was not the hardened warrior that always landed the telling blow. Her deft movements were not timed well enough to pierce the creature, who was still flailing to recover balance from being deposited roughly, almost atop the fire barrel. Whispers of the Grey Requiem were on her lips, ready to infuse her intended target with motes of necrosis. These fell silent with the unsuccessful attack.

"Next time," she swore to herself. "If I survive that long."

@Remipa Awesome Kathryn is up.

As Cavendish continued to speak his strange tongue Kathryn thought of all the ways she would plant him into the ground for his attempt at cursing her. What gave the half giant comfort, he seemed to be having a pretty rough day himself. And they hadn't even gotten into melee range of him yet. She was hopeful for how the battle could turn out. When the order came to have Kosara killed and her horns removed, Kathryn prepared to put herself between the beast and the tiefling. Thankfully, the beast had other ideas and had decided to strike out against it's former master. At least temporarily. That meant that the party only had one monster to worry about instead of three. It seemed with that strike against Cavendish, she felt a feeling of weightlessness come over. She took a moment to adjust, but quickly realized that her strength had returned to her! She was ready again to dish out some punishment against Cavendish and what remained of his band of criminals. As the party dog piled against the last beast, Kosara with her sword set aflame, Marita positioning the beast that she was unable to move, and Blackberry opening up with... Kathryn paused trying to process this. In the last few days alone she had seen more magic take place than every day since she left home. Kathryn watched in shock and awe as Blackberry opened up with a lightning blast hitting both creatures AND Cavendish. She wanted to cheer out, and almost did.

Kathryn booked her way over way over as fast as she could once she saw things were not playing out as well as they needed too. Under better circumstances, she would have chuckled along to the monk's quips, but the beasts began to heal. The tanky monsters were recovering. "It was worth a shot Baronfjørd. You did well, and now we know. We'll learn and move on from there." She paused a moment before getting into position to assist with the beast. "I'm sure Cavendish felt it." Kathryn said in a reassuring tone. Soon Victoria rejoined, taking her own shot at the beast. Kathryn thought it was comical in a way how the beasts had begun beating down on the party and how the party was on the back foot to start things off. Forcing themselves to react to whatever the beasts did. Now? The five of them had the thing surrounded and backed up against a wall of fire. A wall of fire Kathryn was hoping to exploit. And maybe, even get the beasts to pound on each other like Marita had originally planned. Kathryn did a vertical swing of her newly acquired hammer, bringing it a little closer than she wanted to towards Marita, but letting it still strike true as it made contact with the beast's chest and sending it back into the cracked barrel full of fire.

The force and mass Kathryn felt as the beast attempted to resist her blow was intense. Had she not applied as much force, or if the creature had gotten a better foothold, she wouldn't be sure the blow would have struck as well as it did. Though close, the force she applied herself came true. She sent the beast back with enough force to begin rupturing the barrel, and the beast clambering over it only destroyed it more as it the creature. The barrel shattered to pieces, the creature burned as if it were the source of the fire itself, and Kathryn had regained some of her lost pride after failing to manhandle the beast not too long ago. She made sure not to follow the beast to it's doomed fate as it burned. She hoped the beasts would follow into Marita's original plan and battle it out between themselves. Leaving whatever was left of Cavendish to themselves. He had crimes he needed to answer too, and she felt that even though the beasts could dish out punishment, that they were not qualified to serve justice to a goon such as Cavendish.

@Sigil Let the punishments ensue!!

The creature didn't appear outwardly to be capable of processing thought nor emotion; nevertheless it might be inferred that it was not exactly pleased about its evening so far. One might especially have this feeling when it was very rudely shoved into a brilliantly burning barrel of mildly refined tree sap. Certain individuals possessing exemplary sensitivity might actually have sympathized when the barrel split open, partially engulfing the creature in sticky, liquid fire.

As a direct result of this, the flaming pitch spread out in a more or less circular pattern from its dumping point, meeting the nearby spillage from the other overturned barrel. _{(Will update the map at the top of next round.)}

The Rat Abomination, now fully aflame, showed the barest twinge of self-preservation as it awkwardly rose, shaking its limbs in an ungainly fashion before hurling itself, possibly foolishly, into the melee as it strove to fulfill its orders. Instead of specifically targeting the Tiefling, it contented itself to strike out at the closest living thing to it. As it stepped forward, the nearest living creature - was Victoria.

In its present state of disrepair, instead of attacking with closed, ham-sized fists, it opened its crudely reformed hands to reveal vicious talons at the end of its brutish phalanges. The fire it was engulfed within gave it difficulty with its aim but not its ferocity as it launched a wild, arcing swipe at the Bard's face. Victoria was able to easily twirl out of its way. The second attack was a little more successful, scoring a deep slash across her leathers but not penetrating the flesh below.




The Infernal utterances which issued from the Constable's rodent-like features continued right up until the point that the currently burning Rat Abomination launched a rather successful attack against him, followed by a very unexpected jolt of sideways lightning. This gave him a tiny delay. Then his annoyance could be readily measured, inhuman face or not. "Outlived your usefulness," he hissed suddenly.

Black, crackling energy corrupted Cavendish's eyes and spread across his face, leaving streaks of necrosis where it touched. As quickly as it formed, it retreated, seemingly gathering in a mass of ebon plasma in his free hand. Even this close to his attacker, the Constable possessed the fullest of confidence in his ability to strike with something ordinarily reserved for a much longer range. The energy traveled a tight arc from his raised hand, forking into two distinct plumes of arcane power before it slammed into the beast in front of him.

The thing, pieced together of anthropomorphized rodent parts, gave a hideous, inhuman wail and sank to its knees. Cavendish plunged his vicious looking shortsword into the creature's flesh, cutting off its cry into a dry, raspy scream, just before kicking it into the puddle of flame before him.

Cavendish's voice boomed with annoyed authority, "I'm through playing. Give the tall one a hug, and drag her into the fire! We're finishing this now." He looked from Kosara to Baronfjord and back again, plotting his strategy for the upcoming moments.






If a thought was to be had in its final moments, it might have been anything. Cursing its nature, relief, freedom, fear; this was one of the great unknowable properties about a heretofore unencountered entity. What might be said with certainty was that the last thing to pass through its brain before expiring was the heat licking up from the sticky fire it was kicked into.


- Several rats are dead and/or on fire, and the area to the north that is not aflame is still considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties.



Guard 2 remains out of sight. Maybe he's just behind the nearest tree. Maybe he's far away, packing his stuff and getting out of town while he still can. Maaaaybe he's right behind you. However would you be able to tell?

Spooky, isn't it? Doesn't this build dramatic tension? Doesn't the notable absence beg for attention so hard you want to swat it in the face with a rolled-up newspaper? Hmm?



@rivaan Kosara, please end our round and tag me for the top of the next. Thanks!