Hekazu

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Will provide status update tomorrow towards my noon!

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The poison seeped in through the druid's leg, and left their mind hazy. As if that was not enough on its own, the entire world seemed to be showing up in quintuple, and an odd chill that travelled through the tiger form's spine was followed by a great wave of nausea. It would all last for but a few seconds, but it was all long enough for it to be a distraction that halted any possible advance towards the fight itself. Torus had to spent all his resources on collecting himself, both mental and physical, and he could only thank the Gods that his body would soon be rid of this strange agent.

What went unseen for them thanks to this period of feeling ill would have been the death of the first adversary, the weapon of the half-orc cutting through scale, flesh and bone, the kobold left as a rapidly expanding pool of blood garnished with two halves of its twitching self. Orchid's form was splattered with the red mixture, a repugnant smell hitting the nose of everyone close by. The attack had not only cut into muscle, it was easy enough to tell.

The remaining three on the ground wouldn't leave said attack be left unanswered, for one of them left their sling behind and looped around the frontline of the adventurers, weaving to the flank of the heavily armoured man with the forward momentum still maintained in the slice of the dagger that sent sparks flying from the armour but little else. Yet its distracting presence was enough for the two of its kind to capitalise on, and the brief distraction as the packmate swished past the half-orc proved an efficient tactic, a stone flung from a sling smacking him square on the collarbone. Brannor in turn would, despite this distraction, find his armour an adequate defence against the enemy with yet another rock bouncing off to the side.

Mechanics&Rolls

Orchid manages to indeed slay the opponent he went for. Torus has to forfeit his turn due to the poison's effect as previously discussed.

One kobold rushes forward, looping around the side of the front line to their backs, not leaving the range of either during this movement. It makes an attack at Brannor with its dagger, but the roll of 11 won't be enough to do any harm. The other two of the wingless and alive sort stand their ground, tossing more rocks at the adventurers. Brannor finds himself the target of one Pack Tactics emboldened roll, but with the end result of [6 / 5] the attack will not land. Orchid ends up being less lucky with the strike with the to hit of [21 / 14] landing for the raw damage of the bludgeoning type amounting to 6. @Lucius Cypher

It is now Kyra's turn, with the priestess shaking off the rest of the poison's effects and able to act as she pleases @Norschtalen.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The flash of coloured fire called the small and agile critters to evasive manoeuvres. The bard's magic rolled forward, catching the first of the kobolds by surprise, but the remaining two she had barely managed to fit within the area of the spell would be less perturbed by this sudden magical intrusion as it failed to catch on. In the end, only one target stood illuminated among those targeted. Not the most desirable conclusion for the adventurers, but the inhabitants of the cave were all too overjoyed.

Their winged brethren joined the fray finally with its wings spreading and beating, taking it to the air with it picking out a stone from the cave floor and taking off to the air, each further beat of its wings providing its movement an erratic quality that almost made its flight seem drunken. But each wobble was an intentional attempt to throw off any offensive move towards it as it prepared an attack of its own.

Mechanics&Rolls

The kobold at the front adjacent to Brannor fails its DEX save against Parum's Faerie Fire. The other two targets succeed with a 16 and a rather fine cut 13 respectively. @Ryonara

The winged kobold takes flight and takes the Dodge action, giving them advantage on DEX saves and incurring disadvantage on all attacks made against them.

It is now Orchid's turn @Lucius Cypher. Remember the bardic inspiration granted can be rolled after you have made the first roll but before you announce it in your post!

The Darkness Encroaches

In the first carriage past the engine and boiler themselves, the second rate first class as people liked to call it, a small figure travelling with seemingly nobody to watch over them had earned quite a few concerned gazes for herself. A child in such a heavy coat all the way out here, hood over their head and a satchel held tight against their chest. Eyes cast down so that one couldn't see much in the shadows of the train, but where they did they could swear the image they had of the little one on a lonesome journey shook with the expression they could barely glimpse. That of someone on high alert, and not in a nervous manner like a child in new company would be. This one was looking out for something in particular, carrying on an agenda with themselves.

This "child" would indeed turn out to be no child at all, but Paula Creek whose current task had necessitated her presence here at the very front. She vastly preferred other means of travel, trains always getting filled with gawkers. Too many of the sort for her to really explain the situation either, and that meant she couldn't wear her mask comfortably. Not with the questions they would raise. And that set her on edge for a whole another reason, but trying to hide it any further would only end up drawing more attention to it, and so she neglected to take such measures. Besides, she had a task she needed to see to. She wasn't on the train for pleasure.

And as it would turn out, the conditions would go through a sudden and rather loud a shift. Just like had been rumoured, there was a sudden loss of speed and people ended up flung forward. Paula took the opportunity to pull her mask out of the satchel and strap it to her cranium, earning very concerned looks from people around her. Just as some nobody opened their mouth to ask, she pulled out the ratting piece and all voices fell even further silent than they already were, spare for a few moaning in discomfort after hitting their head on something or otherwise injuring themselves in the jerky stop. The Huntress confidently strode across the hallway towards the door at the other end, earning few more looks her way, but still being left well alone. Ah, and look at that, luck was on her side. Her charge was by most visible accounts completely fine. Must have been the weight keeping them anchored to his seat. Could've been nasty if he'd flown though, that was for sure.

But that was more or less where that luck ran out. Getting all the way to the window was a bit of a challenge on its own, her definitely not being the only individual with said idea. People were pushing her left, right, back and front, and some even managing such a thing diagonally too. It was a near miracle she didn't get trampled, and it could well be her only saving grace was how she could raise her voice and wave the still not loaded gun around. When would she have had time to do such a thing after all? It wasn't something these people would need to know.

As she finally reached her destination and pushed the last man in her way to the left with her gloved hand, her glance out of the window on the door explained the sudden stoppage without any doubts. Something rather integral to the continuation of this journey was missing. Namely that would have been the engine. And the boiler. Both at the same time. There were a few sparse fragments left of the latter, still attached to the carriage she as peering from and standing on one pair of wheels, but those wouldn't amount to crap when it came to getting the journey finished. And if she knew something, this hadn't been a boiler explosion. Sure, there was wood and blood scattered in many directions. But any further wreckage was missing. And the boom had been much too silent.

But that was some distressing knowledge there. Paula inhaled sharply through her mask and turned around, her eyes scanning the room where quite a few had already begun gathering their wits about them, and using them for what people do best. Panicking. Shouts rang out into the closed carriage at a volume far from appropriate for inside areas. Paula was lucky she had her hood to buffer out the biggest bite of the noise. Who would have wanted to hear shouts such as "We are stuck in the middle of nowhere!", "The engine is gone the engine is gone the engine is gone!", "Every man for himself!" and other incessant prattling that would lead them nowhere other than running each other over in their haste to kill themselves off.

"Shut your pieholes and listen, why won't you?" she shouted out, her voice partially muffled by the mask, but she nonetheless collected the attention of a few individuals. Be it that the attention was mostly the kind of attention one would give to a highwayman, a scared kind of moment judging whether to fight or set flight. She rolled her eyes behind the mask lenses. "If I wanted to get all tough-like, I would have done so already. So sit your asses down. If whatever took the engine out wanted us too, what makes you think it wouldn't already have?" A grim outlook, but as long as she didn't know what the threat was it was the most realistic way of handling the situation. Though it naturally wouldn't sit well with all, or even most. The panicking resumed.

While Paula sighed behind her mask and shook her head again, this wasn't a new situation for her. She preferred to go into a fight knowing what she was facing, and right now she had very little clue as to what anything here could stand for. So all she could do was to try and keep this lot contained before they killed themselves off. She could always hope, since if they began brawling, then there was very little her armaments could do to defuse the situation without sending the fighters to meet the reaper.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

With the note of Brannor reaching but one of the kobolds, the maintained 10 foot gaps making anything else physically impossible, we move on to Parum's turn @Ryonara.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Norschtalen - I would like to confirm with you whether you are neglecting to move on purpose or accident.

Either way, it would be @The Harbinger of Ferocitys turn next!

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

@Zverda - Seems entirely doable by the shape of the room, bit it depends on whether there is an enemy within movement range by the time our befuddled druid may move again.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Combat has been initiated. I will respond to any questions you may have at the earliest opportunity, whenever that may be. Also, Orchid and Torus are tied for roll and modifier. Requesting any form of tiebreaker.

@Zverda@Ryonara@Lucius Cypher@Norschtalen@The Harbinger of Ferocity

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The leap of the heroes drew the attention of the previously distracted, the kobolds turning towards the source of the sound with snappy movement not unlike what had been seen before. Two of them ducked down immediately and let out nonverbal barks to serve as a warning, while the other two pulled out their slings and prepared them for attack. Each adventurer landed on their feet on the opposing side of the trapped width, with the exception of both that had chosen to brave the obstacle with unfortunate consequences. Alas, they would suffer of the poison, if only for the first few moments of this fight.

The winged one of the small lizards seemed less alert than the more eager troupe, though calling the four eager to fight would have been an overstatement. Ready as they were, now that they knew of the approaching threat, they seemed to be in no rush to meet their adversaries head on. And while the winged one was still turning, one wing covering the full view of the battle yet, the other four launched their volley. The two in the back row aimed their slings at Brannor and Orchid, this assault followed by the ducking ones bouncing up to grab their own pebbles and fire again, now at the hooded man and the smaller bard. The first two had better luck, whereas the latter must have not accounted for the upward momentum with their pebbles flying wide. The attack handled, the lot scattered now, ensuring ten foot gaps between one another, the one furthest forward lurking near another passageway deeper into these tunnels.

Mechanics&Rolls

The heroes have began their assault, though it turns out the kobolds were faster on the draw this time (hastened initiative rolls available on my dice campaign. After the beginning of the approach, the kobolds opened off with a sling volley with the first attack on Brannor coming up as a 19 (4 bludgeoning damage), the one on Orchid as a 21 (4 bludgeoning damage, feel free to assume rage activation for resistance on leap if you desire) and the latter two on Brannor and Parum missing with an 11 and 11 respectively. Please apply the damage to your characters, accounting for any resistances @The Harbinger of Ferocity and @Lucius Cypher.

As for who is to go next, the advantaged initiative roll would put that on Kyra Shepard @Norschtalen. The dice have spoken and determined you must make a melee attack against Brannor. He is considered to have acted in this combat, so you will not gain advantage on your friendly fire. Apart from having to make said attack, you are free to spend your turn as you see fit.

I am afraid providing an actual battlemap will be impossible in these conditions. The upper level you are on varies between ten and fifteen feet in width, and the distance to the winged kobold at the far end is approximately 75 feet. The other kobolds have split rather evenly along said length, making the closest to you be at 35 feet away, just within melee reach with 30 feet of movement.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Assuming the enemy is unaware and that the group intends to more or less pounce with the element of surprise, is it reasonable to assume those jumping the gap - as they are coordinating it to do so - receive that as their surprise round and combat proceeds with them on the other side from there, @Hekazu?

@The Harbinger of Ferocity

That would be the idea. And it looks like all the party members are more or less in range of Kyra, though three of them are likely to be able to take the hit if it lands. Depends on where her initiative roll lands, which we will see in the next few minutes.