Sigil

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Miraculously, the fire had chosen not to spread any further in the interim moments. It still crackled and roared with hot, white noise as only a blaze of its size might, scented with the acrid aromatics of concentrated evergreen sap. It might even be considered pleasant, were it not in such overwhelming amounts.

The area within the trees holds its mysteries, and any visitors, shrouded in its shadows after more than a handful of feet within. There was at minimum one occupant, evidenced by a spent crossbow bolt from somewhere within the relative dark of the area, though it remained to be seen whether said occupant was still around; there was evidence of either circumstance being accurate.

The Constable, still in his hybrid rat form, was hissing and cursing at himself for an overall uninspired series of attacks against Kathryn. There was a more personal stake against this woman that went beyond the simple need of hurting his enemies in his field of vision. She had his hammer, and she was going to suffer for it. Rage induced adrenaline kept him upright and attacking, despite his building injuries. Even in his frustrated state, Cavendish was an experienced, professional soldier, once upon a time. He knew how to scrap with heavily armored opponents and place the point of his weapon where it would cause maximum damage. His smile, once arrogant and demeaning to those who viewed it, now carried with it a sense of determined weariness.

Daisy wielded her own shortsword, though without the same level of proficiency as the creature which held had held them all at its mercy. And it was borrowed, so to say that it was "her own" is a hair misleading. Regardless, she had one and no matter what else was going on, she was going to keep trying to free her friends. Daisy was tired, showing something near to exhaustion. This was no reason for her to stop trying to open the hastily constructed cage, and try she did. There was a mote of confusion just before when the Tiefling lady appeared from around the side of the enclosure and ran directly into the same space as she was occupying, only to ignore her, whack the cage once, and run back around another corner. But adventurers were a strange lot, if this group was any indicator. All she could do was keep swinging. Luck was finally with her as the Halfling cook hit her blade right in the last groove cut at just the right angle to finally split the wooden bar asunder. It was attached by nails to the top and bottom of the cage but was easily pushed to the side.

Lea, the tavern girl at Neil & Bob's, was the first to move the broken bar and set an unsteady foot outside of the cage. With her first taste of free air, she reached out to support the next person even as Daisy put steadying hands upon her.

The leftmost cage stood empty. The nearby fire had made it potentially more hazardous, but their luck held well enough that it did not spread that far. The former prisoners had exited the immediate area with the exception of the fisherman, who was bringing up the rear - fishing pole at the ready. He paused just long enough to see that no one who had line of sight with him was looking in his direction, silently wished them luck, and departed. It was quite possible that his internal well-wishing involved something about an early time of day, an appropriate outdoorsy activity due to favorable conditions, and a well-meaning chuckle.

New Round

@Arty Fox Baronfjørd - Do what you've gotta do. Bear in mind that a swarm of rats occupies the same area as yourself

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Cavendish

Location: A12

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That damned, psychic damage casting halfbreed bitch. If Cavendish had a regret that very instant, it was that the second of his Eldritch Blasts didn't connect and turn her into a fleshy pile on the cobblestones of his township. Oh, she would get hers as soon a the rest of them were stabbed within an inch or two of becoming soup. And now the mystery was solved as to what hurt his brain and made him wander out of the silversmith's place. Of course. She would get hers.

Almost as annoying as the Half-Elf was the disfigured Dragonborn. Pitiful as his attempt might have been to hurt him (and it was, to his opinion), the dull demihuman was trying new things to hurt him. And true to form, as the shard of wood was simply not up to the task of giving him more than annoyance, the bit of burning pitch on the end seared into his fur and skin handily enough. He hissed, but did not let it go any further. Like hell he would give that creature the satisfaction.

Further, the painfully inexpert attacks launched by that Cleric gave Cavendish a mote of nuanced amusement. Oh, that threat was present and the magical, floating dagger could potentially end him - but putting that into practice appeared more in the realm of the academic than the applied. So he picked and poured over the most appropriate target for his attentions as only a veteran soldier might, which right now wasn't Marita.

But Kathryn. She ticked off all the boxes on the checklist of people he wanted to outright murder, the tall strumpet in crappy armor who carried off his hammer - his hammer - during what amounted to a due application of maintaining public order. And perhaps the greatest crime of all in this horrible set of circumstances is that she couldn't even use it with anything resembling experience. This was fantastic. Cavendish could vent a serious amount of frustration gutting this armored ash tree, while simultaneously getting his favorite hammer back. This was going to be a satisfying event after all. "I'm going to pry you open," he promised, turning his particularly vicious-looking shortsword toward Kathryn like a deranged surgeon.

A spry move forward found the Constable's sword channeling Kathryn's shield out of place. It was not a full and broad opening, but enough to exploit a spot where the interlocked chain links did not cover; slipping underneath a layer of metal and padding - coming out bloody. It was not his best work, to be sure, but it was an excellent start. His follow-up attack did not fare quite as well, probing again for the soft flesh of Kathryn's torso but not getting any more then a scratch.

The Constable, in his desire to end this woman's life as succinctly as possible in a horror of broad, ragged-edged puncture wounds, suddenly felt an uncanny Surge of Action. Bright, bloodthirsty eyes gleamed as he leapt, bringing his weapon down in a forceful stabbing motion with all of the power of his weight behind it. A great, hissing, "GRRRRAAAAAAAAH!" came forth from the Wererat Constable as his blade struck true on Kathryn's skull - or it would have, except that he landed an off-angled blow upon her helmet, twisting the blade off to the side, harmlessly. His feet connected with the ground, amid the swarming rats, and the proud fighter known to mere mortals as Cavendish faltered his last attempt at an attack with an ungraceful stumble, clanging impotently against the less experienced warrior's shield. The frustrated look upon his face was priceless.

Obviously, this was NOT his finest moment.

Well, he was getting one final thing out of the way. One swarm of the rats under his thrall, upon his mental command, moved to swarm over Baronfjord to give him something to deal with, that he may continue his assault against Kathryn unabated. Another negative expression, this one of annoyance, crossed his rodenty features as the swarm couldn't quite latch their dozens of collective paws upon the Monk. They too did not have the best of luck in their endeavors.

Cavendish could at least content himself in the fact that he did spill blood. Just not as much as he might have liked.





- Kathryn has taken 6 points of Piercing damage.

- Areas to the north that are aflame or containing rats are still considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties. The flames have additional, quite painful penalties for being walked through.

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Guard 2

Location: ?

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The yell sounded across the battlefield, but not from the obscured Guard. From his master, Cavendish: "NOW!" followed by a noteworthy amount of silence from the trees. "ALL THREE OF YOU, FIRE AT WILL!" Yes, his little endgame trap was being sprung. But strangely, it ...really hadn't happened just yet.

Maybe they were going for coffee? Oh! They were just lining up perfect shots, that was all. Right?



@rivaan Kosara is up. Per usual, tag me for the Top Of Round, please.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Victoria Belmont Half-Elf, Bard, Level 3 HP: 10 / 23 Armor Class: 15 Conditions: N/A Location: F12 -> E13 Action: Casting Spell (Dissonant Whispers) Bonus Action: Bardic Inspiration (Marita) Reaction: N/A

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OUCH. This amount of concentrated pain was new to Victoria. She had suffered greater collective hurts prior to this day, but the single blast of black, eldritch energy took a lot out of her. The fact that she was still more-or-less on her feet was amazing to her. She had to have broken a couple of ribs, thanks to the sudden difficulty in inflating her lungs without a sharp report answering her attempt. The damage otherwise felt intense, but at present not life-threatening. Granted, her actions practically begged for a martial response even if she thought it necessary. Too many people were ignoring the crazed wererat Warlock with the best long game out of anyone on the field. This concept fully in mind, Victoria was relieved that she was able to evade the second blast, positive that it would have resulted in her both expressing her mortality in a practical manner, and settling her internal query as to which deity of death or the dead would open their ethereal doors to her.

Maybe it would happen this night. Victoria was prepared for it, even if it would mean that she could not complete her ongoing and long-term personal goals. The idea that this might go unfinished prior to her sudden lack of vitality filled her with questions about the nature of herself and what might happen to her, but even this was academic. If it happened, it happened. There was strong preference to continue pulling air into her body (even if it hurt just now) and sample fine wines, make music, experience life in manners both studious and hedonistic, etc., but a higher priority called in that moment. The others seemed more galvanized in their need to stop the Constable, and she was about to spend the last of her abilities to assist in that very task.

First, the purple-clad Bard looked to Marita, the one who was trying from the start. Curious that she would voluntarily lean her support toward a Law Cleric, but here they were. Perhaps part of it made sense; one of her preferred sources of knowledge was the Jasidan's White Book and other such sources, all of them rather profound in their adherence to Order, if of their own making. But even this thought was immaterial in this crucial time. Drawing upon the last of her reserves, her "force of personalty", one might say, Victoria addressed the Cleric in a voice brimming with infectious confidence. "Almost got him, Marita. Just one more. One more good one and we have him dead to rights!" Her voice faltered a little toward the middle, an effect of her damaged physicality, but the resolve with which she continued shone through.

Far be it for Victoria to limit herself to merely hyping up her teammates, she moved to her right to get a better vantage on their visible opponent, as Kathryn and Baronfjord moved to take forward positions. Once a good line of sight had been established and she confirmed that she was not too far away for her dwindling spellwork to be effective, Victoria began to whisper and chant quietly, seemingly to herself though her eyes never left Cavendish. Whispered words floated across the battlefield, quiet but striking only to their intended recipient, which echoed within his mind as scattered phrases of the dead and dying; those he knew and many he did not, whispering promises of the hereafter and what horrors her would face upon his fast approaching demise. It reverberated, noises clashing upon themselves and turning into a cacophony within his psyche, driving him further and further to senselessness.

Unfortunately, he had been subjected to this very attack earlier, and was able to put up a rudimentary defense this time. The spell did not have its fullest effect, but did gently take him to a headache which felt to truly be splitting, as psychic damage caused noticeable trails of crimson to seep from his nose, mouth, and ears. Were he not in a furred, myanthropic form, one would note a blanching, pale complexion. Cavendish did look distracted as his eyes glazed and fixed in one direction, head weaving uncertainly back and forth for a moment.

Victoria could feel her abilities coming to exhaustion, sooner rather than later. At least she could retain some usefulness as a proficient wielder of a fine, silvered sword. Though she still had one trick left.



Marita has another Bardic Inspiration (1d6).

@Remipa Awesome Kathryn is up. Go be a hitter.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Guard 1

Location: ??

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Yeah, still nowhere to be seen overtly, covertly, or otherwise. Maybe it's good news. Maybe it isn't. Maybe he's stuck in a huge cage with a great, horned, alien beast bent on doing unspeakable things to him while a child nonchalantly offers him a lollipop. Who can say? Only time will tell, and whatnot. Unless it doesn't. Time doesn't owe any of us shit, let alone a polite conversation.

@Dragoknighte Marita's turn.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Several events occurred in the intervening seconds between brutal attacks across the battlefield. The fire which lit the tree aflame had completely engulfed the leafy mass now, turning it into a furious but temporary inferno which quite effectively illuminated the open areas of the square. Luckily, the fire had not yet spread to the other trees in its vicinity. This is likely only a matter of time.

Traveling more than a couple feet into the vegetation does wonders to interfere with this uncommon clarity of nighttime vision in this once cheerful town center, as was attested to by the sudden pincushioning of the party's Tiefling Warlock from an unseen assailant. Still, the field of combat was nice and toasty.

Cavendish remained in his anthropomorphic rodent form. His every arrogant syllable issued forth with more guttural hissing than in his otherwise preferred Human shape, but still unmistakably him, provincial accent and all. He was bereft of the undead rats which had plagued him just earlier and was sneering from his relative success blasting the stuffing out of the Bard. Maybe this would cease the bits and snatches of music that, in his mind, were patently ridiculous in a situation like this. His attention was divided between his ranged adversaries and the one which closed to meet him. Cavendish's face twitched into a smile. He brandished a vicious looking shortsword in one hand and let the other trail behind him. This was an opponent that he wanted to humiliate.

The cage to the right was peppered with damage in a couple of different spots. The majority of the damage was on the southernmost side, alongside the shortsword-wielding Halfling cook, Daisy. Tired beyond her previous imaginings, she barely found the strength to lift her borrowed weapon once more and continue hacking at that one spot on the cage. This time, she nearly got through. Daisy's eyes rose at just the right time to see Kosara rush right upon her, prompting the much smaller woman to scramble back to keep from getting trampled. "What?" she chirped, clearly surprised. "I almost have this! Please, just keep those monsters away from us!" she pleaded, looking around to see if anyone was still fighting on their behalf.

The lefthand cage was now open enough to get the Human population therein safely thereout, and they took advantage of this. Beppo, obviously in much worse shape than the others, had to be supported by the burlesque performer and, off and on, by Cecily. The vintner herself kept looking back to those who had already done her great service, wishing she could do more for them. Ultimately, she did move along with the rest of them, taking the route suggested by Baronfjord. The fisherman, ever a man of few words, took up the rear. He gave a quick twirl of his stout fishing rod and flexed his arms, as a localized breeze caught and ruffled the brim of his wide fishing hat in a manner most heroic. He glanced to the other prisoners escaping and then to the Dragonborn Monk, and spoke in dutiful tones, "Nice day for fishin'." He nodded, and moved to cover the escape of his small group of townsfolk.

New Round

@Arty Fox Baronfjørd - Time to... stuff. Epically.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Cavendish

Location: A10 -> A12

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As much as Cavendish was anxious to get back to the slaughter, there was more than a little regret as the magic from the pretty Half-Elf ripped into him, and everything around him. Bodies of more of his diminutive rat companions were cleft fully through, including the undead ones which were assailing his person, but deep furrows also cut his flesh in ways that connected and spiderwebbed like broken glass. It was then that he remembered the flash of purple that clouded his brain from the last time they tussled, filling him with whispers that he swore he recognized from previous victims. The spectral dagger that bobbed and weaved around him was not forgotten either; a potentially painful gift from the now obvious Cleric on the other side of the fire. It was only a matter of time before it scored a hit on his flesh, and this knife's cut would stay open and bleeding when it did.

To his estimation, they couldn't have had a lot of fight left in them, and if they stayed away because of the rats and the fire, he could pick them off with some expertly aimed Eldritch Blasts. There were two potential targets that might have been able to overpower him - okay, at least match him if they worked together - and one of them didn't seem to want a thing to do with him. Yes, the Constable could pull a win out of this. Even with the Bard's painful and unpredictable spell set, she HAD to be reaching her limit. Not a lot of magical staying power, those musicians.

But damn if they hadn't taken a lot out of him. He still had some tricks, and he did remember the near one-shot kill he delivered to the Tiefling. He could do that again readily enough. Yeah, Cavendish had this fight. And if they wanted to ignore him again, well... the prisoners wouldn't fare as well against black, crackling, eldritch magic.

Oh, and the glee that took his features when the tall one knocked the live rats off of herself and finally came forward was remarkable. Judging by her uneven gait around the fire and through the rats, she wasn't going to quite make it to him before he gave a parting gift to the ones farther back. This did not stop him from gripping his shortsword with expert dexterity and adopting a lower stance in anticipation of the melee to come.

But first! The parting gift.

He barely glanced his eyes away from Kathryn's approach. It was just long enough to select an appropriate target - one who had not felt the sting of his wrath yet, and obliterate her. It was only fair, singing those mortally painful tunes. He strafed to his left about ten or so feet to line up with the suddenly emboldened Bard and released a torrent of magical energy toward her. "Dance away from these," he hissed, the twin ebon snakes of eldritch power sizzling their way toward Victoria. Her trained agility did allow her to barely sidestep one of the blasts, but she caught the full force of the other squarely in the center of her torso, impacting with the force of a powerfully swung maul.

The sight of his most recent attacker in explosive pain seemed to energize the wire-furred form of the Rat Constable. With a sneer of contempt, he fixed his gaze between Marita and Kathryn, exclaiming, "I believe I've found my Second Wind. Come at me!"



- Victoria has taken 13 points of Force damage.

- Areas to the north that are aflame or containing rats are still considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties. The flames have additional, quite painful penalties for being walked through.

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Guard 2

Location: ?

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From a dark place (and it's always a dark place, isn't it?) a muffled twang of a crossbow probably wasn't heard over the ambient sounds of battle going on. The bolt was readily enough felt by its intended target, however, sinking mercilessly into Tiefling flesh, seemingly out of nowhere. It was Sneaky. And it was an Attack. Luckily, it wasn't as vital a strike as it could have been. Whereupon its firer stood, none could say definitively. Wererats were rather adept at hiding, be it among trees, the detritus of urban decay, or in the shadows.


- Kosara has taken 8 points of Piercing damage.

@rivaan Kosara is up. Per usual, give me a tag so I can "Top O' Round" us, please.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Victoria Belmont Half-Elf, Bard, Level 3 HP: 23 / 23 Armor Class: 15 Conditions: N/A Location: F13 -> F12 Action: Casting Spell (Shatter) Bonus Action: Bardic Inspiration (Marita) Reaction: N/A

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Victoria took some stock of her surroundings, as best she could from her spot crouching behind a barrel. The cover was extremely useful and gave her an okay vantage point for her odds and ends of Necromancy, but it held another interesting quality - it allowed her almost unrestricted views of her teammates at first. Form there, the Bard could hear their efforts to hack apart the wooden enclosures which held the captured townsfolk. This was punctuated every so often by the discharge of crackling black energy with which Cavendish peppered those he could see. Worse than this, he seemed to have approximated her trick of commanding a swarm of rats from the greater massing of the furry beasties to roll over Kathryn, nipping at her as she still tried to free the prisoners. To his credit, Cavendish's rats were still living. That wasn't a trick that she could accomplish.

But despite this relentless attack, the only one continuing to combat the Constable was Marita. Even Victoria herself was merely attempting to distract and provide him nagging difficulty. Then it dawned on the Bard - Only one person was fighting back. One. There was no point in playing a support role with her limited (and fast dwindling) arcane resources if there was no one to support, except for the other party member who was suited to a supporting role, herself.

Thinking back, Victoria's mind flashed to the smug and condescending Shadow Monk who berated her for getting into the thick of things in the Goblin fight a couple of days prior. There was a reason that she did what she did, and that reason was showing itself again. She gave a quick and quiet supplication to the gods with which she was most familiar; Wee Jas, Jergal, Libitina, the Elven god Naralis Alanor, and even stern, judgemental Kelemvor (though they had some fundamental differences in philosophy). The Lady of Ravens was given a nod in her thoughts as well. "I've often wondered which of you would claim me," she whispered. "Whomever does, please take me quickly and let me die well."

Victoria took up her sword and rose, stepping to her left to fully interpose the two upright barrels between herself and Cavendish. The presence of her preferred magic had already began to show on her face; the grey-black color of ancient bone pooling around her crystal blue eyes and spilling downward, as if darkened tears of one in profound mourning. She had accomplished this with cosmetics the night before. It came naturally now as her soul reached into the Weave to pluck and rearrange the flow of magic to assist her needs, and she dipped into the teachings of the Grey Requiem. What power Victoria had left, she intended to hurl at the wicked Constable.

Perhaps it was her sense of Neutral detachment that brought her to this decision. She didn't have any hard feelings for the prisoners, and in fact had bonded with little Lizbeth enough that she would do whatever she might to bring her aunt back to her. But the prisoners were absolutely not her priority right then. They could be saved at leisure (for the most part) after the factor which threatened them was eliminated. If the others were unwilling to to this, then the Bard would stand with Marita and pour her outrage upon Cavendish until nothing remained.

The first action the took was to address the Cleric. her voice cut across the battlefield with presence and clarity, demonstrating the force of her personality. "This thing is not a Constable any longer, Marita. It isn't even a Human anymore. Cavendish surrendered his humanity for power and contradicted every promise he made to this town to aid and defend its people. He betrayed the Law he swore to uphold and you are in exactly the right place, at the right time, to make him answer for this betrayal. Drop the hammer on this monster. We can beat him. I will help you."

Her second action was to sing. Vocalizations of scales at first, quickly becoming a more complex tune as it penetrated the ears of everyone around her. It seemed to echo for a moment, coming from the air around Cavendish, yet the echo sustained and grew louder as Victoria's voice became quiet. All at once, a splintering, cracking sound punctured the air, like a great glass bowl shattering upon a stone floor. Splits in Cavendish's skin opened in jagged formations and several (but not all) of the undead swarm of rats fell from him; a tradeoff made for the sake of hurting him.

Victoria was now exposed, and as such was a viable target who had just damaged this vindictive, magic-weilding Wererat. But even in this potentially foolish move, there was a glimmer of hope. For the first time in this fight, Cavendish stooped and took heaving breaths. He was hurt, and was finally showing clear signs of it.



Marita now has Bardic Inspiration (1d6).

@Remipa Awesome Kathryn is free to do stuff.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Guard 1

Location: ??

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I'm just a gigolo, everywhere I go
People know the part I'm playing
Paid for every dance, selling each romance
Oh, what they're saying?

And there will come a day, and youth will pass away
What will they say about me?
When the end comes, I know those were just a gigolo's
Life goes on without me

'Cause IIIIIIIIIIII ain't got nobody...

@Dragoknighte Marita's turn.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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The bubbles, cracks, and hisses of the pitch fires could be heard around the sharper sounds of weapon strikes and the sizzling volleys of magic. Other sounds seemed lessened by the importance of what was transpiring in this place which was so full of life just a couple of days prior, even if it carried an undercurrent of uncertainty.

The trees on either side of the fires stood in their own dark silence, with the exception of the one toward the left which was completely ablaze at this time. Going just a few feet into the vegetation made travel more difficult in comparison to the bright, open lighting of the town center proper, plus it gave the double-edged sword of effectively causing dim lighting conditions for anyone who stepped more than five feet into them. Luckily for all, the raging fires kept the area relatively warm still.

Cavendish was still swarmed with undead rats, as much as Kathryn was swarmed with live ones. This little detail didn't stop him from gritting his rodent-y teeth and trying to push through the grim distraction, intent to rationing out pain to those he deemed worthy of it. Maybe he'd try to drill eldritch holes in the ones who were fool enough to stay in his line of sight. Or maybe go after the most immediate threat. There was still a spiritual weapon nearby that made a move at him just a few seconds ago. Drop the Cleric, drop the spell. Oh, what lovely screams he would make them give in exchange.

The rightmost cage still only had one board missing, but not for the lack of trying on behalf of Daisy's efforts. The Halfling redoubled her efforts as best she could, emboldened by Kathryn moving to assist her to get her friends and neighbors out. Though it was difficult to see from the larger woman's angle, Daisy's face fell as she realized that Kat decided to go an undamaged portion of the cage, near clearly on the opposite side. Her borrowed sword clanged softly on the stones below as her already tired arm dropped when Kosara moved to the same place as her friend. Maybe they would do a better job. She hoped they would. But as they didn't seem to be doing any better than her, Daisy raised the sword once again and began hacking, be it weakly, on the wooden bar next to the space where they had already gotten one to pop off.

The lefthand cage met with a breakthrough, quite literally in this case. While Cecily maintained holding the elder, barely conscious Beppo upright, she could not help but continually glance back to the ongoing fray, particularly the actions and (to her) new changes to the erstwhile Constable. The others huddled in the cage as physically far away from the fire, and Cavendish, but also away from the continuing work upon the wooden bars. One couldn't call the corner they had left cozy, but densely occupied might have been appropriate. In any case, the breakthrough occurred when, upon seeing the progress that Baronfjord made with the wooden bar nearest him, switched his target and, with an affirming, "Mornin'!" as he drove his fishing rod into what remained of the Dragonborn's chosen bar, knocking it away from its moorings. It clattered to the ground below.

Wasting no time, Cecily did her best to get her human charge out of the more reasonably open aperture. Fully grown, Human-sized persons could now fit out, as Beppo demonstrated by making an unsteady egress right next to the Honey Barn performer, who was helping to keep him upright.

New Round

@Arty Fox Baronfjørd - You are good to go.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Cavendish

Location: A10

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Cavendish inwardly mused that this had to be the most obnoxious fight that he had ever been in, bar none. He was a former soldier, a Constable, and servant to eldritch powers. Yet for all of his history, this fight won the prize.

There was fire all around him. Fire and rats, screams, blood, and whatever was left of the hulking monstrosities that had just lost their ability to move about and smash things for him. And the screams - lest he forget about the whimpers and cries for help from the prisoners. This was all set up for a lovely end to an otherwise successful venture, even with these interlopers (and the Constable was pretty sure that he had done an excellent job throwing this little Going Away party). These things were expected. So they were obviously not what made this the most obnoxious fight that he had ever been in.

It was mostly that, after the magic and the fire, attacks upon his person and neutralization of allies on the battlefield, these people seemed to be intentionally ignoring him in favor of the rabble in the cages. This was curious. He demanded more respect as an adversary than this. "No, no, no. That's not how this works. No one gets their prize until after the game is over. Perhaps you forgot - I'm still playing."

Cavendish's face screwed into a wicked smile as he gathered magics into his free hand; crackling black energy which mirrored in his rattish eyes; the same pulsing, necrotic energy demonstrated when he let loose twin bolts of damaging energy just earlier. This time, his attention was diverted at the last moment with the feeling of weight pulling down at his trousers, and even odder, nips from tiny teeth. Annoying, but clearly not damaging. Still, prudence dictated that he spare a glance down. "What out of the Abyss is?" he started, realizing that undead rats were crawling up his clothing, gnawing irregularly at the flesh underneath. He could not tell from where this new development originated, even if the music might have been a clue, and wished to address that as soon as possible. But the spell was already in the middle of being cast, and so he had to complete it against his selected targets or risk it fizzling, at the best of possibilities. His vicious looking shortsword slapped at the miniature undead minions as they neared his tenderer bits, while he reached out to strike from afar with magic.

Twin blasts of black, crackling energy flew from his hand, aimed for the ones who still seemed to be interested in his presence, the Cleric and the Warlock. Perhaps their screams of agony would jolt the others out of their stupor. Unfortunately, the dead rats had done their job well enough that the one aimed at Kosara flew over everyone's head at a forty-five degree angle to the cobblestone ground beneath his feet, and the other only grazed Marita, imparting a light shove that her armor absorbed without much difficulty.

Cavendish attempted to reassert control over the rats rapidly approaching his nethers, but apparently his influence ceased when their life functions did. Instead, in his frustration and desire to hurt something, anything, he compromised his own plan slightly. The swarm of rats nearest to Kathryn broke away from the larger group and massed toward the tall Knight, occupying the same space as herself and massing up her armored figure as the dead ones had done to him, chewing and gnawing wherever the armor did not cover. "Eat well, my pets!" hissed Cavendish, satisfied that blood was spilled from one source, at least.

- Kathryn has taken 6 points of Piercing damage.

- Areas to the north that are aflame or containing rats are still considered Difficult Terrain, with appropriate movement penalties. The flames have additional, quite painful penalties for being walked through.

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Guard 2

Location: ?

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@rivaan Kosara is up next. Give me a tag when you're done.