Goodman Games

Moarbanez surges forward with a howl, banner flapping in one hand sword in the other. Palm to furred face, Dara falls in behind him as he runs heedlessly past her. The remaining pack move up three abreast, attempting to maintain a defense backline formation.

I'm rather bad at first impressions, lol

Toby will shush everyone in the room as best he's able. Kelven, for one, is slow on the uptake and continues murmuring complaints about the armor that is now protecting him...

"Sounds of several someones coming this way...!"

Lucius tries to think what sort of tool might use a rock shaped like this. [If relevant, an Int roll for him comes up a, ahem, 7.]

Havarth, practicing the weight and balance of his new glaive, moves over to where Toby is by the doorway.

Upon examining Lucius' stone, Nurzual says: Either this is the work of rather a poor lapidarist, or perhaps this stone functions as some form of key or token. Further conjecture may need to wait, though, it seems.

Putting away the shard, he then takes what I calculate to be the only remaining weapon, a 2-handed sword.

Jingles will ready her wooden longsword for what sounds like the possibility of impending combat.

Brandybland moves closer to the door with her glaive, emboldened by her new armor and weaponry.

Qort lowers himself into the drain once more, then waits a moment to see if his eyes adjust to the dark and let him see anything. If yes, and the strekleon is out of the way, he'll let go and drop into the water. If yes, and the strekleon is still right below him, he'll wait for it to swim away. If no, and everything is black, he'll cross his fingers and let go anyway.

May Fortune favor the foolish...

Duke looks at jingles' fake sword, Here, I can't use this and hold a torch anyway she hands Jingles her battle axe and then swipes Blackthorn's flint spear.

Blacthorn glares at her, and signals for her to be quiet with a finger to his lips, and readies his sword.

Darag claws the air in attempt to catch Moarbanez as he flies by, howling with battle-crazed excitement. Arvis barks a short, commanding set of syllables at the charging kith...
Arvis: "Hættu! Bíðið!!"
...which Moarbanez ignores howling all the louder. Beega and Kolo clutch their stone weapons tightly and press their formation closer to the larger Arvis.
Moarbanez howls: "Arooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"



(I will try to limit the speech between my kith to actions and emoticons until/unless a common language is found)

Sorry for not updating last night; there'll be one tonight!

Actually, you know what... aside from enforcing rounds, (and it is the next one), I'm going to let this Kith / (Demi)Human interaction play out. Unless a skill check is called for, or description needed, go for it.

The hallway between the sand-trap room and the armory is about 30 feet long, and in the middle is an unlit side-passage leading to the human's right (or kith's left). Please continue

Down that very same hall, at the opposite end, is the opening to the drain. Qort has just splashed into the water and the Strekleon is hauling itself up onto the platform near the hallway entrance. It's very dark, but your eyes are adjusting to the threadbare light coming down from above. You have a sinking feeling in your gut and your survival sense tells you something's not right.

When the party comes into sight of the Kith Warbanner, I'd like to explain what exactly they're made of, so the effect is complete.

What will the parties do?

Havarth puts his hand on Brandybland's shoulder and whispers to the crowd by the door, "whatever that is running this way, when we hear it getting within 10 feet of this door, we jump out and all of us stab at it. That way, however big it is, maybe we'll kill it!"

Havarth and Toby get ready to do just that.

Brandybland: Will we all fit through the doorway at once?

Nurzual: That seems a tricky gem to set. Why don't we lie in wait just within the doorway and wait for it to poke its head in?

Jingles: I'm not jumping anywhere with this huge fricking sword ... I can barely lift it!

Brandybland remains at her place in the ranks near the door. Nurzual and Jingles hang back from the front line by 10 feet or so.

Qort belatedly realizes that if they regularly dump the losers of gladiatorial games through this hole to be rid of the bodies ... there should probably be a giant heap of bones under the opening. But there aren't. Why not?

Qort (quietly, to himself): Maybe the water is just really deep?

He swims after the Strekleon, hoping to reach the ledge Jingles spoke of.

Moarbanez bursts into the room with warbanner held high, his blade at the ready! His already dark fur is darker for the blood that mattes it now and battle-lust widens both his eyes and crazed grin...
Moarbanez: "Dauð eða dýrð!"

Darag remains a pace back, uncertain of what may be lurking back, yet unwilling to abandon her reckless clanmate completely.
Darag: "Heimskingjan mun fá okkur drepinn ennþá..."

The rest of the band hastens their step to reinforce the charging kith with grim determination.
Arvis: "Ekki mun allt falla á þessum degi."

Blackthorn readies his weapon and braces for another round of fighting, Duke stands behind him holding the torch in her off hand, spear at the ready, be strong, Blackshield.

Kith War Banners

Since you're about to make first contact with each other, it might be relevant to know that Kith are very proud of their banners. While there is no formal heraldry, the pole is often decorated with trophies of the group's hunting (especially rival Kith that they've slain); the flag itself it usually made out of the skin of slain rivals. Decorative patterns tend to describe the group's feats and their viciousness. A Kith War Banner conveys the status of the group carrying it--for an experienced warband, it would be an utterly terrifying sight.

Describe your banner!

Update 14

I want to continue to let the interaction play out here, but since the humans were preparing for an ambush, let me know if you have any triggered actions you want to have play out now!

As Qort pulls himself up on to the ledge with his Strekleon companion, he feels a vicious claw swipe by his foot, cutting his ankle. Something tried to grab you, and very nearly succeeded. You realize you're not alone. Ahead of you lies the darkness of the substructure; you would have to feel your way through the dark. Behind you lies the pool of water and certain death. You're unsure if the creature is bound by the water, but ahead of you doesn't sound any better. You hear the echoing hoots and hollers of the Kith warband as they prepare to meet your friends for the first time.

What will you do?

Havarth leaps out and stabs the humanoid thing, as was his plan.

Attack Roll: 6!

Toby is hemmed in by the fact that no one else moved forward....

Surprise Round
Since it seems like some stabbing might take effect, I'll offer the human side a surprise round.

Everyone please roll initiative, and we'll let the humans have their round.

I will, of course, roll for mysterious thing that tried to grab Qort.

Creature rolls: 19+2 = 21 (not acting during the surprise round).

Qort won't act during the surprise round as he was not a part of the ambush.

I roll 15 + 1 for Qort's enhanced agility = 16. If you want a separate roll for the group in the meatgrinder, I mean, mannequin room, that roll is 14.

As Moarbanez comes into view, so too does his grisly standard. A gnarled staff-like thing topped with the skull of some unnameable four-horned beast slain at the warband's initiation serves as its mast; from each branch of the beast's sprawling rack dangle bone charms and metal bangles with unknowable religious significance. A curling spinal column composed of the vertebrae of dozens of creatures curls about the staff in a spiral that nearly matches its length. The horror that is the banner itself is stitched together from the faces of fallen foes and painted with bright red arcane sigils, the trailing edge adorned by trophies of dried tongues giving the effect of gruesome tassels.

The kith warband Init=4

DEATH OR GLORY!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...but likely death, lol.

I may have to replace the final battle I had planned with "Fenris goes Hog Wild." ...

TerraGoetia wrote:I may have to replace the final battle I had planned with "Fenris goes Hog Wild." ...

I've been guilty of such before, but I'm just playing kith (with what little I know about them) to the HILT! All my kith were in the arena for different reasons and may have different motivations, but who can say? (I'll PM you )

My troupe got a 6 for Initiative...

Clearly Havarth is thrown off by seeing something he simply couldn't have predicted in that standard, thus explaining his lousy attack roll despite having plenty of advantages.

Waiting on Blackthorn and surprises can give their actions.

I GOT A 16 for initiative.

Blackthorn waits for an enemy to present itself, raises his sword above his head ready to strike and yells SURRENDER!

Duke waits for an enemy to present itself, raises her weapon above her head and yells, I SURRENDER!

Brandybland, seeing another of the horrifying creatures from the fight in the room above, can only assume the worst, and slashes at it with her glaive.

Natural 1.

Fumble roll is a 4, and she swings the glaive's head into the stone floor, snapping it from the haft.

Nurzual attempts a glaive attack as well, and gets a hit with an 18. Damage roll is 8, dropping the foe instantly. Startled by his own success, he cries: These ones are much easier to kill than the ones up above! Perhaps we can scare them off with their own frightful banner!

Jingles catches his meaning immediately, drops her unwieldy 2-handed sword, and grabs up the fallen warbanner, stepping back to wave it boldly from the second line.

Jingles:Yaaah!!!

(Blackthorn, Duke is hilarious!)