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Age of Ice and Blood: A Pathfinder System Heroic Fantasy Quest

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[X] Goldfish

Damn. No answer for Sense Motive. Wouldn't have mattered regardless, but hopefully the ones who escaped won't ruin us in the future.
We brought mages for magical support, so let's do so. Don't trust the seagulls regardless mid-battle- gulls aren't very clever birds.
 
Vote closed. Sorry this took so long guys... by now you know the why of it. All I can say is that I will do my best to make this a two update day as long as I get the votes after this one
Adhoc vote count started by DragonParadox on Mar 17, 2022 at 12:22 PM, finished with 8 posts and 7 votes.
  • [X] [Zaia] Use Fire Bombs on the enemy ships
    -[X] When his Fire Bombs are expended, Zaia will largely try to avoid combat, falling back on his other Alchemical creations if necessary, but will instead focus on helping with healing.
    -[X] He will use his Bomber's Eye extract before combat, along with a Shield extract if he still has one available.
    [X] [Inge] Offensive magic, primary Webs, then providing healing and good fortune using her Hexes.
    -[X] Once her Web spells are exhausted, Inge will try to conserve her remaining 1st level spell slots for CLW spells in case they are needed for injured allies who cannot benefit from her Healing Hex again or who have injuries too great for the Hex alone.
    -[X] Before combat, she will cast Mage Armor on herself and Zaia.
    [X] [Esha] Make use of enchantments and curses, saving her Blindness spells for especially troublesome foes, especially Daemons or other supernatural enemies.
    -[X] She will also use her staff judiciously, casting Magic Missiles where her curses fail or after they are expended.
    -[X] Before combat, she will cast Mage Armor on herself and use her staff to cast Shield.
    [X] Antonio will task a group of non-combatant sailors to assist the wounded in need of immediate healing with reaching Inge and Zaia once they transition to providing healing rather than focusing on offense, so the pair can avoid the thick of combat.
    [X] [Zaia] Use Fire Bombs on the enemy ships
    [X] [Inge] Make use of seabirds to ensure the various ships will be able to keep in contact
    [X] [Esha] Look around for inhuman foes, if it looks like there's a need for magic weapons enchant them. If it looks like mostly mortal foes make use of enchantments and curses instead
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Arc 12 interlude 6: On a Fel Day
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    • On a Fel Day ​

    Third Day of Elnu-Hamba (Elnu Descendent), 1349 A. L. (After Landfall)

    The ships of the enemy came like knives in the dark, swift and dreadful, draped in mist and in the sound of horns echoing. How may there were none on the deck of the Marcella could say, save that there were many and they were bold. There was no time for arrows, nor even for the casting of spears as was the custom on the Anwa on those rare time when they came one against the others on the high seas, squabbling over some foreign plunder in waters far from home, or raiding an ill defended village. They came with death in their hands and a name of ill omen on their lips:

    "Obapupa, Obapupa!" they cried and the sailors knew not the meaning for they had not listened to tales of the time long ago as the old man had done, but he knew it well. Redman they cried, the name of their most feared of kings and the most bloody.

    Axes they bore heavy in the hand and their heads shone red in the flame of torches. From the high deck of the ship fire answered them held aloft in aged hands still nimble enough to bear the surgeon's knife. Would that mine ears were also too old to hear the screams, the scholar thought.

    Yet still they came, paying no mind to the screams of their comrades as the longships cashed against the galley with the sound of splintering wood and almost with the roar of a maddened beast. Alas that he did not have around him the ring of steel that was the Fellowship and so it was that Zaia of Alexandria came face to face with death. It was as ill groomed and foul smelling as he had expected it to be....

    The axe fell, but did not bite, slowing more and more until it seemed that it was lodged in empty air, much to the surprise of the brute who bore it. That was the last look on his face as a spear in the back of the neck sent an arc of blood spewing over Zaia. But still though gushing blood he seemed to be trying to say something:

    "He comes."

    Looking around the scholar could see that most of the foes form the second longship, the one that had not been met with his concoctions and flame had instead been snared in place as they tried to cross the high gunwale of the ship leaving them caught as much to each other as to the ship, hooks and bridges of rope were little use here and the attempt to use planks as was common custom with the smaller ships of this world had failed miserably.

    The foe would have to cross a bridge of their own snared and dying comrades to get into the decks of the Genoan Galley while further down Esha was working her magic with a deft and skillful hand. She has managed to blind the helmsman of one of the other ships just as he was coming to strike the galley as full speed, turning what would have been a stroke alongside into a glancing hit that sent it careening away.

    Still there was no end to the enemy for they must guess that the great ship was a prize, even if they could not know how much of a one. so the largest ship in the fleet came then upon them, its grow not a beast or serpent carved in the same wood as the keel, but the face of a woman carved in pale bone, her hair and eyes of black iron.

    A cry went up from the company of the ship: "The King! The King! We will take the king!" For though they had lost some among their number they were still more bold than bloody.

    Lo that indeed there was a king aboard the great ship or at least a mighty warlord, for he was garbed head to toe in armor of bronze, as a man wearing his casket upon the field of battle. Upon his head he bore a mask like the sun and the moon together in the sky half of silver and half of bronze, but for all the finery of his armor and the kingly manner of his guise, he bore in his left hand only a torch like the common warriors of the Anwa... but his left hand was a gauntlet of black iron and it was then that Zaia understood who had come against then out of the depths of time.

    "Redman..." he echoed in a whisper the warcry of the foe. Once he would not even have imagined such a thing, but he had seen horrors aplenty in this strange world and he could well imagine that by some foul art he who had once united all the Anwari against him had come again in the service of darkness

    Behind him arrayed one after the other were warriors still and silent, they bore no torches and they called out no curses and no promises of vengeance... they could not, Zaia say for under the heavy helms they bore not the countenance of living men, but grey green as sludge in the depths of the sea, their eyes hollow things.

    "Dead men can die again!" one of the sailors shouted. Zaia might have been surprised to recognize the cook once, but this was the same man who had willingly fought a dragon.

    The dark warrior, the Redman Zaia was convinced he was, took down his helm and revealed that he was not dead but a living man under he sun and then he laughed loud and lusty as one who had not seen the sun or felt the wind on his face for a long while.

    "You have fought boldly and with skill strangers, pledge yourselves to me and I shall do more than spare you, I shall take you as part of mine own fleet and in that service you shall have all the glory of song and all the gold of plunder lacking nothing even besides the palaces of the southlands."

    What does Antonio reply... and what are our tactics?

    [] Write in

    OOC: Well, this took a while because of all the combat... most of which I did not even end up showing since Zaia did not have a commanding sight of the battle, but still when you are in a position to do naval combat with more ships under your control I am confident I can run it better now.
     
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    • Oh shit, that seems...difficult. Is this the corpse of Redman with a glamour on it? A raised revenant with the same? Regardless of anything else this is a very unfortunate situation to not have any of the big melee fighters here.
     
    Oh... I hope that I really misunderstood.

    A very difficult situation indeed. It's good that Antonio has Honeyed Words, but even them may not be enough.
     
    Damn, I wish Roland and our armsmen were here... :o

    I really don't think we should be trying to pretend to capitulate here. If 'Redman' is anything like the story, he's not to be trusted, and that would be before he threw in with Daemons and whatever else is on their side. Dunno if trash talking is the way to go, but I fail to see any way to talk our way out of this without a fight, so we might as well try to engage him.

    EDIT: Upon further thought, there isn't any reason I can see not to try to drag this confrontation out at as long as possible.

    @DragonParadox, how many combatants can we see in Redman's ship? And how many do we have? I'm assuming there are more fighting with us than Marcella's regular crew?

    [X] Engage Pre-Battle Banter
    -[X] "And who are you to make such demands? Another servant of the anjo-oru who plague this land with all manner of foulness?"
    -[X] When pre-battle banter inevitably concludes:
    --[X] Antonio will target Redman with his crossbow, and both magical crossbows.
    --[X] Inge targets Redman and his force with a Web spell. Should Redman avoid it, many of his troops will be affected.
    --[X] Esha targets Redman with a Magic Missiles spell cast from her staff of she suspects him to be some manner of Undead, or used Blindness/Deafness to Blind him if she believes him to be susceptible.
    --[X] Zaia targets Redman with a Tanglefoot Bag, even if he is already snared in Inge's Web.
    --[X] Marcella helps her crew to the best of her ability.
    --[X] One of our trusted Anwari sailors who has volunteered for the duty will use the Horn of the Wearbear to become a Zentragt for the remainder of this battle.
     
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    There are 37 Anwa warriors remaining alive and able to fight on the Marcella. The ship in front of you seems to have about 30 of the undead crew and its captain. It should also be noted that you did not have any casualties among the sailors because only a limited number of them fought and of those all were archers.
     
    Rethought my plan a bit. Can't see how it won't devolve into combat eventually, but I don't see the harm in trying to drag the talking out. The longer we talk, the better our chances that an allies ship will be able to come to our aid.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Rethought my plan a bit. Can't see how it won't devolve into combat eventually, but I don't see the harm in trying to drag the talking out. The longer we talk, the better our chances that an allies ship will be able to come to our aid.
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    There are two non-engaged allied ships nearby, but the trouble is you do not look like you need help right now, as this is the ship with the wizards and he high gunwales to pass. There is also the fact that the enemy ship only looks impressive close up so they will not know to come to your aid if someone makes a good wis check... or if you are attacked

    You could signal for aid with a horn blast, but by now the signal has been used enough times that the enemy also knows what that means so you might just draw in more of them looking for an easy fight
     
    DragonParadox said:
    There are two non-engaged allied ships nearby, but the trouble is you do not look like you need help right now, as this is the ship with the wizards and he high gunwales to pass. There is also the fact that the enemy ship only looks impressive close up so they will not know to come to your aid if someone makes a good wis check... or if you are attacked

    You could signal for aid with a horn blast, but by now the signal has been used enough times that the enemy also knows what that means so you might just draw in more of them looking for an easy fight
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Speaking of horns, do we still have the Olweje horn at hand, and could Antonio use it on someone on short notice?
     
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