Post by TheUdjat on Aug 13, 2009 15:06:57 GMT -5
[Sorry for the late update! I thought I was waiting on someone, but clearly I was mistaken.]
Elric-
(Chases)
Elric breaks free of the guards for a moment, trying to flee from the alley out into the streets—which aren’t quite as crowded as he hoped. Still, the open space gives him some room to work with an objects to dodge around, and he tries to lose the guards using his raw athleticism. He is burdened by his armor, but still quite swift.
The guards quickly realize this, and choose to pursue him more tactically. The utilize their familiarity with Freiburg to their advantage, trying to corner the young captain and run him into dead ends, pin him against buildings, or steer him into their fellows. Their first few attempts to catch Elric result in failure as the captain leaps over a cluster of wagons in his path, and once even scales up the side of a lopsided building to hop off the other end of its roof. Still, the guards’ ploys get them closer to Elric with each one, and he cannot help but notice this.
Then they steer him into a street that has a group of guards talking at the other end, who soon look up, and Elric realizes he won’t be able to lose his pursuers here. He ducks back out into the main street, but two of the other guards are there to confront him, leaping to outright tackle him. One of them manages to catch him and, through raw body weight, shoves him down to the ground for a precious instant. He struggles to break free, but though he’s stronger than the guardsman, he is unable to get free.
The other guards catch up, and soon all four are upon him, trying to pin him in place. “Give yourself up, you caitiff!” one of them shouts. But the words must energize him, for this time he is able to power out of the first guardsman’s hold, though is not quite capable of untangling himself as another guardsman snags his shirt.
The four guards continue to try and pin him down, and others try to twist his arms and injure him. For all their combined might, though, Elric’s experience with the Covenant proves superior, and he twists out of possible holds and overpowers them, finally managing to break free of all four guards and take to the streets again, staggering a step or two, disoriented from his contest of strength.
He grits his teeth, running for all his might, and it seems for a moment that he is gaining ground on them—but a guard manages to snag his ankle at a crucial moment, and Elric almost trips. He snaps out an arm to drag the guard to the ground instead, and for a moment both men stagger, balanced precariously—neither falls. With the other three guards close behind him, Elric finds himself with a scant moment to act before trying to escape them again—or he can give up his plan to flee and turn to face them, an act no doubt leading to bloodshed.
(Chase Mechanics)
Jakob, Amalric-
Jakob waits patiently for the magus to appear with a plan, while Amalric attempts to focus on one wayward event at a time, starting with Elric and this business at the inn. Still walking with the noble, he has Isabeau continue to scout—and this time the hawk spots Elric running out in the main streets on what is a fairly impressive and daring attempt to escape, dodging passersby, jumping idle barrels, cutting across streets and over low fences. The guards ardently pursue him, though, and their greater knowledge of the city is beginning to work against him. He disappears into another alley with them close at his heels, fate uncertain.
The whole thing is making quite a stir with the citizenry, and more guards are rapidly being mobilized at news of this criminal running rampant in the streets, but most of the commotion seems to have avoided the market district for the time being—and, consequently, the noble riding by Amalric. However, as they near the inn, the murmuring and whispers become more prevalent, and the nobleman begins to sit up in his saddle, sensing something amiss.
When they arrive at the inn, one of the guards goes to meet them, speaking with the nobleman briefly about what’s going on—for the nobleman demands information rather immediately. It isn’t hard for Amalric to overhear, and the news is what he expects: a criminal was spotted in the inn, they went to apprehend him, and his whereabouts are currently unknown. Guards are in pursuit.
The nobleman does not seem pleased, and is apparently unaware of this move to apprehend him. “Why was I not told about this earlier, that there was already a contingent sent to apprehend him?” He growls furiously. “A waste of my time, and of his!” He points at Amalric, and a little glimmer of fear enters the guardsman’s eye. He swallows hard. “Who gave this order?”
The guard looks distinctly uncomfortable. “The order, ah… The order bore your seal, Excellency.”
The nobleman scowls, muttering something incomprehensible. Fuming for a moment, he finally nods. “Fine then. You’ve made a fine mess of it, but you can redeem yourself by bringing him to me. Otherwise you can take his place at the gallows!” The guard blinks, bows, and rushes off with a hurried ‘yessir’.
Amalric is able to stand and bear witness to all of this, and can easily spot Jakob just a short ways off, who is also at liberty to observe the magus’s arrival with the nobleman. Whether the two choose to acknowledge one another is up to them.
The nobleman regards Amalric, clearly with reluctance. “If you know something that may help us apprehend this Elric Riefner, I would appreciate it. I can only assume it is the correct man, fleeing at the sight of my guards.” There is a little sneer on the word ‘my’.
Rupert-
The apparent ‘wizard’ watches Rupert hopefully, offer hanging in the air, and when he finally agrees, the man quite beams. “Oh, that’s excellent to hear!” he says, wiping his hands on his apron enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, I can certainly grant you invisibility—the other boys will be quite jealous, I’m sure, and just think of all the fun you’ll be able to have! All you have to do is fulfill one little task for me, something I cannot do on my own. Now, I’ll even give you the invisibility to complete this task.”
The man glances side to side, even though nobody is nearby, and leans in closer. “Here’s what you must do. There is a big building being built near the center of town, a giant stone-and-wood monstrosity. Impossible to miss, really. Now, it’s mostly incomplete, but there are a few rooms built inside—especially underground. In one of those underground chambers, a bunch of villains have stuck a precious article that ought to be mine, and have hidden it from, err, my powers. I need someone clever and crafty and quick to go and get it for me!”
The man talks more quickly when he gets excited, and forces himself to calm down so that he can continue carefully. “The article lies in an ivory box, about the size of my palm, very pretty with a cross on its lid. It’s very important that you don’t open the box! These villains have put a nasty trap on it, and only I can properly unweave it, and I shouldn’t like to see you become a leprous, plague-ridden waste of flesh. Nasty business, that. So you just need to grab it and bring it to me, and our deal is done!”
He pauses, a finger on his chin thoughtfully. “Oh! Also, I’d wager there are all manner of other trinkets down there, gold and jewels and old swords and weapons, I’m sure. No telling what! As these are villains we’re talking about, I would not mind it in the least if you took whatever you like from them. I assure you they’ve only come by it all through force and trickery at any rate.”
The man grins, wiping his hands on his apron again. “That’s all you have to do, my boy! Surely you feel up to that, yes?”
Arnaud, Tawno, Joseph-
Confronted with more confusing speech after confusing speech, and eventually pointed in the direction of a ‘Riddle’, Joseph seems content to head off in the direction indicated with no more than that. Tawno, however, begins to grasp the danger of their situation—and their potential inability to get out of it. Arnaud shares her concern, and stares confusedly after Joseph, not yet prepared to leave the talkative oak.
He addresses it, attempting to adapt his speech to its own confusing dialect:
The oak snorts, as if in amusement. “My good fellow, why do you think he’s called Riddle? Of course there is a riddle to him, but the riddle rests within Riddle himself, not with me.” He pauses. “Or rather, to be more clear, I reason that Riddle’s riddle resides regardless of Riddle’s recesses—a ridiculous rationale—reduced to reproduction and representation in his regular, regimented rotes.” The oak gives a perfunctory nods, apparently satisfied with this explanation.
“I do hope that helps.”
If Arnaud wanted a riddle, it appears he got one.
(Condition Track)
Elric-
(Chases)
[So, technically there’s really no mechanic for conducting a chase like this. That is, Elric and the guards technically have the same movement, so round-by-round would technically involve the same move-follow pattern, with him never getting further away. Unless I wanted to involve tactical movement (which I don’t), it would just continue this way, presumably until he’s killed or the guards go down.
So, I’ll be improvising this next bit, because a good climactic chase scene is worth a little work to achieve.]
So, I’ll be improvising this next bit, because a good climactic chase scene is worth a little work to achieve.]
Elric breaks free of the guards for a moment, trying to flee from the alley out into the streets—which aren’t quite as crowded as he hoped. Still, the open space gives him some room to work with an objects to dodge around, and he tries to lose the guards using his raw athleticism. He is burdened by his armor, but still quite swift.
The guards quickly realize this, and choose to pursue him more tactically. The utilize their familiarity with Freiburg to their advantage, trying to corner the young captain and run him into dead ends, pin him against buildings, or steer him into their fellows. Their first few attempts to catch Elric result in failure as the captain leaps over a cluster of wagons in his path, and once even scales up the side of a lopsided building to hop off the other end of its roof. Still, the guards’ ploys get them closer to Elric with each one, and he cannot help but notice this.
Then they steer him into a street that has a group of guards talking at the other end, who soon look up, and Elric realizes he won’t be able to lose his pursuers here. He ducks back out into the main street, but two of the other guards are there to confront him, leaping to outright tackle him. One of them manages to catch him and, through raw body weight, shoves him down to the ground for a precious instant. He struggles to break free, but though he’s stronger than the guardsman, he is unable to get free.
The other guards catch up, and soon all four are upon him, trying to pin him in place. “Give yourself up, you caitiff!” one of them shouts. But the words must energize him, for this time he is able to power out of the first guardsman’s hold, though is not quite capable of untangling himself as another guardsman snags his shirt.
The four guards continue to try and pin him down, and others try to twist his arms and injure him. For all their combined might, though, Elric’s experience with the Covenant proves superior, and he twists out of possible holds and overpowers them, finally managing to break free of all four guards and take to the streets again, staggering a step or two, disoriented from his contest of strength.
He grits his teeth, running for all his might, and it seems for a moment that he is gaining ground on them—but a guard manages to snag his ankle at a crucial moment, and Elric almost trips. He snaps out an arm to drag the guard to the ground instead, and for a moment both men stagger, balanced precariously—neither falls. With the other three guards close behind him, Elric finds himself with a scant moment to act before trying to escape them again—or he can give up his plan to flee and turn to face them, an act no doubt leading to bloodshed.
(Chase Mechanics)
- First, both parties roll initiative, which determines their starting distances (a head start, if Elric can get any). Elric @ +6: 23. Guards: 4. They are 19 points apart, so we will say 9 ‘lengths’ apart. This may wind up being a very short chase. Once Elric gets 10 or more lengths away, he has managed to lose them.
- Next, characters will use Dex + an appropriate skill to roll how much they move. Armor Check Penalties apply. Whoever wins gains a ‘length’, and every 5 points they exceed the other increases this by another length. A tie results in no change, and a special event. Elric will use Athletics, his best option here. The guards use Knowledge: Local (still with the penalty added), hoping to out-navigate him.
- Elric’s roll is at +2 (4 ranks, +2 Dex, -4 Armor): 19. The guards roll: 22. Guards close in a bit. 8 lengths away.
- Elric: 18. Guards: 21. Guards get closer. 7 lengths.
- Elric: 4. Guards: 9. Guards get two lengths closer. 5 away.
- Elric: 9. Guards: 20. Guards get three lengths closer. 2 away.
- Elric: 4. Guards: 14. They get close to him again (no lengths) and 1d4 of them can act: two. They try to tackle Elric. Melee attacks vs. AC 13 (dodge, no parry): 9, 17. One grabs him. Grapple checks: 23 (Guard) vs. 19 (Elric @ +4), Elric is grappled. The guard chooses the ‘Pin’ effect, making Elric immobile for one round w/ -4 Defense, no dodge (AC 7).
- Elric can act. I assume he tries to break out of the pin. Opposed checks: 7 (Elric @ +4) vs. 17 (Guard), he is still pinned.
- The other guards catch up and try to pitch in. Melee attacks vs. AC 7: 6, 4, and 18. I really thought that would’ve gone better for them. There are now two guards grappling Elric. One attempts an assist (DC 10): 10, on the nose. The other will continue to pin Elric. Opposed checks: 10 (Guard w/ assist) vs. 13 (Elric @ +4), fail. Elric is still grappled, but not pinned (AC 11 now).
- Elric tries to escape the grapple. He has to beat both guards on the grapple checks: 10 (Elric @ +4) vs. 5, 12; fails to get away.
- The other two guards try to join the grapple. Melee attacks vs. AC 11: 16, 15; both succeed. Two of the guards will assist their buddies (DC 10): 7, 8. They fail to do so. One of the guards tries to Pin Elric, the other tries to deal damage.
First, the Pin: 10 (Guard) vs. 17 (Elric), no pin.
Now, the damage: 7 (Guard) vs. 7 (Elric). Defender wins tie. No damage. - Elric ties to break out again: 23 (Elric @ +4) vs. 5, 7, 10, and 15. He beats all the checks, and is free!
- Chase resumes with 1 length between them. Elric: 6. DM Fiat: Elric will spend a point of Conviction to gain a reroll: 15. Guards: 16. The bastards catch him again anyway. Only one can act. He tries to Trip Elric. Melee attack: 16, success. Opposed Strength: 13 (Guard) vs. 21 (Elric @ +3), no trip. Elric can immediately counter-trip and take this guy out of the chase. He does so: 5 (Elric @ +3) vs. 8 (Guard), no counter-trip.
- Elric can take an action at this point, as if in combat, though if he does anything besides a standard action, he cannot move away to resume the chase (using the mechanics above). I’ll leave the choice of what to do up to you. If the chase resumes, it will be at 1 ‘length’ between the groups again.
Jakob, Amalric-
Jakob waits patiently for the magus to appear with a plan, while Amalric attempts to focus on one wayward event at a time, starting with Elric and this business at the inn. Still walking with the noble, he has Isabeau continue to scout—and this time the hawk spots Elric running out in the main streets on what is a fairly impressive and daring attempt to escape, dodging passersby, jumping idle barrels, cutting across streets and over low fences. The guards ardently pursue him, though, and their greater knowledge of the city is beginning to work against him. He disappears into another alley with them close at his heels, fate uncertain.
The whole thing is making quite a stir with the citizenry, and more guards are rapidly being mobilized at news of this criminal running rampant in the streets, but most of the commotion seems to have avoided the market district for the time being—and, consequently, the noble riding by Amalric. However, as they near the inn, the murmuring and whispers become more prevalent, and the nobleman begins to sit up in his saddle, sensing something amiss.
When they arrive at the inn, one of the guards goes to meet them, speaking with the nobleman briefly about what’s going on—for the nobleman demands information rather immediately. It isn’t hard for Amalric to overhear, and the news is what he expects: a criminal was spotted in the inn, they went to apprehend him, and his whereabouts are currently unknown. Guards are in pursuit.
The nobleman does not seem pleased, and is apparently unaware of this move to apprehend him. “Why was I not told about this earlier, that there was already a contingent sent to apprehend him?” He growls furiously. “A waste of my time, and of his!” He points at Amalric, and a little glimmer of fear enters the guardsman’s eye. He swallows hard. “Who gave this order?”
The guard looks distinctly uncomfortable. “The order, ah… The order bore your seal, Excellency.”
The nobleman scowls, muttering something incomprehensible. Fuming for a moment, he finally nods. “Fine then. You’ve made a fine mess of it, but you can redeem yourself by bringing him to me. Otherwise you can take his place at the gallows!” The guard blinks, bows, and rushes off with a hurried ‘yessir’.
Amalric is able to stand and bear witness to all of this, and can easily spot Jakob just a short ways off, who is also at liberty to observe the magus’s arrival with the nobleman. Whether the two choose to acknowledge one another is up to them.
The nobleman regards Amalric, clearly with reluctance. “If you know something that may help us apprehend this Elric Riefner, I would appreciate it. I can only assume it is the correct man, fleeing at the sight of my guards.” There is a little sneer on the word ‘my’.
Rupert-
The apparent ‘wizard’ watches Rupert hopefully, offer hanging in the air, and when he finally agrees, the man quite beams. “Oh, that’s excellent to hear!” he says, wiping his hands on his apron enthusiastically. “Yes, yes, I can certainly grant you invisibility—the other boys will be quite jealous, I’m sure, and just think of all the fun you’ll be able to have! All you have to do is fulfill one little task for me, something I cannot do on my own. Now, I’ll even give you the invisibility to complete this task.”
The man glances side to side, even though nobody is nearby, and leans in closer. “Here’s what you must do. There is a big building being built near the center of town, a giant stone-and-wood monstrosity. Impossible to miss, really. Now, it’s mostly incomplete, but there are a few rooms built inside—especially underground. In one of those underground chambers, a bunch of villains have stuck a precious article that ought to be mine, and have hidden it from, err, my powers. I need someone clever and crafty and quick to go and get it for me!”
The man talks more quickly when he gets excited, and forces himself to calm down so that he can continue carefully. “The article lies in an ivory box, about the size of my palm, very pretty with a cross on its lid. It’s very important that you don’t open the box! These villains have put a nasty trap on it, and only I can properly unweave it, and I shouldn’t like to see you become a leprous, plague-ridden waste of flesh. Nasty business, that. So you just need to grab it and bring it to me, and our deal is done!”
He pauses, a finger on his chin thoughtfully. “Oh! Also, I’d wager there are all manner of other trinkets down there, gold and jewels and old swords and weapons, I’m sure. No telling what! As these are villains we’re talking about, I would not mind it in the least if you took whatever you like from them. I assure you they’ve only come by it all through force and trickery at any rate.”
The man grins, wiping his hands on his apron again. “That’s all you have to do, my boy! Surely you feel up to that, yes?”
Arnaud, Tawno, Joseph-
Confronted with more confusing speech after confusing speech, and eventually pointed in the direction of a ‘Riddle’, Joseph seems content to head off in the direction indicated with no more than that. Tawno, however, begins to grasp the danger of their situation—and their potential inability to get out of it. Arnaud shares her concern, and stares confusedly after Joseph, not yet prepared to leave the talkative oak.
He addresses it, attempting to adapt his speech to its own confusing dialect:
“Ees zair a reedle to zis Reedle zat you could reedle us?”
The oak snorts, as if in amusement. “My good fellow, why do you think he’s called Riddle? Of course there is a riddle to him, but the riddle rests within Riddle himself, not with me.” He pauses. “Or rather, to be more clear, I reason that Riddle’s riddle resides regardless of Riddle’s recesses—a ridiculous rationale—reduced to reproduction and representation in his regular, regimented rotes.” The oak gives a perfunctory nods, apparently satisfied with this explanation.
“I do hope that helps.”
If Arnaud wanted a riddle, it appears he got one.
(Condition Track)
| Amalric | Arnaud | Elric | Jakob | Joseph | Rupert | Tawno | |
| Fatigue | |||||||
| Bruised | |||||||
| Hurt | |||||||
| Dazed | |||||||
| Wounded | |||||||
| Staggered | |||||||
| Disabled | |||||||
| Dying | |||||||
| Dead | |||||||
| Misc. |
]
