[ We find Our Heroes standing in front of a staircase leading north from the hallway they're in. Three of the stairs have been forcibly pried open and tampered with; you'll have to be careful not to trip on them, but their traps won't be going off. ] [ The sign to the right of the stairs still reads, , in Uncercommon. Hopefully Seylin's taken care of that for you all. ] [ Session Start! ] ... ready, folks? * Alcinoe nods. Quite. Did you guys want to check out the dais room first? Seylin to the front. Istvan, Alcinoe, and Ariake behind her. * Patrick grins. "Yeah, let's get going. And you're gonna need to show me how that thing works." * Will nods. We should check out this "workshop" first. * Seylin points down the hall. "It's right over there, though." * Istvan moves to let Seylin past, then takes up position behind her once she starts that way. * Ariake moves into position, and follows as the group moves on. * Alcinoe steps to one side to allow Seylin past. * Seylin keeps pointing. I am uneasy with leaving this "workshop" at our back. We should allow Ariake to investigate. Just Ariake, or all of us? * Istvan stands for a moment, then pokes Seylin. "I think that's your cue to lead on." * Seylin is poked, and blinks cutely at Istvan. We will all go. It would not do to leave Ariake defenseless. I think it's better if we stay together. This dungeon is creepy. Okay, then, off we go! * Istvan points to the room. "Charge. Or not, 'cause we don't want you to step on traps. But forward regardless." * Ariake nods. "Thanks." * Seylin carefully starts going up the stairs, avoiding and pointing out where the traps were. * Patrick snerks and follows with the rest of the group. [ At the top of the stairs is a rectangular room, twenty by thirty feet, ten feet to the cieling. It seems empty, save for an exit in the middle of the east wall. ] This is as far as I got. * Istvan follows, with his usual somewhat lumbering gait, along the path Seylin points out. This is where the constructs were, then? No, they were downstairs in that other room. The one you didn't want to check out yet. * Alcinoe nods. I should check this one first. Please do. * Seylin does so! * Seylin flies over to the exit. "Hmm." Trap here. * Seylin works at disabling it. * Istvan takes a few steps in, from the top of the stairs, but doesn't go more than a couple of feet from said stairs. * Seylin puts her tools away and waves to the group. "All clear!" * Ariake grins. "Thanks!" * Istvan takes a few more steps in, then. "What kinda trap on the door?" * Ariake heads on in, with caution. [ Beyond the exitway is a room thirty feet by sixty feet. It is full of slightly rusted steel kegs. The room smells noticeably like mechanists' oil. ] * Alcinoe glances around, wrinkling her nose. This smells suspiciously like Ariake's room. * Will walks on in behind Alci. "This place smells funny" Hmm, so it does... * Ariake looks around a bit, and then peers at one of the kegs. Good job Seylin! ^_^ Thanks! And, yeah, it does kinda remind me of Ariake's place. ... all that good metal gone to waste. [ The kegs seem to be in good shape. Twenty feet along the north wall, there is a steel door, also slightly rusted. Damn shame. * Patrick looks around and whistles. "No kidding." * Ariake heads to a few feet away from the door, and looks at it. "Seylin, what do you think?" * Seylin heads over to the steel door and starts looking it over. Trap on the handle. [ Seylin and Ariake need hearing checks. ] * Seylin pulls out her tools and gets to work. Something's on the other side! Maybe we should welcome it, then? Possibly another construct. It was kinda a whirring, grinding sound. Big something? Small something? Growly something? Hmm, interesting... [ Seylin disarms the trap. She has to pull out the door handle to do it, and then set it back up so you can open the door, which takes considerable time, but she does it. ] I don't think the constructs make noise when idle... * Istvan turns to Kenji. "Me'n Alci open the door, Ariake fires lightning in at whatever it is, me'n Alci step back in front so it can't get far into the room?" Hmm... it's gotten quieter. Walked away, ya think? An excellent plan, Istvan, but the lightning might destroy any delicate works inside. Yeah. Patrolling the hallway beyond this, maybe. ... point. Volley of arrows, then? * Ariake nods. "We'll have to see what it is..." If there's nothin' on the other side, how about we *look* before we shoot? Precisely. Seylin, open the door. Istvan and Alcinoe, stand ready, Ariake behind them. Open the door for a peek then close it quickly? * Seylin very slowly and carefully starts opening the door. * Alcinoe holds her sword readyish. * Istvan takes up a position a few feet away from the door, off to the side a bit to allow for a lane of firing, if need be. * Ariake cracks her knuckles, and gets ready to cast if necessary. * Will falls behind next to Kenji and pulls out his sword. * Patrick readies three arrows on his bow and nods. [ Past the door is a very large room, twenty feet high. It has numerous wooden crates that have mostly rotted away, leaving the bricks of brass-like metal inside them standing on their own. These former crates mostly fill the room; there is a clear path against the east wall of the place, and also against the north wall. In the pass against the north wall stand eight of the brass constructs, and once they see Seylin, they open fire. ] * Seylin eeps and tries to shut the door. * Seylin slams it shut before any of the bolts can get through. Um. ... Well, think they're gonna come now? Whew. That was close. [ Eight bolts go CLANK against the door. ] ... hmm. * Ariake eyes the door. "...that was very close" Perfect firing path. Narrow entryway, no direct path to them... * Alcinoe scowls and looks to Ariake. "Got anythin' that'll take care of 'em?" Probably not in one shot, but I can ruin their day fairly well... Anything that will move them? * Ariake hmms. I'm stumped. Only thing I got is for the heavily armored amongst us to charge in, take our licks, and distract some of them while the rest of you pick them off, giving us time to get to them. ... which, I might add, is a fucking crappy plan. We could set things on fire...which is also a bad plan, usually, without a fast escape route. Ariake will weaken them as best she can, followed by a simple armored rush. * Patrick nods. "You can protect us while we go in, after that I'm sure we can find safe cover to fire from." So the plan is to simple charge right in and hide? [ I should note that the avenue not filled with crates is against the east side of the room, while the door is near the room's west end. ] ... okay. So Ariake fires in. Me'n Alci run along the edges of the room to get to them. Rest of you take cover at a distance, pick away at them. That the plan? Yes. ONce you are in close, they should switch to melee combat, letting the rest of us close quickly. ... mmm. We could prolly keep from getting shot at while we advanced if we crawled, Alci. Be a hell of a lot slower, though. And vaguely degrading. * Alcinoe glances at Istvan, then shrugs. "Ah can handle it," she bites out. * Istvan looks back at the others. "Might even be smart to let us get in and get into position before you guys expose yourself to fire in the doorway. * Ariake nods. One of you opens the door and ducks aside, we crawl in under their line of sight, you guys count to something high enough to give us time, then start the firing? Very well. * Alcinoe sheathes her sword (because come on) and adjusts her shield. Good luck. * Istvan holsters his pick, and gets down on all fours near the door. "Time to do my best dwarf impersonation..." *grins slightly* * Patrick whispers to Seylin as he steps to the side of the door. * Seylin whispers back. * Alcinoe rolls her eyes and does, too, positioning her shield. "This'll be interestin'." Agreed. Someone get the door, then get the hell outta the way? Good luck, Alci. Be careful. * Ariake nods. "Good luck." * Alcinoe smiles, just a tiny bit, and nods to Will. I'll get the door. Ready? * Istvan looks back. "Everyone else, outta the field of view of the doorway? * Patrick nods. He's standing to the side, so he can look in but is still out of view of the sentries. * Patrick is ALSO not standing where the door swings. :P * Ariake gets well back. * Will goes and stands somewhere out of sight. ;p * Istvan looks up at Sey. "As I'm gonna be." Okay. * Seylin slowly pushes the door open, then gets the heck out of the way! * Istvan waits a moment, to see if a volley of arrows comes firing through. If not, or once they do, he gets started crawling around the edge of the room. [ It's thirty feet to the pathway, which then extends about 50 feet to the other side of the room. This will take a while. ] * Alcinoe waits a moment, then crawls after Istvan, shield protecting her and hugging the wall. [ Roll init, peoples. ^_^ ] [ The bots wait for a target to make itself evident. Kenji, go! ] * HKenji doesn't bother ducking as he enters. He steps around the corner and takes a flying leap straight over all the crates and such, right for the middle of the bots. CHARGE! ...I don't think that was in the plan. * Ariake just stares. "...holy..." * Istvan facepalms, and keeps crawling. ... Okay, that just looks stupid. * Alcinoe nearly drops her shield and stares. * Will 's jaw drops open as he stares at Kenji. [ Kenji lands in the middle of the bots, after an absolutely spectacular leap featuring a sommersault in the middle! On his way over there, he gets shot seven times, one a grazing hit along his shoulder, the other six solid shots. ] [ The bot on either side of Kenji immediately sprouts a sword from it's right arm. Kenji is now flanked. ] [ And wounded. Badly so. ] NOW! Attack with everything you've got! [ Will, go! ] [ ...Will? ] * Will waves his hand in a circular motion. Bright lights surround all the party members which leaves them feeling tougher. [ Patrick, go! ] * Patrick runs in and jumps over Alcinoe and Istvan's ducking forms. He finds some cover behind some crates and looses a triad of arrows at the closest construct, ducking down below the cover right afterwards. [ The construct blocks the three shots with it's shield! ] [ Seylin, go! ] * Seylin swoops in, drawing her longbow as she goes, ducks behind a crate and fires at one of the constructs. [ Seylin hits snother shield! ] [ Alcinoe! Goooooo! ] * Patrick mutters to himself. * Alcinoe gets up right where she is and stands, completely unafraid of another volley. She points her right, empty hand to Kenji and says a quick prayer in her solid voice, the air before her fingers wavering into light and shooting straight for Kenji. [ Kenji's hit! He feels better! Two of his wounds actually spit out the quarrels that caused them. It's a funny feeling, that. ] [ Istvan, go! ] * Istvan stands up, draws his war pick, and does his best sprint towards the mass of robots. "Stupid, stupid fucking idiot..." [ Istvan makes it the last sixty feet, which puts him right in front of a robot that sprouts a sword and turns to face him! ] [ Ariake, go! ] * Ariake rushes forward, and casts a large spell at the group of robots immediately surrounding Kenji. [ Ariake sends numerous motes of flame out to smite her enemies! The motes EXPLODE on contact with the constructs! Kenji is amazingly unscathed. ] [ The constructs, on the other hand, look severely battered. ] Excellent aim, Ariake! [ The construct on either side of Kenji attacks him! ] Glad to help! Shut up and concentrate on not getting killed, you moron! [ One gets in two hits, the only only one. ] [ Another construct attacks Istvan! ] [ It, however, sufferes a critical system failure and ends up hitting the wall, instead. ] [ Three of the constructs not in melee fire at Istvan, while the other two fire at Kenji. ] [ One shot gets in-between the plates of Istvan's armor, while two of the shots fired at Kenji gets through the more abundant holes in his defenses. ] [ Kenji, Go! ] * HKenji draws both swords and tears in to one of the constructs that dared attack him, throwing up a cloud of brilliant sparks. When the sparks die down a moment later, the construct is still there, apparently entirely unharmed. * Istvan grunts as he takes an arrow in the side, then groans as he sees Kenji spaz out uselessly in the direction of the 'bots. [ These bots are evidently Very Good with their shields. >.> <.< ] [ Will, do something! ;_; ] * Will runs forward and summons a fiery torrent at the bots to the right of Kenji. [ Kenji and Istvan get a little seared, but the bots on that side are toast. This leaves four. ] [ All of which are in bad shape. ] [ Patrick, go! ] * Istvan glares back at Will. * Patrick swings up and fires four shots in rapid succession at the bots, changing targets as hopefully necessary. * Will shrinks back from Isty's glare. "Sorry Istvan. I mis-aimed." [ Two more constructs fall down! ] [ Two left! ] [ Seylin, go! ] * Seylin swaps weapons and flies up to one of the remaining constructs, then takes a swing at it. [ Another one bites the dust! ] [ Alci, go! ] * Alcinoe clanks towards the remaining construct, drawing her sword. [ Istvan, go! ] * Istvan mutters something in dwarven, and, as his war pick is sheathed in flames, he just tears into the last bot. [ Istvan charges across the room and tears into the last bot, destroying it. ] [ Encounter ended. x_x ] * Ariake leans heavily against the wall. * Istvan rips the arrow out of his side, and chucks it down at Kenji's feet. "Are you goddamn DEAF?" * Alcinoe keeps advancing, angrily. Now that the fight's over, she looks like she's going to explode. "What is wrong with you!" What the hell was that, anyway? We spend like five minutes debating and refining a plan. We all, INCLUDING YOU, agree on it... then you just ignore it! * HKenji looks down at the arrows sticking out of his flesh. Why did you do that, Kenji? Yes. I'm rather reminded of you. You've also apparently forgotten all the tactics you ever knew. * HKenji reaches down and works the arrows out of his flesh. Excuse me? I'm sorry. Did I ignore the plan? * Alcinoe reaches them and slams her sword into its sheath. She's glaring holes into Kenji, but she lets Istvan talk for the moment. * Patrick raises an eyebrow, whispering to Seylin. Did I go against the express wishes and designs of the group, and decide to try some macho bullshit "I wanna be the hero look at me I'm so cool!" suicide charge? * Seylin whispers back. * Will stands next to Alci, also staring at Kenji. * HKenji carefully looks over his blades, fearing some damage since they utterly failed to cut into the constructs. And while we're at it, did I flail at the robots like a spastic gnome, utterly failing to do any sort of damage? * HKenji tests the edge on his katana and finds it to still be quite good. The GROUP decided on a plan. You agreed to it. If you had a problem with it, you could've said something. But you're Kenji, and you don't fucking need to consult with us before doing your own thing, right? * Seylin blinks, shoots a worried glance at Kenji, and whispers to Patrick again. * HKenji squats down to look at the now rather roasted armor of the construct he failed to cut. ... man, if Tia was here, she'd kick your ass. Don't you DARE bring Tia into this, Istvan. If I weren't so low on spells, I'd half a mind to myself. ... ooh. Struck a nerve. Don't bring Tia inta this, Istvan. * HKenji stands up and turns around, obviously absolutely furious. Maybe I was right a while back. You're so opposed to this arrainged marraige, you're trying to get yourself killed. Only explanation I can think of. * Seylin looks up. "Istvan, stop. This isn't accomplishing *anything*." Shut your inanely flapping mouth, open your too often closed ears, and LISTEN, you ignorant coward. * Istvan raises an eyebrow. "Lotsa adjectives there. But you get a turn to. Feel free to explain your complete disregard for our group." You defied the entire purpose of your going in first, draped in your metal armor so heavily that one can barely tell there is a warrior under there. Your entire purpose is to draw fire. Yet you crawled on your knees before an inferior enemy because YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN HURT. You were so worried about not getting hurt yourself that you decided not to protect the weak and undefended archers and shugenja in the back. If YOU are incapable of properly performing your duties, I will perform them FOR you. Well, fucking duh. I wear armor 'cause I DON'T LIKE GETTING SHOT. And all of these would've been great points to bring up BEFORE we went it. Instead, you lied about agreeing to the plan. * Patrick shakes his head and whispers to Seylin again. Just like you lied about not knowning Undercommon. * Alcinoe nods once at those words. Yes, Istvan. I choose to sacrifice my honor for you. I'm not sure why I bother. You don't learn. You're too afraid. Oh, the sacrifice! Thank you for sacrificing your honor to decieve us, and put the entire group at risk! Yes. Because I put the entire group at risk, I now know where our weak points are, and can fix them after facing an inferior enemy, instead of being killed by them when we face a superior enemy. Explain to me, please, how not laying out your entirely reasonable objections to our plan BEFORE we went in benefits the group. That sounds like manipulation to me, Kenji. * Patrick continues whispering to Seylin. * HKenji holds up one finger. "First. I now know that I cannot count on you to take blows for the less heavily armored people." * Alcinoe twitches her ears and whirls on Patrick and Seylin. "Will ya stop with the whisperin'! If ya have somethin' ta say ta the group, now's a *fine* time." Excuse me? Who's been on the front line this entire time? * HKenji raises a second finger. "Second. I can now be absolutely certain that given a choice between defeating the enemy and healing someone, Alcinoe will choose to heal." * Seylin actually jumps. * Alcinoe growls, whirls back on Kenji, and glares at him. * Patrick smiles to Alcinoe. (Lemme fix that. I walk over and punch Patrick in the face. :P) * HKenji raises a third finger. "Third. I can now also be certain that when left to choose his own tactics, Will's instincts drive him to heal and support, not to attack." Fourth, we know you're a loose cannon who we can't rely on to follow through on our stated plans, or to give meaningful insight during planning. And fifth, we know that you're a fool that can't trust the man he asked to be a tactician for all of you. Would you send a man out with armor you had never tested? ... we asked you to be our spokesman, not our tactician. There is a difference between leading a plan, by consent, and manipulating the group to your own liking. * Alcinoe steps forward, still looking Kenji in the eye. "Istvan, be quiet fer a sec." I've generally deferred to your tactics because you know your stuff. But- *eyes Alci; scowls, but nods* It was a test, fine. Ah don't appreciate bein' manipulated. Ah dunno what ya were thinkin', but one 'a mah spells woulda hurt ya... Will's follow up coulda very well killed ya, with the arrows ya were carryin'. It's foolish fer *you* to assume ya know our magic better than we do. * HKenji looks up at Alcinoe as she speaks, and when she finishes, he says softly, "You should trust your own skills as much as I trust them." * Alcinoe grits her teeth for a moment, then says, "How can Ah know how much ya trust 'em? Huh? How do Ah know yer tellin' the truth, manipulatin' me like ya do?" You want the truth? Absolutely, unconditionally, with no omissions or convenient half truths? * Alcinoe 's eyes flash. "Ah dunno if ya'll give it. Ya kept the fact that ya knew Undercommon secret fer no reason that Ah can see. Maybe ya just have fun hidin' secrets, pretendin' truth is honor an' honor is everythin'." I can give it. I will, in fact. If you think you can handle it, and really want it. Why don't you. * Patrick looks at the rest of the group after a nice, quietish, talk with Seylin. Because I need you. * Alcinoe raises an eyebrow. "That's brilliant. Ya lie ta me 'cause ya need me, whatever *that* means." I am a stranger in a strange land. Now I've been betrothed to a woman that hates me, I will be commanding a castle I never expected to have, surrounded by people who I do not know and will most likely resent me as a foreigner. * Alcinoe takes another step forward and glares just slightly down at Kenji. "Then Ah dunno how things work where *you're* from, but Ah ain't gonna be won over like that. Ah may have sympathy for ya. Ah may be willin' ta be yer 'arranged friend'. But Ah don't need someone lyin' ta me, Ah don't need someone trickin' me, and Ah don't need someone trickin' me..." Yes, I need you. I need you because I know you enough that I can begin to trust you, to trust that you will be there when I need you, to trust that you will be the weapon I need to stay alive while surrounded by enemies. * Alcinoe eyes him for a moment, then just says, "Ya got a funny way of showin' it, Kenji." She turns and starts walking to a corner, then comments, "Oh yeah, and Ah don't need someone beheadin' the guy when Ah was gonna try ta give him his *first* chance at real life. Ya prove ya can avoid all that, then we'll talk." Back to walking. "The floor's open." ... listen, Kenji. I don't wanna be yellin' at ya, screamin' at ya, trading insults with ya. I meant everything I said when you were considering leaving; you're a damn good fighter and tactician, and even if you ain't my favorite guy in the world, I'd rather have you fighting by my side than not. All I ask is that you treat me... us... with respect. You have a plan? Let us in on it. Have an objection to our plan? Let us know. Do that, and I'll cave in the skull of anyone that comes after ya. But I don't like being stabbed, slashed, and bludgeoned, and I ain't gonna stand on the front lines and take that abuse for someone who can't show basic respect for the group. And that's all I gotta say 'bout that. * Istvan turns and walks over to one of the crates, and gets to looking at his burns and the hole in his side. [ Session End! For now. ]