The Legonater

Feeling the essence take hold, Dyric rises to his feet in time to be shuttled off in the wake of the smoke bomb. His hands clutch for the next few bolts, but the action is over. He flees. We almost had them, he muttered. Stirring himself of the haze, he takes stock of those present. With a grim nod, Rone steps towards the leader of the Knights. Ma'am. Dyric Rone, we didn't get the chance to exchange pleasantries before the fighting. One of the archers went down in the fighting, I'd like his name, as well as any form of identification he had on him - if that would be allowed, of course. This is war now, and he died in the service of that war, fighting with and for Heroes. He should be remembered for that. Atramor! he said, when that conversation was finished. What's our next step?

And what about the escape mechanics?

Alright. I'll play it safe this round. Dyric switches his first target to Sniper A (Ballista, Sniper B)

i suppose I need to be clearer. My concern is less that the Arrogate will soak up all of Dyric's damage, and more that Matthias may fail with his scrolls and Dyric will instant kill her. Which has a pretty low margin of chance working out like that, but it is a possibility.

Just a bit longer, Bellanote! Got it! Dyric reclaimed his crossbow and sighted in his next few targets, praying that the High Cleric's protections wouldn't go off. Town Watch Sniper B (Sniper A, Arrogate), and Paladin Archer Battalion B (A, High Cleric). Atramor, what's our plan when we hit the Hovels? Just to be entirely clear, my plan and hope is that Matthias succeeds in turning her and then Dyric can sight in on the General. If you think she's our ace in the hole and you'd rather play safe than sorry, tell me and I'll sight up to Sniper A instead. Not a lot of free targets here.

Dyric lets his crossbow rest on the ground. Pulling out his Mockthril Longbow, the assassin rises to a stand and fires twice at the High Cleric from the back. Bellanote, you hanging in there? Keep that chant going, we're almost done.

We're almost there. Keep at it, Bellanote. Althior, you're darkness isn't going to be a whole lot of use at this point. Use some fire twice on the the high cleric from the back. Rone fires twice at Vindicator B (A, High Cleric) from the back.

Was this not satisfactory enough?

With pleasure. Bellanote, keep it up. Althior, keep back and use some Darkness on Watchmen Mob A and B. My turn. Dyric, still in the back, sights up Sniper A (Informant B, Sniper B) and sends both volleys his way.

It... can though? I've played it that way numerous times. Doc made the crossbow, and described it like a Triple Strike, though I may have been incorrect, and misread that with the second portion. The wording seems a dash vague. However (and this is my bad for not going back and checking), it is functioning wrong one way or the other, because Doc also said in that post that there's supposed to be an assassination roll for each attack.

Matthias, Althior, back off that flank, they're still hexed! Rone puts three bolts into Evoker A, and then targets Vindicator B (A, High Cleric) from the back. Bellanote repeats.

That never quite gets old, Atramor. Sure am glad that thing's on our side. Bellanote, you know the drill. Keep the chant going and keep to the back. Dyric focuses in his aim, putting three shots in Evoker A and B from the back row. I could shift one or both attacks to focus on the Vindicators, if that would be preferable, but it would reduce Dyric's range, and I like the idea of potentially taking out one of these guys right off the bat.

Finally, the big guns. We should take out those evokers as quickly as we can, their summons are going to make a mess. I could go for one and hope? I imagine our troops should take on the infiltrators. Can Seraphim be instant-killed?

Toss one or two to Bellanote, she could use the boost. Rone turns to glance at the persistent minstrel. How are you doing there? The assassin collects what arrows he can salvage and keeps a steady pace from behind.

Hello? Keeping his thought focused on the task at hand, Dyric loaded a few more bolts and fired at Paladin Knight A (Archer C, Knight B) and Archer Mob B (Archer A, C), keeping to the back. Bellanote, keep that chant going! Assuming that we take out everyone this round, do we want to do up conditionals that way we don't need to wait around before auto-rolling?

As he waited for the action to kick off, Dyric’s mind ran through the events of the past day, trying to put the dots together. False Founders, created from faerie dust. The Doomsayer's adamant belief of his own legitimacy. The Fey One, missing. Something had to connect in it all. Lost in thought, Rone rifled aimlessly through his bag, looking for the next set of arrows. His hands traced a magically charged surface, surprising him. His line of thought shattered, Dyric glanced down to examine what he hand found. Ah, the Sigil of the Cold Circle, from the Magpie op. It had been a few years ago, now. Sea monsters, rats, Melville. Jules. Jules! Hoke, I just had a thought. The assassin’s posture was unnaturally stiff, clutching at invisible wounds. He had avoided dwelling on the specifics of that day for a long time. The weight of it all bore down on him now as he tried to pick out the relevant information amongst the heavy emotion of it all. You remember the Magpie job? The, um – the visions, that Jules gave us? Memories. Like we were there. The image of that table lay wedged in his vision. Focus, Dyric, get to the point. Melville tortured Jules to the point where Jules sent out his memories, via magic. Matthias, you suggested back at the guild that the Fey One might have been a victim. That whoever created these Founders may have did it by… well, by getting the dust from them. If that’s the case… maybe whoever’s behind all this didn’t just kill the Fey One but harnessed their memories as well. These Founders certainly believe themselves to be the original article. If they were forged from legitimate memories of the old Veterans… I don’t know, it’s just a theory. I might be totally off-track; we don’t even know where the Fey One is. But it might lend some legitimacy to this whole shindig.

Bellanotte, keep that lucky chant going, and keep back. Atramor, do you want to take those War Priests? We wouldn't want our luck turning against us. Rone loosens bolts at Paladin Knight Mob B (A, C) and Watchman Guard Mob B (A, C) from the back row.

Funny, I was able to convince the four kids who came with me to all go home. I suppose they were the smart ones.

Hoke, you're stealing my thunder, Dyric says with a playful grin. The assassin reloads the crossbow, pleased that his skills were finally being put to good measure. Y'know, they really should have backed off when they had the chance. This is Eubric's top line of defense? And they say they don't need Heroica.

I could have sworn one was bodywear last I checked. My bad, switch out the Shadeaux Cape for the Cloak, then, if that's okay.

If you say so. Bellanotte, get the Lucky Chant going again! Keep to the back. Rone drops to one knee, balancing his crossbow as he loaded it almost as fast as he was firing. He aimed first for Paladin Knight B (Knight A, Grimes) and then spun to hit Prinis (Archer Battalion, Priests), all from the back row. Uh, WBD?

Well, so much for diplomacy. Rone nods his head in greetings to his party. Cheers, all. I see you've been busy. Turning to the Lion forces, the assassin performs a curt bow. Master Luke, it's been some time. Ma'am, men, Dyric Rone. We can chat later, of course, there are mildly more pressing matters. Stepping up beside Atramor, Dyric loads up his crossbow and eyes up the local soldiers. So, what's our plan? I can try to assassinate the leaders while you mop up the lesser forces. Not only that, if we get Bellanotte going on the Lucky Chant again, I have a good chance at taking down the whole force. In either case, we should try to keep as many of our force alive as possible. Dyric should have the Cloak of the Red Assassin and Shadeaux Cape equipped as per the PM thread.

And it all feels so justified, too. The Baltarok party have just walked through legitimate warfare, after giving blood, sweat and tears to unite the orcs. The Kingdoms party have just spent their time wading through the political complexities and delicate allegiances that are barely holding the region in peace. Both see the variety of views on their own side but just sort of see the other side as a nebulous force poised to attack. The circus party is just kind of thrown in the middle, having no real details on either side and just being there to finish a job. It's a perfect storm, and it plays out so well.

With Photobucket up and running again (Yay!) I've finally been able to properly go through all the quests of the Baltarok trilogy. I know you all got plenty of praise at the time (Four years ago! ) but looking back, I just want to emphasize that you guys killed those quests. Baltarok and the High Kingdoms have never felt so alive, and even when activity was low, the parties were really quite something. As a writer and roleplayer, Baltarok is still something on which I look fondly on - Dyric's time in Baltarok was cool and haunting, and 89's dynamic is the sort of thing parties dream of. To say nothing of the other parties, it's a shame players like Cyros aren't around very long, and it's a shame I didn't take the time to interact with them while they were here. Looking at their individual quests, everyone who was active crushed their roles. Alas, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Not sure what my overall goal here is, apart from overall encouraging. All of you folks who were involved, whether QM or player (though especially QMs, serious kudos to you three) made that world and those quests feel so legit. Coming up on the end, Heroica is something truly special, and I don't think it will be forgotten easily. Y'all were equal contributors of this great story that is Heroica, and don't you forget it!

Ha! Good point. Alright, best of luck, see you on the other side. Dyric gives a friendly salute, then hurries off with the troops, leading them down a street away from the rest of the party.