Scene #3722: Saber's Tabletop Hour

Owner	Pose
Nero	Today was the day. The day that Nero would call the GREATEST TABLETOP SESSION IN THE HISTORY OF TABLETOP SESSIONS. ...So she thought anyway. BUT NEVERMIND. The time! It was now! And it was here! Here in Dun Realtai, likely to Sir Bedivere's annoyance, Nero has called for people to gather in the village, at the local tavern. It was there, at a large, reserved table, that Nero sat. At the head with a rule and lore book, as well as a GM divider. "Welcome one and all!" The Servant greeted, spreading her arms with a huge grin on her face. "I am most pleased that you have decided to make this journey!" And then she gestured to the seats. "Now come, sit!" Someone was eager. At each spot on the table, was a character sheet with classes, skills, etc, etc, and a pen, waiting to be used. "Create your characters and then we shall begin with all due haste!"
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis is here in the Village of Dun Realtai and he is looking around for where this event of Nero's is taking place at. Additionally, he is confused as to what this role playing game is and he walks on, asking people where someone by the name of Nero is and gives a description of her. After getting pointe din the right direction, he walks and finds the place and looks at it "..." and he blinks, "A tavern?" he states as he walks in and looks aorund, his skill and training at Batman kicking in as he looks around at those here. Spotting Nero, he nods to her and walks over, "Hi Nero," he says to her as he smiles and sits down and looks to see who else is coming to this.
Kazusa Ujikane	When Kazusa walks in the tavern, she's already got her character sheet in hand. Someone was Ready For This. "Ehehe... ehehehe... maaan, I never get a good chance to play tabletop, my only games have been online, this is gonna be /great/!" She slides into her seat and settles in. "Ah, I put together a Ranger, I hope that's alright! Her name is Yoichi Sharpeye, and she's an elf who spent a long time practicing with a bow."
Amalthea	A unicorn walks into a bar. She orders a flagon of mead. Nope it's not a joke, Kuklos ka Amalthea Schmendrick-Fortuna has arrived. Most of the people she vaguely knows get a mild grunt of acknowledgement as she settles into a seat, and starts greeting people a bit more directly. It looks like she has a few supplemental books with her too. "Saber. Ujikane." lone eye poring over the sheets and paper as she begins scribbling and working through stats, rolling dice and re-rolling as she picks spells, feats, and traits. "Been a while since I've done the tabletop thing. Not since like... Psyber janked Loros' First Edition D-and-D stuff. Okay so... I think this is about done." She holds up her sheet. "I am Shadow Cherry Blossom, a tough but compassionate magical girl ninja maid who protects those in trouble, and has dedicated her life to eradicating the hippies of the world."
Amalthea	"I'm also a cat-girl nine-tail-kitsune kami demi-human oni tanuki qilin youkai." Amalthea notes. "It's in my backstory.
Nero	Nero stares at Amaltea. Just stares. ...And stares....and stare some more. And then she nods solemnly. "I see. What riveting tragedy. We shall see where you go from here on out."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks at Amalthea and just blinks as his jaw opens up ..... "Um... Ok, I need to do what now?" he asks those here as he looks. "Never done anything liek this before....." and he looks at the character sheet "..." and he blinks as he looks at Amalthea "Um....." and he is now totally lost.
Staren	Staren walks in with a bag of snacks -- cheese-flavored corn chips, mini-donuts, and jellybeans, which he sets out on the table -- and takes a seat. "So, this is a pretty old-fashioned system, but I did my best with the selection of supplements you allowed." He gives Amal;thea a curious look. "Magical girl ninja maid? Are you allowed to combine all those?" He pushes the provided blank sheet aside and sets down his own, printed-out sheet. Several sheets. Hopefully it's just extra copies of his spells or something? "I am Evan Nightstar, young but talented half-elven wizard. Fresh after graduation, I am seeking to put my arcane knowledge to use helping people." Staren looks over at Terry. "Well... I think there are three approaches to 'what do you do'. Either you come up with a cool idea, you look at the book and pick something that sounds cool, or you decide what sort of role you want to fulfill in the group and we help you build around that!" He smiles, and then looks back to Nero. "Oh, do you have anything to drink? I only remembered snacks."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason seems to find this is going to be an experiance given Nero is GMing this so here she is in Dun Realtai dressed for the weather. She's had the sense to bring supplies, and likely has her Mphone set to check out online resources if she needs to. She grins a little bit sits down and gets to work. "I could use some fun where I get to shut off my brain for a bit."
Gawain	Ever since the knowledge of this game has been made public, Sir Gawain has been practicing. He has been pouring through the book, online roleplaying guides, and character studies in order to make the best character suited for a party-based game. With the helpful use of anime, he has found a good archetype to play, as he walks into the tavern holding his sheet and a stack of notes, smiling. "Lady Saber! Here is my character sheet!" He hands it to her briefly to glance over, before taking it back to reread over himself. "I am Anna Pendragon, a young human half-angel cleric who has recently learned of her connection to the Goddess of Dance, giving her the powers of both healing and ballroom! She's shy and nervous, but is trying to do her best to heal the party, even if she doesn't feel up to task!"
Amalthea	"Magical girl is the main class, Ninja's secondary, Maid is subjob, and the racial traits are all templates. I had to fudge it a bit because normally Keysword can't be used by people without a soul, but because I keep mine in a phylactery-- adding Lich as a tertiary sub-race, I can technically equip one now." Amalthea explains to Staren pretty simply. "By taking Weakness: Hatred of Hippies, I gain about an extra thirty job points." She pauses and looks pointedly at Gawain. "Goddamn mary sues." Grunted under her breath.
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks at Staren "......" and he blinks and ponders, "I'll try something......" and he looks at the paper, "Barbarian....Human.... name...." and he looks "Skon and he was sold to a keeper by his father so that he could have money and ran off to somewhere after doing this.. He was .... 5 when this happened and has been fighting since the age of 7." and he looks. "That's how it is done right?" he asks as he fills in the info on the character sheet. "Now how do I determine the stats here? Just guess or ..."
Kyra Hyral	Kyra Hyral comes rushing in to the tavern. She's late, but at least she seems /prepared/. She's got her mPad held in her hand and waves it around, "I hope it's alright that I kept my character sheet on my mPad! I found this /great/ program for managing sheets and spells called HeroLab. It's super easy to use, especially when it's time to level up and track resources!" Beaming, Kyra sits down at the table and puts the mPad in front of her. "Okay! So my character is a fighter named Biff Hardcastle. He is the sole prince of the Beefsteak Kingdom of Flexalot. He is on a quest to level up his stats-errprove himself as the baddest dude in the land so he'll be fit to take the crown from his father, Gainz Hardcastle."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason takes a moment to do up her character but she's quiclly scribbling awya on her own thing, she's got a idea in her head. She thinks for a moment as she finishes up. "I'm playing an elf thief named Mia Starfall. She generally looks for easy marks and focus on merchants and sometimes even low level noblity for her heists. She's also trying to track down a pair of legendary daggers her family once had and she's caught wind of where they might be after all these years."
Archer	He'd come more out of curiosity then anything else - it was such an odd affair that he doubted anyone in the land wasn't aware of it. But if nothing else, Archer decided seeing how Nero conducted herself in casual life would be... entertaining, to say the least. Entering the bar, the first thing noticeable about Archer would be that he's actually not wearing his trademark red shroud or armor - instead it's casual wear; black slacks, black shoes and a black button-down shirt. Taking a seat at the table, he glances at the assembled and the roles they've taken and deciding to go for the only one that could round up the group. "A knight, I suppose" Archer shrugs. "Naming the token knight seems pointless since they tend to die quickly... but for the sake of argument, I guess 'Sir Grey' will do. Like most knights, he does what he does because he believes it the right choice - duty, justice and everything else that categorizes them, and has been one since adolescence. He knows nothing else besides his code and how to fight, so serving his king and kingdom is all he can do... even if the new ruler is a tyrant." ... A very plain, though grim at the end, description. But clear-cut enough for use in a game, the bowman figures.
Xiaomu	When the call went out for tabletop gamers to gather so Nero could run an adventure for them, Xiaomu's thoughts were best summed up in five words: 'This, I have to see.' She's mostly a video gamer, more likely to pick up a console's controller than a set of dice - but she's familiar with the principles of tabletop role-playing, and she's played a few games here and there over the years. It should at least be an interesting evening, even there isn't much more that comes of it ... "So kind of you to invite us all to participate!" the sage fox greets Nero on her way into the tavern. "I didn't catch which system we're playing with tonight .... something classic, like GURPS or Sword World? Or one of the newer systems?" A glance at the blank character sheet seems to answer her question. "Been a while ... I don't suppose I could skim through part of the rulebook?" Xiaomu wonders. A few minutes later, though (and after a couple of looks at her fellow players), and she's come up with her character, or something resembling one. "... so, my character's going to be Leonard - just the one name, if he has a family he's keeping it a secret - and he's a druid, from a tribe whose forests were cut down by an ever-expanding industrialized empire. He's accompanied by an owl named Brigantine, whom Leonard raised from a chick after the tree where his mother's nest was got cut down by an outsider looking for mistletoe and didn't realize mistletoe only grows in oak trees." She gives Amalthea a brief 'wtf dood?' look at the elaboration on how her magical girl doesn't have a soul but uses a weapon that you need a soul to use ... then shakes her head a little, wondering who the unicorn's been hanging around with outside of GGO. It's all in good spirits, though.
Staren	Staren looks over at Archer. "Hey now, don't be so pessimistic! I mean... you might roll bad, but if we all work together, the knight won't be dying quickly at all! ...Besides, don't you have heavy armor?" he tries to lean over and look at Archer's sheet, only to be distracted by Xiaomu. "Wait, an industrialized empire? Are we using those rules? Can I be a tinkerer? Ah, it'd take too long to reroll, wizard's fine."
Nero	Once everyone finishes statting and creating their characters, Nero claps her hands. "Now then! The time is nigh! Let us...begin!" And with that, she launches into an storied exposition. "Several thousand years ago, the Lord of Darkness, Aldebaran, spread fear and chaos across the land. Heroes from myriad kingdoms rose up in defense of all the innocent lives around them, and journied to his castle..." "It was on that journey, that they defeated Lord Aldebaran's numerous demon generals, and eventually arrived at the keep of the dark lord himself!" Nero spread her arms dramatically. "The heroes defeated Lord Aldebaran, at the expense of their own lives, and sealed the foul creature into the very abyss he came from, freeing the land from darkness and despair for millenia." She lowered her arms, steepling her fingers ominously. "But now, after a long, long time, after the rise and fall of kingdoms, history has come to repeat itself. Darkness is flooding from the center of the land. Prophecy states that the Lord of Darkness, Aldebaran, would rise yet again. And this time...he would subjugate the world entirely." She gestures to all present. "But like so long ago, heroes have appeare! Heroes that will make the journey to Lord Aldebaran's keep, and quell the darkness once and for all!" "To that end, the king of fairies, Harlequin, has called for heroes to make the journey! To rise up! And now, you have all arrived at the valley of death...where it all will begin." Nero steeples her fingers again. "The land is dark, ominous, forboding...filled with corruption. And yet, you must cross it. You arrive at a shoddily maintained log and rope bridge, connecting two valleys. It is time to proceed..." "...How will you act?"
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis loosk and blinks, "I'll stick with my Barbarian... They are basically brutes with no idea of social skills right?" he asks as he is not familiar with what a Barbarian is. "Um, which is better, human or another race?" he asks as he looks at them.... . o 0(Dwarfs give bonuses to str and dex, humans nothing, elf's ... magic but ........)
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa listens to the introductory exposition with rapt fascination, adjusting her glasses once or twice. But then they come to a bridge, and it's time to act! "Ooh! Um, Yoichi is going to step up to the front and try to get a look at what's on the other side with her sharp elf eyes."
Kyra Hyral	"The industrialized empire sounds kind of evil anyway. Err. Our party's full of good-alignment people, right? I mean...unless it's one of /those/ games where someone secretly genned an evil character that's gonna kill everyone-ooh, hey, we're starting." She taps her fingers on the table, listening to the setup, which actually doesn't sound like there's an evil industrial empire in sight. But when the first scenario is described, Kyra is quick to act: "Oooh, ooh. Biff flexes and says, 'Allow me!' and picks up Anna Pendragon in his arms. He moves to cross the rope bridge after that."
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa quietly and unobtrusively shifts her hand. It's pure coincidence that it covers the alignment part of her character sheet. Honest. And so ordered, she rolls a die, and...
Amalthea	Oh man here it goes. As Saber launches into the exposition that begins this tale of swords and sorcery, Amalthea listens, loppy ear pricked up and intent as she slowly sips at her mead. Scribbling a few plot notes down in her notepad to help her remember more easily for the next session, but the next session is a bridge she'll cross when she gets to it. Right now there's a much different one before the intrepid party! She asks a very important question: "Was the bridge made by hippies? Also along that same vein: are Aldebaran and his generals hippies."
Staren	Staren sits back in his seat and listens to Nero's exposition, ears rotating forward to focus on her. He looks thoughtful, then looks at Terry, "If you're not sure, just going with human's not a bad choice... although, there's a dwarf-only trait that gives you +2 to damage with axes, so..." He looks around the table. "I was gonna say someone should examine the bridge to see if it's safe, but I guess we can just see if Biff makes it across."
Nero	Nero nods to Kazusa. "You can see on the other side, more rockey terrain, and plantlife that is melting and wilting away under the veil of corruption. It is terrible. And you cannot be certain that it is a great idea to stay in this place for too long. Beyond that is the beginning of what appears to be rotting forest." "Additionally , you see a shape in the distant sky. It appears to be getting closer and closer... But you cannot tell what it is just yet."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu raises an eyebrow, then twists around in her chair to see if she can get some mead from the bartender (or whatever you call the guy who serves drinks in a tavern rather than a bar). Once her order is in (or not), she turns her attention back to the game. "The undead magical girl is going to betray us all and eat our livers, I'm calling that right now. - Anyway, Leonard would chant a brief prayer in his tribe's language before setting out across the bridge. Brigantine flies across ahead of him and the others, possibly scouting for signs of Aldebaran's servants." Staren's question prompts Xiaomu to add, "They aren't waiting for Biff to get all the way across, but Leonard clearly trusts in the logs of which the bridge is constructed."
Staren	"Actually," Staren adds, "Evan will go with them, but I'm readying a feather fall spell. Wait, no, I have a better idea, can I cast mending on the bridge? The rules don't actually say how big of an object it works on..."
Archer	Archer regards Staren somewhat skeptically. "Knights with armor are usually the ones on the front lines" he says with a shrug, feeling that starting with such odds tended to make the conclusion obvious. Well, if nothing else, Nero was proving to have a flare for theatrics - or at least a great love of them. The story was something straight out of a stereotypical fairy tale in his opining - a long-lost darkness returning to force people to band together towards the goal of stopping it. And the first trial is... a rope bridge. ... Well, truth be told, with how insane the Multiverse could be at times, it really wasn't that unrealistic. "I suppose Sir Grey would cross as well. Though he'd test the cords holding the bridge up before he did" Archer intones. "I'd like to think being brave doesn't mean charging without thinking."
Amalthea	Oh how Amalthea fires Xiaomu a dirty look. "Excuse you, I fight for sparkles, justice, and to rid the world of hippies, druid hippie scum." Oh dear, she's already slid into character. "--Also I pirouet and do secret ninja ballet moves across the bridge elegantly after Biff, Anna, and Sir Grey, if they don't die."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason listens as NEro sets out the story, and lays the game out for everyone here. She thinks about the setting, she's actually paying attention to the story, though she opens her pack, and pulls out something, it looks like fish flavoured chips of some sort? "I'm gong to check the bridge and then attempt to cross it if it seems all right."
Kyra Hyral	"Look, intelligence is Biff's lowest stat." Kyra points out huffily, queuing up the dice-rolling app on her phone. She's not so into this stuff that she'd dish out cash for actual, physical dice.
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis blinking, Terry speaks, "Skon will get ready for a fight and I will look over the edge of the edge of the cliff before looking at the rest of the party. I am also gonna look tyo see if there is anything that could hurt us on the rope bridge before moving across it." he states to Nero. as he looks around. "If the bridge is safe after testing it I will follow the rest as I a probably the one who is not that well armored due to being a barbarian."
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa gives an animated little nod. "Got it! So for now Yoichi goes to lean on one of the bridge posts, and goes-" Here she slips into a much more 'girly' tone than usual. "'Uwaaaaah, it's so /evil/ over there! If there's anything still alive, I bet we'll have to put it out of its misery~.'" Why does she almost sound excited? "'Oh, and there's something up there flying, too! We should probably get across quick, so we're ready to kill it as soon as it gets close,'" she adds cheerfully.
Gawain	"This story seems very interesting! I can't wait!" Gawain takes his seat, as he listens to the others. As his character is affected, he speaks. "Anna Pendragon goes 'woah' as Biff picks her up, and looks into his eyes shyly. 'O-oh...thank you.', she replies. She waits for Biff to put her down, blushing red the whole time!"
Nero	Nero smirks at Kyra's roll and speaks. "As soon as Biff steps upon the bridge....THE ROPE SNAPS. THE BRIDGE FALLS! If you are on the bridge, then you are also falling!" Nero cackles maniacally, but then remembers Staren's roll. "Oh! But it would appear that Evan's spell has halted the bridge's fall for a moment. It how hangs below at an incline. Perhaps it would be possible to climb it..." Nero stares at everyone. "Roll 1d20 plus half your skill for a saving throw."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu just smiles at Amalthea, "Standing by my prediction ... and Leonard wasn't starting across the bridge until after Biff was on it, but if you insist -" She snags a spare d20 (not one that somebody else is in the middle of rolling, that is) and rolls, then hands the die back to whomever she just cadged it from. "Got a 4 on the roll, half my Skill is 4, so an 8 total ..."
Staren	Staren has a freshly-printed set of dice with him. They're red with white letters. He rolls the d20 for his spell, smiles, then rolls for the save and frowns as it comes up a 3.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra's app rolls her a one. "Motherfucker!" Kyra swears, turning bright red as the botched attempt to cross causes a party wipe in progress. Maybe. Her saving throw at least turns up to be a lot better. "Biff, being the suave guy he is will climb back out with Anna thrown over his shoulder. Y'know, because he's a gentleman and stuff."
Kazusa Ujikane	"'Wooooow, what a rickety bridge... I wonder how we should get across now~!'" Kazusa lilts, before dropping back to her usual voice. "Can I tie a rope to an arrow and shoot it across to the other post?"
Gawain	Gawain rolls a nat20. He's not too excited, probably because he doesn't know what this means! Seeing that he succeeds, however, he speaks. "Anna easily gets to safety, especially with the help of Biff, and then holds her staff out down the bridge to give the others a grip to climb up!"
Amalthea	Amalthea rolls. And looks mildly smug with her roll. "I activate my special skill that I can use unlimited times per day: Wuxia Heroine's Wayward Flight, and nimbly regain my balance. I then spread my glorious luminescent flaming butterfly wings and catch Evan while making a generic magical girl plattitude aboue peace and friendship, while grabbing Anna's staff and praise her virtue."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks, "As I was testing the bridge first," and he rolls his dice and gets a 4 and he looks, "As the bridge falls, I jump back to the starting side and look at the others who were on it to see if any survived."
Archer	Well, Archer would be lying if he didn't see that coming. Though the sound of Kyra suddenly cursing earns something of a bemused glance from the bowman - though the way he says his words are genuine enough to actually be considered kind. "Try not to get to upset. It's just a game, after all." Taking the d20 dice when available, Archer casts it, finding to his mild surprise that his luck seems to have held - barely. "7 on the roll, plus a 3 for half my skill-level. So I'd just barely manage to get away from the bridge while testing it before it collapses. If this were real, I'd be asking 'what now?' to anyone on the same side of the valley."
Kyra Hyral	"Yeah, but, c'mon, this is the first obstacle. I'll die of shame if I get my character killed on the /first obstacle/." Kyra fusses at Archer, still burning bright red in embarassment. "Hey Gawain, our characters should hook up, it would be cute!"
Staren	Staren opens his mouth as Amalthea claims to have at-will flight and that's clearly ridiculous, then shuts it again when he realizes she's just using it to avoid party members being split off or dying. "...Um... Thanks! I mean, Evan smiles in relief and says thank you for catching me, and what wondrous manner of flight magic is this can you teach it to me?"
Xiaomu	Xiaomu just looks at Amalthea, "Which system did you say you rolled her up under ... ?"
Amalthea	"Magical Sailor Pretty Exaltech And Dragons: The Dungeoneering Maid With The Machinegun: Old World Of Blackness: Son of Blackula: I Want To Be The Guy-ening. --The Ninja expansion. Fifth edition." Amalthea answers Xiaomu.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason is getting her dice ready as she eats several more chips but that's not going to go so well. She about chokes on her snack at Amalthea's. Wiat is this actually happening here? Meanwhile in double fantasy land, Mia was lucky she was checking out te bridge first. There's not much she can do for that. "I'll use Mia's enchanted grappling hook to get across now and follow the others." She then nearly chokes again at Amalthea.
Archer	Even though it is likely the wrong move, Archer actually seems to chuckle seeing Kyra in this state, briefly reminded of Rin's tendency to fuss over the smallest mistake in anything she did. "I could think of much worse accidents" he shrugs. Off the battlefield, without the grim matter of choosing life or death decisions, Archer actually seems... amicable. Even somewhat sociable, if not aloof.
Nero	Nero throws them a bone and smiles. "Yoichi's arrow gambit allows the party to cross the gap. On the other end, awaits the corrupted forest. Aldebaran's keep is in the center. But this forest seeks your death, much like the valley you all just crossed!" She rolls a d20 and then smirks from behind her divider. "And it would appear that death has come sooner than thought! A vicious Nightmare Dragon descends from the skies! 'For the revival of Lord Aldebaran!' it cries before opening it's jaws and unleashing a swath of corrupted flame breath, one whose touch erodes at all life! All matter! Ah ha ha ha ha!" Someone was into it.
Nero	Once she finished laughing, Nero ahemed and went on. "Roll 4d10 minus your END to determine damage dealt, and then decide your actions."
Amalthea	Amalthea raises her hand, "Can I substitute Endurance for Evasion with my 'I'm A Freaking Ninja' feat?
Nero	Nero nods. "Feel free to do just that." She answered, looking towards Amalthea with an amused smile.
Kazusa Ujikane	"Yoichi dusts her hands off once she gets to the other side and beams! 'Aaah, it worked, I'm so glad~. I didn't get to kill anything with that arrow, but I'm sure we'll have more opportunities! Is everyone okay? We don't have anyone suffering, do we? I can put you out of your-' And then she stops because there's a dragon up in the sky!" Kazusa rolls her dice, and then grimaces a little. "Well, that's gonna sting a bit, but it's not too bad I guess. 'Aaaah, it hurts, it hurts... how /wonderful/, ehehehe... now, it's ~my~ ~turn~ to let you enjoy it too...' Yoichi is gonna take out her bow and aim for one of the dragon's eyes. I've got a feat that helps on moving targets like that!"
Xiaomu	"Too many colons," Xiaomu deadpans. "Any game system with more than one colon in the title is an abomination in the eyes of the Great Lord Gygax." She waits for other people to finish rolling, then gathers up four 10-siders ... and winces at the result. "Leonard takes 26 points of damage; Brigantine is still scouting and out of harm's way, but may be a free bird at this rate." She checks to see how many hit points her poor druid has left after that.
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis says, "Skon makes it to the other side with the help of Yoichi's arrow and he draws his two longwords," and than Terry rolls the dice and gets the dice roll of a 16 then subtracts his characters END and ends up with a 12 than he looks, "Skon looks up at the dragon and dives for cover of the forest. Once there, I will ready my long swords for the Dragon, as Skon has 2. Due to being a barbarian and a gladiator, he is use to pain and he is ready to fight something that is bigger than him..." Terry states as he looks at the others.
Staren	"What world did you find /that/ in?" Staren asks Amalthea. "I blast it with a fireball!" Staren says, then is told he has to roll damage first. "Ugh, I /hated/ Kalameet's stupid destruction flame thing..." Staren mutters. He rolls the dice and looks at them, then around the table at people's expressions, ears and tail drooping... then his ears perk up. "Wait! I have a spell for this! It's..." he flips through the pages in front of him, "...Here!" He turns it around and holds it up for Nero to see. "Mage's Fortress! Everyone within 20 feet of me takes half damage from magic for a round, immediate action cast time!" He puts the paper down. "So I expend a fourth-level spell slot to cast that." He sits back, folding his arms, looking pleased with himself.
Gawain	Gawain rolls damage, before nodding. "As she arrives on the other side, Anna Pendragon is suddenly driven to fear by the Nightmare Dragon! The flames scorch her, burning her brilliantly. Falling to her knees, she clutches her staff, as she glances at the others. 'I-I'm sorry for getting injured...I hope this helps you all!' She'll then proceed to use her daily Racial Ability, Angel's Grace, to immediately heal everyone in her vicinity 10 points!"
Nero	Nero smirked at all the actions being described and spoke. "Yoichi, roll 3d12 plus your SKIL. Evan, roll 1d20 plus your POW. Leonard, roll 1d20 plus SKL for a scouting check. Due to Anna's racial skill, everyone, but Anna herself, recovers 10 HP."
Amalthea	Oh dear a dragon is it? Amalthea makes her roll and quickly does her calculations, tallying 14 ticks worth of damage onto her sheet. "I am now on fire." The unicorn announces, pausing to take a sip from her mead. "I would activate a special skill, however I suffer from Weakness: Fire. As I am on fire, ninjas cannot catch me. As I am a ninja, this puts me in a logical reality diametrically opposed paradox, and I fade from reality for one turn." She grunts irritably. Then to Staren: "The internet."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks as he marks on his sheet the damage he took after the spell by Anna, and it changes form 12 to 2 and he nods, "Skon will thank Anna and then go over to her and get her to safety before the dragon returns. He will still get ready to fight it." he states.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason gets a drink from her bag and downs it before Amalthea makes another attempt to have Lyria choke on her own food. She tallys down 19 damage that she's taken and it's not going well for her. "Mia is hit bad she's not looking so goods but she's going to try to hook up with Anna and Skon to form some sort of defence. She's also pulling a crossbow from her back.
Kyra Hyral	"Since my character originates from the land of Flexalot-" Kyra reminds the GM, "-he is completely immune to fear effects. The nightmare dragon's presence will not dissuade Biff from doing his duty! No, in fact, he flexes and says 'Finally, I get to kill my very own dragon! Father will be pleased! ARE YOU READY, DRAGON? ARE YOU READY TO GO DOWN TO BIFFTOWN!?' The puny destruction breath seems to just glance off of his rock-hard abs. Because he's got forty times as much HP as anyone else in the party." She rolls some more. "Okay so Biff's gonna draw his sword and use his 'Didn't skip leg day' feat to jump in the air to attack the dragon."
Archer	When Nero begins smirking, and then laughing, Archer finds himself unconsciously comparing the girl to the Saber he knew, finding the similarity between her and Arturia to be almost uncanny. Though the minor variations in appearance - a different shade of green for her eyes being the biggest - and differences in her behavior make it somewhat surreal. If nothing else, it was an odd glimpse of what Arturia might have been like as a more flamboyant person. When Nero unleashes the dragon, Archer sighs to himself - she was certainly quick to shift gears. Taking up four of the d10 dice, Archer casts them on the board. And for the second time, Archer is left genuinely surprised by how comparatively-good of a roll he was given - especially when he sees everyone else's standings - as he calls out the numbers. "I roll a 2, a 7, a 5 and a 1. Subtract Endurance rank and the wall spell from that, and I take 4 damage. Combine that with the healing and it goes to 0." Looking around - especial at Amaletha's description of effects - he shrugs and moves forward with his own actions. "Sir Grey's armor and shield defend him from much of the fire. As he is the knight, it's his duty to charge in against the dragon with sword in hand. He would slash for the dragon's underbelly if at all possible."
Gawain	Noticing that the healing works, Gawain looks over his sheet, before speaking. "Anna is going to rise back to her feet, and raise her staff at the dragon, as she chants. 'Dance Dance Revolution! Dance Dance Revolution!' She's going to try and force the dragon into a fit of flamenco dancing, allowing the others to attack it!" He then proceeds to check what to roll.
Xiaomu	"Of course," Xiaomu grouses - still good-naturedly ... at least until Amalthea logically removes her character from existence. THAT just makes the sage fox stare at her. The Internet. Of course. "Okay, so Leonard is just within the wall's perimeter, and calls out a thank-you to Evan, then another to Anna as he gets back to his feet, recovering his staff. 'Foul beast of the polluted darkness,' he snarls, 'you shall know the wrath of Nature!'" Xiaomu glances at her sheet as she makes the scouting roll - just a 10. "Brigantine probably didn't see a whole lot, but anything could help. For now, Leonard strikes his staff against the ground and calls on the spirits of the forest, trying to rouse them from their corruption-weakened state and bind the dragon with the trees and the greenery. He doesn't even realize that his tunic is still smoldering, somebody could probably alert him to that fact."
Amalthea	Amalthea seems to be doing calculations and scribbling things wildly. "Oh I know just what to do when I return from the Nega Moon Dark De Deathsatan Antiverse."
Staren	Staren looks down at his sheet and mentally tallies numbers. "So I'm... completely healed!" He smiles. "Now, let's see... Ugh, I can't use an area spell with everyone crowding around the dragon! Let's see... Wait! Do I know if this kind of dragon has an elemental weakness?"
Nero	Nero nods at the rolls and rattles off exposition. "The dragon roars in pain as the arrow strikes it's eye! It takes 24 damage, and falls out of the sky, landing roughly onto the ground. 'I will not allow you heroes to pass! Lord Aldebaran must be revived! For the sake of the destruction of all living beings!' It cries! But then....but then....!" Nero spreads her arms. "The dragon begins to dance! Dance the dance of life! It dances for the sake of all beings in the universe! It is filled with new purpose! New understanding! It has seen the light! ...But it is a shame that now swords descend upon it! Slashes from all over! The damage is fierce! Too fierce! 67 Damage! It lets out a bloodcurdling cry! And it falls! 'No! This cannot be! L-Lord Aldebaraaaaaaan...!'" And then Nero's expression darkens and she steeples her fingers. "You have claimed your first life, heroes. How does it feel? How does it feel to etinguish that spark from another living being? For this chain of violence will not end. Not now that you have begun it. Mhmhmhm....the time to move forward has come. You may inspect the fallen beast, if you wish, but the depths of the corrupted forest await you..." "Leonard will learn that deep within the forest, the corruption gets more and more worse. Without the blessing of the Fairy King, Harlequinn, you would be nothing more than bones by now. ...And so, how will you move now?"
Staren	Staren ohs. It's dead already. Good. As Nero gets existential, he doesn't seem particularly swayed. "But we must have killed stuff before, to start at this level. It's the only way to get xp! ...Ooh, good idea, are there any special spell components we can harvest from the dragon? Or, like, some scales or something?" He casts a nervous look around, making sure noone at the table is actually a dragon to be offended. Good.
Gawain	Gawain rolls. Success! "As the dragon begins dancing, Anna begins dancing with it! She is so glad that they could have shown that it truly had a noble so- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not Flamenco Dragon! As it perishes, Anna runs to his corpse, sobbing, as she turns to the others. 'He had so much to live for! W-why must fate be so cruel? Please, we must give him a proper funeral! It's only just!' She reaches into her bag of holding to pull out a shovel, as she begins to dig!"
Kazusa Ujikane	Having rolled her dice, Kazusa sits back and beams quietly, satisfied with that roll and patiently awaiting results. Hearing how well she suceeded, she grins widely again, and says, "Yoichi is going to jaunt right up to the dragon to retrieve her arrow with a smile, then jaunt over to Leonard and clasp her hands together gratefully, still holding the arrow. 'Anna~, thank you so much for that shield! I don't think I could have hit its eye so well if I were hurt more! Aaah, but did you hear how it shrieked, though~? Bows really are amazing...'"
Archer	Rolling the d20 dice, Archer is now genuinely starting to wonder if Nero's own passive charisma traits are affecting them. Given his own E-Rank Luck, he wasn't exactly convinced it was his own chances giving him such good rolls. Then again, how one started wasn't important compared to how they finished. He raises one brow inquiringly at Nero's narration... and then proceeds to look blankly when she brings up the dragon /dancing/ it's way to death. Gawain's... dedication to the story drew a similar look. If he hadn't already known, he'd have been shocked if someone had told him these two were relatives of Saber - one distant and the other a possible extended family. More so then when he'd learned Saber's identity. When she brings up how they feel, Archer gives her a half-questioning look. "I'd think most everyone here would know what they were getting into, though." However, on the matter of looting the dragon, Archer tilts his head as he thinks on what he would do and on what an honor-bound knight would do. "I suppose he would leave the dragon's body be, if not stare at it a moment to pay it respects. But after that, he would advocate that 'We should make haste through the forests. We have many battles ahead of us, after all.'"
Gawain	"As she begins digging, Anna suddenly stops, and raises her staff, as she speaks. 'No...no, I cannot allow this to happen! You have too much to live for, Flamenco Dragon! You have too much to love! You need to dance! Flamenco Flamenco Come Back! Flamenco Flamenco Come Back!' Anna casts Flamenco Resurrection, in order to bring the dragon back to the life as an ally!" Gawain proceeds to roll, before checking with Nero to see ifit succeeds.
Amalthea	With a roll of dice for her own records, and a few more scribbles, Amalthea has one last sip of mead. "In a flash of bright light and swirling cherry blossoms I return, resplendant, and with a much bigger bust. 'I'm back everybody!' I call out with maximum genki levels, filled with kawaii and uguu, and bright pink circles on my cheeks to represent a blush. 'I hope you didn't miss me too much! I was in the Nega Moon Dark De Deathsatan Antiverse, fighting the forces of un-sparkle, and learning new ninja skills from my mother, the nine tailed fox goddess queen of all magical girl ninjas.'" There's a brief pause. "I then burst into waterfall tears and mourn the loss of Flamenco Dragon."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis says, "Skon will walk over and inspect the dragon, 'I think we should take its hide. It will make good armor or protection against what lies within the dark forest of death,' he says to the party as he begins to remove or try to remove scales with his sword. If this does not work, than he will take a tooth and/or claw to be used as a dagger or anythign else that maybe of use from a Dragon. However, with Skon being a Barbarian and a Gladiator, I am sure that he would have no idea what to do when faced with a dead dragon, since the armor would have been provided to him by the one or ones who owned him," Terry mentions as he looks at the others.
Staren	Staren looks at Gawain, speechless. Then at Nero, wondering if the GM will really let them keep a dragon. And then at Amalthea. "...You were gone for like six seconds. ...No, don't tell me: Time goes a thousand times faster in the antiverse or something."
Gawain	"'No! Stop!' Anna will jump in the way of Skon to stop him from looting the dragon. 'Don't desecrate his body! I'm trying to resurrect him!' Anna begins crying, angelic tears dropping onto the dragon. These have minor healing powers, but they won't resurrect a dragon unless combined with resurrection magic!" Gawain says.
Amalthea	Amalthea pulls out one of her six or seven supplemental rulebooks and finds the page on the Nega Moon Dark De Deathsatan Antiverse to show to Staren.
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis says, "Skon will be stopped by Anna before he does any damage to the dagon."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason is honesly having fun as stilly s things eem to be. She looks over the other players at the table and trys to picture in her head. Just what happene dwith the drgon of evil. She has this goofy look on her face at all the crazyness she starts just out right laughing a Gawain's Roleplay. "Mia pauses looking at the returd thing from the great beyond there's a small look of horror on her face. She then gets near the Barbarian as quick as she can."
Kyra Hyral	"My character says, 'You know I was gonna go mount it's head over my fireplace with the rest of the monsters I've slain but...for you.' Biff puts a hand to his thickly muscled chest, 'I will abstain.'" Kyra nods, super pleased with herself. "Okay so...now what do we do?"
Archer	When hearing of Gawain's intents, Archer once again stares blankly at him. However, advocating he not make such a senseless choice seems pointless since this /is/ a game. Instead he simply sighs and states "Sir Grey would not stop you, though he wouldn't be quite so eager to resurrect a fallen enemy."
Xiaomu	"Brigantine returns from his scouting flight," Xiaomu states (possibly ignoring Amalthea, but given the way her ear twitches, it's unlikely), "And alights on Leonard's staff as the druid whispers another prayer, seeking the peaceful rest of the dragon's soul - unless of course Anna manages to raise it as an ally; then he thanks the spirits for their assistance thus far." She pauses. "Then he walks over to the magical girl, bowing slightly and introducing himself to her as if it's the first time he's ever seen her. Brigantine -" She scounges a couple more dice, rolling something. "- Brigantine then hoots a couple of times, and Leonard looks up apologetically before reporting, 'The corruption of the forest is far greater than we suspected. Even this far in, we would likely be dead or worse if not for the Fairy King's blessing upon us. We should move on as quickly as we can.'"
Nero	"...Anna's attempt fails. Flamenco Dragon rises! ...And then crumples again." Nero smirks. "It would seem that the fated dance is not meant to be had this day. Lady Anna Pendragon will have to hold this memory deep in her heart and move on. Evan and Skon will be able too collect materials from the dragon. Scales, horns, and anything else they would try to pry from it. Otherwise..." She leans back in her seat, calling for a pitcher of ale before continuing. "You continue into the corrupted forest! The ground beneath your very feet speaks of the calamities that have passed through here. Will you be the ones to put a stop to it all? As you journey through, there is suddenly a rumble at the ground beneath... It's a trap! Spikes shoot up from the forest floor, aiming to pierce you!" Nero grins. "Roll 1d20 plus your EVA to determine dodge! You must beat 10! If you fail, roll 1d20 to determine damage taken."
Xiaomu	Xiaomu's still got the 20-sider she had just borrowed, and rolls it again, noting the result before she hands it back (to Archer, whose die it may or may not have been to start with). "Leonard switches from walking forward to walking backwards as if warned of the trap, and frowns at the spike that just tried to spit him on its length. He's also looking to see if it's a 'natural' spike - wood or rock that hasn't been shaved into a perfectly straight spire - or whether it shows signs of having been crafted for the purpose ... and whether it's clean or there's old blood on it from something else."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis listens to Nero as he gets the d20 and rolls it. He looks at the dice as it rolls a 20 and blinks, "I got a 20 plus my evasion... so 25....Is that good?" he asks as he thinks, "Skon walks and hears the rumble. Due to being a gladiator, he knows the sound and moves accordingly, grabbing Mia and Anna as he pushes them out of the way and anyone else near him. He will than turn and look at the trap and those who did not make it, 'Here, give me your hand,' he will say to those in need as he will pull them up if they fell into a pit or will help lift them if they have been stabbed," Terry states to Nero and the others.
Archer	Taking up the d20 dice as Nero finishes her narration, Archer rolls it and sighs as his natural luck seems to finally take hold. "I roll a 5. Add my Evasion level to that and it makes 10." One too short for the save. Taking the die in hand, he rolls for the damage... And once again, Archer wonders if somehow he ended up actually cursed with a spell that reversed his fortunes. "I roll a 1 for damage. I suppose that, while Sir Grey's armor meant he could not dodge, it was strong enough for him to escape relatively unharmed. As such, he continues on with only a minor cut." ... Maybe he /would/ do better as a Saber instead of an Archer.
Staren	"Evan made the shield." Staren corrects. "And he says... you're welcome!" Staren rubs the back of his head, "...That was just a fraction of the power of the mighty EVAN NIGHTSTAR, the genius of, um, wherever-I'm-from-ia!' He taps his staff firmly on the ground for emphasis. 'Also, that was a mighty impressive shot with that bow of yours! Hitting the dragon in the eye... like a legend! And we killed it so dead it couldn't be resurrected...'" On to the forest! Staren rolls a die. Then he rolls a die again. "...Can I swap those?" he's joking, though. "Evan cries out in pain and pulls himself off the spike! I mean, I guess it didn't go all the way through if it's 15 damage... didn't kill him, I mean... 'Who leaves a trap like this... ungh... in the forest?' he says, holding a hand over his wound and scanning the area for magic to see if this trap is magic, and if he can detect further traps!"
Amalthea	Okay moving on. Amalthea does motion the tavern keeper for anothe flagon as she finishes her mead and thumps the stein down. "Okay, I'm done mourning, and introduce myself to Leonard. I give him my full name, but it's kind of long, so we can just say he knows it ICly now, but can just call me by the short form. 'Princess Lullabye Twinkleshine Purity Shadow Cherry Blossom Jade Teapot The third.'. I will accept no other form of address, so remember it or be punished in the name of glitter." What the hell is in that mead? "I also make an icky face at Yoichi, because she's clearly some kind of whackjob." Nevertheless, Amalthea rolls her dice. "Fifteen. I leap up and then land on tip toes on top of a spike like in a wuxia film. Cherry blossoms and glitter fly everywhere as a result of my ninja prowess."
Kazusa Ujikane	"On her way by Anna, Yoichi reaches up and gives her a comforting pat on the shoulder. 'Don't feel bad, I'm sure it's better this way~! I mean, that hole my arrow made was pretty deep.'" She turns a smile on Amalthea briefly, but with a quick roll of her die, Kazusa's grin falls somewhere along the lines of 'cat that ate the canary'. "Yoichi takes a quick step back, and falls into a ready position with an arrow already nocked! No problem for elf reflexes."
Kyra Hyral	"Hell yeah! No damage! Biff is way too hardbody to take damage from such weak stuff." Kyra announces with a grin, "Also Yoichi seems perfectly normal, I don't know what everyone seems to be so worried about."
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason rolls the dice and seems pleased as she gets more than double th roll needed to not take damage. "Mia had a bad feeling about this and was on her guard, she'll mourn the dragon but lter, for now they need to move as she starts to move Terry's character just shoves her out of harms way, she flips in the air several times before coming in for a three point landing! She'll then move back to try and hellp those she can." Chomp he devours mroe fish chips.
Nero	"It would seem that the majority of the party managed to escape relatively unharmed. Evan takes a load of damage, and yet Sir Grey takes little. Examination of the spikes reveal that they were old. Maybe of stone and fit into holes in the ground covered by purposely placed moss. This trap was intentionally built for intruders!" Nero rolls a d20. "....I see." She frowned and glared at Archer. "Sir Archer, do keep your luck to yourself!" Yeah because it was totally his fault. Oh well! For once, nothing crazy. She narrated. "Your journey is made easier now that no further hazards have presented themselves. You eventually arrive at a clearing Within this clearing is a large statue of an armored, knightly figure. One whose hands are rested atop the pommel of a blade. Worn and gray, it does not move. Perhaps this may be a good time to rest and recover briefly." She smirks. "Over the trees, you can see the beginnings of the Dark Lord's keep."
Terry McGinnis	Skon looks around, his swords at the ready as he replaces them on his back, "I think now be good time to rest ad heal," Terry states as he takes a drink of water from his flask and offers it to the rest of the party. "I do not like here," Terry adds as he looks at the other players here.
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa scoots forward a bit. "Yoichi is going to check the statue for traps!"
Staren	Staren relaxes as the narration continues, then sits up straight at the mention of a statue. "A statue, in the dark lord's lands? It might animate and attack us! I cast Detect Magic on the statue to see if it's magic!"
Gawain	"During the encounter, Anna is driven by grief from the Flamenco Dragon's death! She does not move when the spikes pop out, but luckily Skon pushes her out of the way! She quickly regains her bearings, and travels with the others to the statue, where she slams her staff onto the ground. 'Barrier Barrier, Dance for me!' She's going to use Barrier Dance to form a barrier around the perimeter, that heals 1HP a minute while inside of it, as well as damage Evil creatures at the same rate!" Gawain goes to roll again, to see if it works. Wonder if anyone in the Party is evil...?
Kazusa Ujikane	It is at this point that Kazusa leans back a little bit in her chair. Oh look, there's her character sheet revealed. 'Chaotic Neutral' turns out to be her chosen alignment! Well, at least it's not 'evil'.
Kyra Hyral	"Biff agrees." Kyra announces, "With the Barbarian! This is a good time to REST and HEAL. Even Biff knows the value of REST, because when you REST, your MUSCLES grow! He also flexes before he sits down, cross-legged, in front of the statue." At last, Kyra seems pretty pleased with herself. "Man everyone's characters are pretty great. You should make this an ongoing campaign, Nero."
Archer	When Nero all but accuses him of having given her bad luck, Archer gives her half a pointed look, before he ultimately just chuckles, deciding to humor Nero's belief. "If I could control it, I would. I didn't choose to have E-Rank Luck, you know." Though to be fair, Archer suddenly having gained Nero's own A-Rank Luck would have been a tangible explanation for this, though not by anything he did. Then again, Saber had once told him Merlin was found of tricks... Or it could simply be that he was actually having a few lucky moments to counterbalance a lifetime of unlucky ones. Either way, they move on ahead. Archer, opting to continue his role of 'knight' here, makes his move; "Given the injuries some of our party sustained-" he gestures toward Staren and Gawain "- Sir Grey will take up a guard for the injured as they heal. Out of courtesy, he'd ask 'Are you alright?'."
Xiaomu	"'Recovering fully seems like a good idea,' Leonard agrees with Skon. Brigantine takes to the air again - not flying straight up, but alighting briefly on one branch or another; he's keeping watch on the surroundings. Leonard sets his pack down and gets out his herbalist kit; he can either make medicines and poultices to help the rest of the group heal, or brew a strengthening tea for everyone that'll help keep their strength up in the adventure to come." Xiaomu pauses briefly, double-checking her chart. "... although making tea is going to be really hard when he doesn't trust any bodies of water in a forest this corrupted."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks, "Skon is offering the water he has to the party if they ned it." he mentions to Xiaomu.
Nero	"I shall consider it, Praetor." Kyra gets a smile. Nero then rolls another d20, and then nods to herself, looking all too pleased. "Mhmhmhm...Upon inspecting the statue Yoichi and Evan will discover that....it is not a magical contruct or trap. HOWEVER-" She leans forward, steepling her fingers. "...The statue is old. Inexplicably, an ankle joint crumbles at that moment and the statue, no doubt weighing plenty, and with height to match, FALLS OVER! And who is in the path of this statue, but Biff and Yoichi!? Roll 1d20 plus EVA to dodge! You must beat 15 for success! Ah ha ha ha ha!" Nero pls
Staren	"Oh come on!" Staren comments as Nero describes the statue falling over.
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa's near-perpetual grin finally falls as her luck gives out. "Nero, you're such a mean GM," she declares with a pout. "I mean, I could use my elven foresight to reroll, but I only get one shot with that, so..."
Lyria Mason	Mia presses on with the rest of the party having live through this ttrao, they finally make it to the clearing with everyone ahead. She looks to the knight for a momen. Then she understand it's just a statue ad she moves to start to rest, she'll get out of a water skin and start to down it. Then the startue goes down. "LOOK OUT!"
Amalthea	Amalthea has acquired more mead! And then Nero dumps a trap on Biff and Yoichi! "I activate my super secret magical girl skill: 'Talking is a Free Action'. With a dramatic point at the falling statue, the camera focuses on Shadow Cherry Blossom, lips moving for forty seconds with no sound at all, before a badly voice dubbed cry of 'LOOK OUT YOICHI-CHAN! BIFF-KUN!' warns them."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks and picks up a D20, "I want to try to push one or both out of the way of the falling statue," he says as he looks. "Skon will turn and rush forward, and jump to try to get one or both out of the falling statue's way." he says to Nero. "If that is allowed," Terry adds.
Kyra Hyral	Kyra rolls poorly for that one too. It doesn't help that Biff's got a pretty low evasion score. "What, seriously? Did you turn that into a trap just because someone decided to /check it for traps/?!"
Xiaomu	Xiaomu makes a face. "Leonard apparently doesn't have time to accept the offered water before Skon bolts off to help the other two. He's still sorting herbs, though, and if that statue lands badly on them, he's definitely going to be ready to help with broken bones or the like." She pauses, quirking an eyebrow at Amalthea. "That's an awfully expensive 'free' action, you should take the 'Subtitled Only' flaw which cuts out the delay. - But it means you can only be understood by people who are looking at you," she adds. Wait, didn't she hint that she HADN'T heard of that system before?
Archer	As he watches Nero's narration - and takes Kyra's accusation into account - Archer feels he can somewhat see why Nero was regarded as a feared emperor in life if the way she ruled her kingdom was anything like the way she was ruling this game. At this point, Archer is debating whether he should roll to pull her out of the way or if someone else is already planning to, such as Terry. "I believe that we can try to save them, provided we roll over fifteen. if not, we will likely be injured along with them." Well, he was the knight, so it was the thing to do for his character. Taking the d20 dice, he casts it on the table - and yet again it seems that he might be 'leaching' Nero's luck if the annoyed glare she gives around that time is any indication. "I roll a 16, and adding my Evasion to it makes a 21. As a knight, Sir Grey will move in to pull the elf Yoichi out of harms way, trusting that the fighter Biff can handle himself."
Nero	Nero cackles and rolls her dice. "....Ah ha ha ha ha I did no such thing, Praetor!" The cackling stops after she sees the results. A one. A ONE. She glares at Archer again. DID THEY SWITCH LUCK STATS!? But she says nothing and smiles again. "Biff takes 7 points damage. Sir Grey saves Yoichi! Nothing else seems to be in this area. So after a bit of rest, the group is ready to depart!" Nero chugs her ale and then slams the pitcher down. "Ahhhh! Now then! The ends of the corrupted forest are in sight! You have made it without too much trouble! But then....but then....!" Dramatic pause. Nero straightens up. "'Hmph. So you have finally arrived, Heroes of the Prophecy.' Come the muffled voice of a young man, clad in black armor, with his head free of any helmet. His air is long and black, and he has a thin smile upon his face. 'I am Elnath. One of the four Demon Generals of Lord Aldebaran's army. And I have been waiting to put your journey to an end.'" Nero's smile grows. "The man in black armor raises his demon blade, power surging forth! 'With this otherwordly blade, I shall see to it that you are nothing but dust in my path!' And he swings! Two arcs of black energy fly forth, aiming to wash over everyone present with corrupting power! Even the Fairy King's Blessing would buckle under this!" Nero leans forward. "Roll 1d20 plus your EVA twice to dodge both strikes. You must beat 15 to dodge. After that, decide your actions!"
Kazusa Ujikane	Kazusa raises her hand. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Nero, Nero Nero Nero." Pause. "...Yoichi would try to shoot him in the eye the moment he started talking. Can I do that?"
Nero	Nero sputters. "You would interrupt a villainous speech!? You fiend!" Pause. "...Go ahead!"
Amalthea	Amalthea narrows her eye warily at Xiaomu. "Yeah. But this one freezes time for the duration of what I have to say. It's worth the point cost." But then the demon general approaches! ... And Kazusa dares to interrupt a monologue. "Wow kid, I didn't know you had it in you."
Xiaomu	"Just like real life, the bad guys never give you enough time to level grind before you face off against them," Xiaomu sighs. She borrows her d20 from Kyra this time - which is probably a bad choice. The first roll comes close, but - "Leonard manages to bat the slashing arc aside from himself with his staff, twirls it to block the return slash ..." She winces. "And misses the parry, getting bowled over with the wind knocked out of him. What's the damage, or did you already say what it's going to do?" This might be a remarkably short session for her if that does what she THINKS it does ...
Kazusa Ujikane	After a series of rolled die, Kazusa breaks out into giggles. Or is it Yoichi? It's hard to tell. "'Nehehehe... you talk too much, you know~? I can't wait for that when I could be shooting and watching the arrow fly right into... hyaa-!' It looks like Yoichi dodges one perfectly, but gets nailed by the other one. How much on the damage?"
Staren	While waiting for the falling statue event to resolve, Staren grabs some of the cheesy corn chips. As Nero describes the oncoming attacks, Staren points out, "How come the enemies always go first? Aren't we ever gonna roll for initiative? We should shoot this guy while he's monologuing!" Still, he rolls the dice, and frowns at them: 5 1. Then his face lights up again. "Wait!" He looks down at his sheet. "According to this alternate wizard class feature I took, that I gave up my familiar for, I get an immediate action short-range teleport int mod times per day!" He points to the notation on his sheet. "So I teleport out of the way! And /theeeeen/ I hit him with EVAN'S FIRE LANCE! Since I took the spell specialization <fire> feat, I get +2 dice of damage on it, and I selected the trait that gives me +1 die to fire spells, and I took the ageism flaw and used the points to get another +1 die!" Staren mimes spellcasting, complete with thrusting a hand out and wiggling fingers at Nero. "EVAN'S FIRE LANCE!" he shouts, triumphantly!
Amalthea	For a moment. Amalthea holds her rolls. More preoccupied with intently watching Kazusa's roll as she intends to give Elnath a case of Monologus Interruptus. She rolls her evasion check afterwards though. "Looks like I dodged both. I'll do something simple this time and throw a few bedazzled encrusted kunai and shuriken. but I'm more interested in seeing if this guy ate it in the eye." Pause. "Oh right, uh. Just pretend I'm making a peppy magical girl speech. I'm saving my good one for later."
Nero	"Elnath is shot in the eye! He reels back! 'How dare you interrupt my speech!?' He roars! He takes 35 damage!" Nero smirks and goes on. "The damage on the first strike is 27. The damage on the second strike is 11. For a total of 38 damage if both strikes connect!" "Evan's fire lance strikes true, dealing 26 damage!" Nero stopped there, waiting for the others to determine their actions. Amalthea gets a look. "Roll 3d6 plus POW."
Terry McGinnis	Terry McGinnis looks as he rolls twice, he gets a 12 and then a 14 on his second roll. Sighing, he looks, "Skon will try to dodge the two attacks, but I rolled a 12 and a 14, so I got hit twice. Skon will try to dodge, but due to the attacks, will be caught off guard," he says to Nero and the others. Right now, he has no damage, but that will change after this attack. Waiting to see how much damage he will take, he orders a drink, some water and pays for it whne it arrives. Terry just got a glas of water instead of mead or ale... he's in a tavern and just did something odd....
Xiaomu	Xiaomu gives Kazusa a quick thumbs-up and a cheeky but approving grin, then notes the damage on her character sheet. "And I'm invoking the 'My Other Soul' feat, so that Brigantine can act in concert with Leonard's will, basically giving me two actions this round. So - Leonard calls out an invocation to the earth itself, crouches briefly, then lunges at Elnath to swing his staff at the evil lieutenant's sword arm. At the same time, Brigantine flies over Alnath's head and bombs him, trying to splat some guano on the demon-henchman's head or face and distract him, not just for Leonard's attack but potentially leaving Alnath wider open for everyone else." She makes ready to roll the attacks, smirking a little bit.
Archer	Once again, Archer sighs as Nero revels in her position as Master of the game - if this was one of four people they had to fight before the end, they were likely going to be smothered by the time the final battle ever came around. Rolling the dice, Archer sighs as whatever luck was gracing him tonight finally fades for the time being. After all, nobody could be that lucky without some misfortune to counteract it - least of all him. "I roll a 5 and a 2. Add my Evasion rank to that and it's 10 and 7. Both too low to evade a strike with, so Sir Grey takes both attacks as they splinter his armor." Now for the counter. "Sword in hand, Sir Grey will strike at Elnath's flank, trying to hit from the blind-spot created by his eye being shot out" Archer states. "His sword is the only weapon to his name, so he relies on his strength to carry him through."
Kazusa Ujikane	"Eleven damage," Kazusa repeats. Scribble scribble. "Well that's not as bad as it could have been! But I guess since we're now fighting properly, I oughta get to it. So after getting up from that attack, Yoichi's going to start running to one side, circling around so that she'll be behind Sir Grey and can use him as cover for a shot." And while she's getting ready to roll her dice, she leans over to one side a little, and murmurs to Archer, "'Hey. Hey~. Don't worry. You saved me earlier, so I'm not going to accidentally shoot you, I promise~. I don't make that promise for just anyone, Sir Grey.'"
Lyria Mason	Mia looks at the tjhe rmopred one she's not quick as she'd think she is as he starts to sling blades. She's ab le to dodge one but hte anothe scores a brutal hit on her. She's however got an idea, smirks a little bit. Mia's got an idea and Lyria looks to Nero with a grin on her face. "I'll use one of Mia's class features called Mug, which lets me attempt to steal the armor right off the enemy!"
Staren	Staren rolls damage for the fire lance and looks pleased with the results. "'Ha! We'll never let you cover the land in darkness!'" He watches as others take their turns.
Nero	"The Demon General takes hit after hit! 125 damage! But....but he does not go down!? He smiles grimly. 'So this is the power of the chosen heroes. I'm disappointed. Your attacks have no meaning to me. You strike and you strike, but...truly. What is your purpose in this fight?' Elnath straightens up, power channeling off of him in corrupt waves. Why is he not falling!?" Nero spreads her arms as she narrates, looking way too pleased. "'To us Dark Ones, your existence has no meaning. The land belongs to us. If you refuse to serve Lord Aldebaran, then you must fall. There is no other recourse.' Truly, he an existence to be feared! And yet, is it not your jobs as heroes of prophecy to come out on top!?" Nero lowers her arms and continues. "Elnath turns away, looking towards the keep of Lord Aldebaran. 'The Dark Lord awaits your presence, heroes. We shall see if you truly are the ones who will defeat us in the end." And then the man steps forth, vanishing in the blink of an eye!" Beat. Nero smiles and closes up the divider, setting it down upon the table. "And that will be all for tonight's session!" CLIFFHANGER!?
Kazusa Ujikane	Once again, Kazusa raises her hand. "How can he blink his eye, though? I put an arrow through it."
Nero	Nero fumed and pointed. "YOUR eye! Not HIS eye!"
Staren	"So... he insists our only purpose is to fall, but then instead of ensuring it, he lets us go...?" Staren smiles. "Interesting session, all the same! How long have you been working on putting all this together?"
Amalthea	Amalthea puts a hand on Kazusa's shoulder. "He had two." Had is the key word there before Nero fully clarifies and settles the matter. Amalthea takes another sip of her mead and leans back in her seat. "So that was pretty fun."
Nero	Nero smiles proudly at Staren and- "No time at all! I ruminated upon it for all of a few minutes before you all arrived." Isn't that bad?
Kyra Hyral	Despite the cliffhanger, Kyra perks. "So you WILL have another session in the future!? That's great. I have plans. Plaaaans." She steeples her fingers and glances towards Amalthea for a few seconds with a conspiratorial look on her face. "It'll be amaaaazing. Just you wait. Biff will be the best fighter out there! Hohoho!" Kyra slips her mPhone in her pocket and picks her mPad up. "Seriously everyone, HeroLab. It's great." Meanwhile, somewhere else in the multiverse, another MYSTERIOUS GAME SOFTWARE MAKER puts another donation in DJ deadm0g's Patreon account.
Lyria Mason	Lyria Mason pulls out abnother bag of fish chips and opens it, offering it ot the table. "Help your selves. As for the sesson it was at least fun. I enjoyed it. It was certainly worth the time to come here. I needed to shut off my brain for a bit."
Amalthea	Amalthea flashes Kyra a cheeky, winner's, smile. Conspiracy brews. THIS IS NOW MORE THAN A TEN WORD POSE. NYEH.
Xiaomu	Xiaomu accepts a fish chip, nodding thanks to Lyria, then pulls out a few packages of fried tofu, setting them on the table for the others to munch on. THEN she goes to get some mead for herself, because roleplaying is thirsty work and her brain needs to decompress. Or be lubricated. Or both.
Terry McGinnis	Terry marks down the damage of 32 that Skon takes and blinks as the Deamon guy lets the party go, "That was...fun actually. My first time roleplaying," he comments as he looks at everyone. "I cannot wait till the next one to see the outcome of the game," Terry mentions as he looks at Nero, and raises his glass, "To Nero, for a fun and interesting night," he states as he offers a toast to her. And yes, he is drinking water, not anything else. Terry has never had any liquior so ....yea.
Archer	Archer frowns a bit when Nero narrates that they apparently didn't do very much damage to Elnath. Then again, unfair advantages were very common among warlords. However, when Nero calls the session to a close... Archer finds himself mildly surprised at being a bit disappointed. Because, as much as it surprised him... Archer found it hadn't been an unpleasant experience, taking part in this game. "I'd shudder to think of you as an actual enemy if this is the kind of thing you can plan out in only a few minutes" Archer replied lightheartedly, a bemused smile on his face. "It was... entertaining, to say the least." He doesn't take up any drinks, though - discounting the fact that Servants couldn't become intoxicated, Archer had no interest in alcohol anyway.