Orrin, human archer: Part 18 - You Have Been Waylaid by Enemies and Must Defend Yourself (continued)
Having had spoken to Delon already, we decided that our next destination's going to be Umar Hills. Unfortunately, travelling in Amn seems to be anything but straightforward - en route to the city gates, we're waylaid by Suna Seni. Somehow, they were able to intercept us despite our Invisibility 10'. Since we were both concerned about a possible divination cast and equally interested in their gear, we decided to take the initiative into our hands and fight.
First, we move away from their line of sight and prepare by summoning two skeleton warriors and buffing with Armor (Jan), Blur + MIs (Jan), Remove Fear, ProEvil 10', Haste, ProFire (Orrin), II (Jan and Viconia), RoAC II (Orrin - doing it the right way this time), Chant and DuHM (Orrin).
As we approach the enemy, the priest beings his divination incantation. That's the signal for Orrin to strike.
The skeletons charge ahead and Viconia is tasked with casting Silence towards the main group from the distance. Jan's at the frontline, rushing towards the mage while uncorking his Firebreath potion. His invisibility is safe since Orrin has shut down the divining cleric.
*gulp*
Suna Seni falls to Orrin's arrow before Viconia's Silence projectile has reached its destination.
The mage forces Jan to take a saving throw against her Slow, but that's all she can do before getting cremated under our gnome's fiery breath. I'm pretty sure this moment will become canon as far as the Jansen family stories are concerned, naturally with some minor adjustments and additions.
Eldarin soon follows the mages' fate.
Now where's that rogue? The log seems to be silent, but we still order everyone to switch to their melee weapons in anticipation of a backstab. There we go - he reveals himself before Jan could look him up.
Viconia triggers Defensive Harmony to avoid any last minute injuries, however our ranged attackers are able to take him down before he can quaff further PoIs.
Well done everyone! We collect the loot and proceed to the City Gates, where we learn about the situation in Trademeet, enjoy some anti-smalltalk with Jan and treat ourselves to a good night's sleep at the Crooked Crane's stables. While we'll reek of horses for the next few days, at least I didn't ruin our budget before heading out of town.
Have I already mentioned that travelling in Amn is not very straightforward? Then guess what - we ran into Renfeld the moment we set foot outside Athkatla! While not very pleased with the interference, we were ready to deal with the situation.
Taking advantage our of invisibility, we take the time to prepare in a similar manner as we did with Suna Seni, including ensuring that everyone's running II. We open with Viconia's Silence.
By mistake, I allow Jan to get into the spell's range, but fortunately he makes his save, unlike the enemy wizard.
With the mage's spellcasting temporarily disabled, Orrin activates Called Shot and opens fire. The skeletons are already at the helm, while invisible Jan works on removing the mage's MIs.
With his MIs gone, the mage is first tagged with MAA and then hacked into pieces by the skellies.
Orrin shoots down the shield-less priest and Viconia lands Hold Person on the fighter.
Once again, only the rogue remains. We don't see him and we don’t see any mention of him in the log either. Neither Jan seems to be able to spot him with detect illusions. And then I get it! Apparently, he's got this dialogue before he turns hostile. It's like he really wanted to say something important, but then the words got stuck in this throat due to our Silence and that got him completely paralyzed. Haha, there you go! I'm sorry, but the "boys" are no longer available.
We switch to melee and Jan draws him out with Detect Invisibility via his Spectroscopes. Our II's gone and therefore we're slightly more vulnerable.
Viconia quickly activates Defensive Harmony, while the attacker quaffs a PoI and disappears again. We can also see that he picked Jan as his next target.
Haven't you heard that backstab against Stoneskins is a big no-no? Blindness + Called Shot and we're done here.
Well, it seems that despite our best efforts to get away from the city we'll be heading into the Docks. But don't worry people of Imnesvale and Trademeet, we'll get to you as soon as we can.
Regards,
B.