En guarde!
Log Info
- Title: En Guarde!
- Emitter: Jay
- Characters: Jay, Nemori, Robert
- Place: A08: Northern Banks of the Tornmawr
- Time: Sunday, June 12, 2022, 9:09 PM
- Summary: Nemori has coerced Integrity C Truefeather, the 'C' is for coerced, down to the riverbank for some much needed weapons practice. Robert is on hand to ensure that it safely stays practice. The first choice is wooden weapons or real, and the bluejay dithers. Robert supplies both with ablative, artifice shields that will allow them to use live steel. As this seems the most realistic, the two square off. The egalrin's reactions are quick, even if he is inexperienced, and he manages to keep away from Nemori. A few feints on his part open up her defenses enough that she activates her darkness ability. This spooks Integrity, who last saw it when Nemori and another shadow elf were trying to kill each other. He flees the darkness, throwing bolas, which fail to land. He splashes into the river and Robert calls the combat as getting a little too serious.
-=--=--=--=--=--=-<* A08: Northern Banks of the Tornmawr *>--=--=--=--=--=--=-
In the shadow of the great Highbridge, and beneath the guardhouses, a stretch of river has been laid out as a public park and fishing area. Here, the descending landscape of Alexandria folds into the river and crafts a comfortable view. On a typical day, a number of small boats and picnic blankets dot the landscape. To the side, a small shrine to Rada the River Serpent, as well as a dual shrine to Althea and Daeus, in their guise as Mother and Father of the world.
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Appearing, in Order -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Jay 5'9" 145 Lb Eaglefolk Male A perky male Blue Jay with a discerning eye. Nemori 4'10" 110 Lb Mul'niessa Female A tall and slender, dark skinned elf. Robert 6'3" 235 Lb Human Male A middle-aged Cerenzan with a friendly, fatherly vibe. -=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=
- Little fish, little fish, swimming in the water
- Come back here and give me my daughter
Late afternoon finds Integrity C Truefeather, esquire, the 'C' is for concerned, at the riverbank. While the lawyer-y egalrin has his briefcase with him, his court clothes are folded and resting on top of it, leaving him bedecked only in a mithril vest and his beautiful plumage of feathers. He also sports a belt, which has an overly long rapier on one side which is balanced by four sets of silver balls, which are his hunting bolas.
He seems nervous, evidenced by excessive chattiness, "Okay, so, So! Should I have brought a hat. How does this work? Do we need to draw a box. Did you get merciful weapons from the colosseum, or are we going to use sticks? It's safe right? It'll be safe?"
Nemori is dressed in what she's taken to calling her 'bleeding heart' outfit. A simple affair of leather trousers, a cotton blouse, a vest and boots that ride just shy of the knee. She has her hat, but as she drops the bundle she carried her she removes the hat and sets it aside as well. "We are practicing to use swords, Integrity. Safe is not the word I would use," she tells the bird fellow. "I have no authority to remove expensive training and event weapons from the colloseum." She kneels to unroll the bundle, pulling forth a pair of thin, bundled slats, then rises again.. testing the swing of one. "These are imperfect. There is too much bend. But they ought to hurt enough if one of us strikes the other." SHe turns and holds one out to the egalrin. "I also brought several squares of cork which we can afix to the end of our real rapiers, if you would prefer."
"You remembered your armor, IC?" Bob looks up from his project, smiling and glancing between the soon-to-be dueling pair. He's hiked up his kaftan to fold and sit on his knees, leaving his hair calves exposed to the last of the sunlight and warm river breeze. A panel is in his lap and delicate-looking tools in either gloved hand.
The cerenzan has his healing gadgets on hand, too, just in case, but the large and bulky armor is at home. The system he's working on throbs a sparkling golden color and tinkles like distant chimes. He's made use of a jeweler's eyepiece but doesn't have it set into place at the moment.
"Be careful. Be smart," he suggests, finally, and sets the elaborate gadget aside. Standing, he produces a pair of long, semi-stiff leather straps that seem to be threaded with copper. "Wrists," he prompts.
One after the other, he slaps the strap on Integrity and Nemor'i. The leather clicks on contact and wraps snugly about the forearm just below the joint. Both vibrate briefly and flare blue before the pulsing settles to a milder state. For one to look at the other, either duelist would swear there was a thin, crystal shell about them.
GAME: Robert casts Ablative Barrier. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16 GAME: Robert casts Ablative Barrier. Caster Level: 5 DC: 16
"Yes, see, see?" The bluejay spreads his wings then turns around, like a cormorant drying out after a dive. "It's fitting very well. Wait, so is being careful and being smart using the pointed sticks or the real weapons? You could poke an eye out with those! There's been cases, cases!"
He is fascinated by the device slapped on his wrist, looking at it with a critical, corvid eye, one then the others. "Oh this is neat. Very neat! Oh! Nemori! It's making you glow. Do I have a glow?"
He hops over to the river and peers at his reflection, "I do! Neat!"
"So. Um. Hm. Um." He's very hesitant. "I guess I could use Tempty's blade."
"Yes, Integrity. Very shiny." As it appears the 'practice' swords won't be needed, Nemori carefully drops them back to the ground and takes a moment to examine the device of Robert's now worn on her forearm. She rotates her wrist, then makes a fist. "Ah. Perhaps we can use naked blades, then. This artifice is... interesting." So she proceeds to draw her own rapier, a plain, sad looking thing compared to Jay's.
"It won't stop a wight's gravechill but I'm hoping to lessen a few scrapes as we go out." Bob folds his arms and nods in satisfaction when both bracelets seem to be functioning as expected. "... but it's not an invitation to try and murder one another; I'm only a hobbyist."
Turning to walk back to his seat, the artificer half-bends and hikes up his casualwear robe before sitting back down. His things are collected into his lap again and a foot pulls a blueprint around. He makes a thoughtful noise and looks askance at the pair preparing to fight.
There is a symmetry in the comparison. While Nemori's blade is plain compared to the mithril extravaganza of the eglarin's weapon, his efforts to draw it are sad and awkward in when evaluated against the mul'niessa's expert, deadly, and efficient motion. He's grasping, tugging, and hopping from side to side, failing to clear it from the sheath.
"Look out behind you!" He immediately shouts, plying a distraction. "It's an incontinent aardvark."
He also retreats. "No! I don't want to be murdered by Nemori, I agree. She's very good at that."
Nemori scowls a bit at Robert's turn of phrase, and only deepens when Jay's distraction actualy catches her half turning to look before realizing what she's fallen for. She just looks at Jay, then, waiting for him to get his rapier free. "You keep saying that, but have yet to actually see me murder anyone." Attempted, yes. Successful? Not so much. "It is just sparring, Integrity." She raises her blade, point forward, her other hand falling to her hip as she presents her blade side to the bird lawyer. "I can wait until you are ready."
Glancing up again from his lapfull of gadgetry, Bob frowns mildly at Jay. "Take a breath, IC. Give yourself an extra second to do it correctly. His tone is measured and calm, he gestures with a gloved hand holding a tool; up from his belly towards his throat. "Better to slow down and do it right the first time than to rush and struggle a half-dozen times."
Blue-eyes settle on Nemor'i in silent apology and he glances askance at the egalrin. "... and maybe we can stop calling back to that rather unpleasant night." His head tilts and he nods at the mul'niessa. "My apologies, lady Nemor'i."
Then he's back to look at his lap, a little spark is flying now and again. "I know you can do this, IC. I've seen you save the day at least once..."
"Allegedly! I should have said allegedly!" Jay squawks, heeding Robert's words and relaxing. Enough he is finally freeing his rapier, all it takes is a twist. "I'm ready, allegedly."
He settles into a stance which is oddly competent, one foot forward, talons curled so his weight is on the toe-claws, with most of it on his back leg, which is turned out. He's holding his hand as if he's wielding a parrying dagger, and he's ready to lunge.
"It's not something I usually do." Fight, save the day. All that brave stuff.
Nemori seems mollified. Somewhat. She nods first to Robert, without taking her eyes off of Jay.. he's already shown himself to be quick to use subterfuge. Then she tilts her chin in acknowledgement of Jay's correction as well. "Of course. And perhaps I should have said you have not seen me murder anyone /yet/." And with that, she lunges towards Jay, recognizing his own preparation.
"Allegedly," Bob adds to the end of Nemori's statement with a self-amused laugh. He actually has to stop and half-cover his face for a moment while he tries to collect himself.
GAME: Jay rolls bluff: (15)+7: 22
>SQUAWK!<
Jay is quick. No skill in parrying of blocking, but he's moving even as Nemori is. The tip of his rapier flicks up, drawing a line across level with her eyes.
A feint. He is defaulting to deception just as she assumed.
GAME: Nemori rolls 1d20+3+1: (19)+3+1: 23 (THREAT) GAME: Nemori rolls 1d20+3+1: (9)+3+1: 13 GAME: Nemori rolls 1d6+1: (6)+1: 7, 5 NL and 2 damage, right Rob? GAME: Robert damaged you for 5 points of nonlethal. You have 5 total. GAME: Robert damaged you for 1 points. 33 HP remaining.
And Nemori falls for it, despite expecting it. She ducks, returning with a thrust of her own.. the formal instruction she has received clear, though she falls short of the natural deftness Jay possesses.
<OOC> Jay says, "Jay wil poke. He has slow reactions, which if his sneak attack hits, Nemori can't AOO," <OOC> Jay says, "and he'll try acrobatting behind her after the attack, which may or may not be an Athletics roll" GAME: Jay rolls weapon2: (8)+8: 16 GAME: Jay rolls damage2+2d6: aliased to 1d6+1+2d6: (1)+1+(4): 6 GAME: Jay rolls acrobatics: (6)+11: 17 (vs CMD 17 - Success!) <OOC> Nemori also is affected by the slow reactions.
The bluejay is hit! The strange shield absorbs most of it, but he still caws in surprise. A little blood is drawn.
At which point he lunges, kicking his front foot out as he extends his arm. The point of his rapier slides into her underarm; in what could have been an unexpectedly painful strike. He pulled it, or something happened, the blade bending and deflecting. In any case, it's startling, enough to slow Nemori's reactions and Jay ends up diving at the end of his lunge, rolling past her to take up a position where he'd be a flanking partner, if there was one.
GAME: Nemori rolls 1d20+3+1: (14)+3+1: 18 <OOC> Robert says, "I am making dinner. Hence the lack of poses while I adjudicate. I hope that's OK."
Nemori is indeed distracted by Jay's successful jab. She stumbles a bit, putting her free hand to the pit of her other arm with a wince.. and turning on her heal to follow Jay, if a bit slowly, doing her best to keep her rapier between her body and the bird. Then she lunges again, and the point of her rapier skips off of the fine armour he wears.
<OOC> Jay says, "I think Jay will apologize and feint again" GAME: Jay rolls bluff: (19)+7: 26
"Sorry! Sorry! I tried to pull it." Jay caws, his eyes wide, his wings spread. Spread in a controlled fashion, that helps his balance. His stance remains remarkably good.
Despite his reassurances, his technique is deadly, the point of his rapier moving, dropping low to jab towards Nemori's inner thigh, high on her femoral artery near her abdomen. The light glints as he's about to strike.
There is no touch, no contact, he's feinted again.
GAME: Nemori spends ONE use of DARKNESS.
Too late Nemori realizes she's fallen for yet another feint. Rather than strike, however, she tries to twist.. and as she does, she calls upon her dark heritage to drop a semi-globe of darkness upon both she and the egalrin.. The light fades about the two, not quite concealing them from each other and from Robert, but certainly making it harder to make out the details.
This might be a cause for concern for the older man.
GAME: Jay rolls acrobatics: (8)+11: 19 GAME: Jay rolls bab+4+1: (19)+3+4+1: 27 (THREAT) (Dex is used in CMB rolls with Dex based weapons, see OOC below) <OOC> Jay says, "Threat is irrelevant on a weapon that has switch damage/trip when in trip mode." <OOC> Jay says, "Something that requires an EWP should not be so wimpy." GAME: Jay rolls 1d100: (1): 1 (under 20 is miss. MISS)
"Awk! Dark! Dark! How did you do that?" Integrity is startled by the sudden eclipse, and leaps backwards away from Nemori. Memories of that moment in the forge imply what's about to come next, and he fears the dagger.
He lands, rolls, backwings and pops up, having pulled a set of his hunting bolas from his belt. "Uh, don't hurt her, I don't want to hurt her." Allegedly, he tells the weapon, knocking it against his beak, flinging them.
They spin, with a deadly whirring, straight for Nemori's ankles. They strike the shadow of her ankles, which is to say, they bounce along the ground and miss.
Instructions were followed, they did not hurt her.
Having been keeping one sharp, blue eye popping up to follow the sparring match, Bob is on his feet shortly after the darkness falls. He's set aside the tools and trinket and narrows his eyes to pierce the obfuscating magic and sort out who's where. Jay is still talking and Nemori hasn't called out...
There's a quick, hitching breath and the Cerenzan relaxes back off the balls of his feet. He unclenches his fists.
"If someone calls 'uncle' or yields we stop, immediately." It's his stern voice. The dad voice. "If I say stop we stop. Or I come in there."
The darkness is twenty foot radius, the bird has not escaped yet.
GAME: Nemori rolls 1d20+3+1: (3)+3+1: 7 <OOC> Nemori says, "Haha. They taught her poorly."
Nemori avoids the bolas purely by fortune... left to her own devices, she'd be on the ground, her ankles trussed up tightly. She pays little mind to the good fortune she just enjoyed, however, casting a glance at Robert with his warning. Her eyes are tight, her lips almost curled back into a familiar snarl.. but his words register. A visible effort has her pulling her emotions back, in check, an while her eyes remain narrowed, her lips smooth back into something more akin to heavy concentration. And she marches forward, wielding her rapier as her instructors taught her.
<OOC> Robert says, "You jump as part of a move." <OOC> Robert says, "You can potentially move 10', Jump, and roll poorly enough that you go less than your base 30'." <OOC> Robert says, "The idea being that you jump across to avoid something beneath you" <OOC> Robert says, "you're not just jumping when running will suffice." <OOC> Robert says, "So you could run 20' (or 25') and then high jump." <OOC> Robert says, "Gliding would be a second move action of up to 40' assuming you achieve sufficient height." GAME: Jay rolls acrobatics: (3)+11: 14 <OOC> Jay says, "that's 3' up so 12' on the second move action after the 20' run to the water, i guess."
"No! No! Not fighting what I can't see. Can't see!" Jay calls, backpedal-ling and turning it into a dash for the shoreline. As he nears the edge of the Tornmwar, the egalrin leaps up to take flight.
He gets a little air, about three feet worth, enough to clear some rocks at the shore and skim out to where it starts to get deep, at which point he splashes into the water.
He's all wet, but he can see.
Nemori takes a step to pursue.. until she sees where Jay has fled. And she has no intention of getting wet. So she lets out a long sigh instead, putting her rapier away and stepping out of the artificial shadows. Either she can't dismiss them, or can't be bothered to. (Would it count as littering? Are there bylaws against leaving temporary magical effects laying around?) She watches the egalrin splash for a bit, then tilts her head to him. "That is enough for tonight, Integrity. Come back before you get chilled." Then she turns around to approach Robert.
Her voice is lower when she talks to him. "I apologize. I let myself get carried away. But.. I want him to come with us, Robert. But is it fair to ask him? He performed admirably when we rescued the dwarfs.. but this.. " She clenches her fists, giving her frustration a face for a moment, before she relaxes and begins to gather what she set aside on the banks. "Perhaps you could ask him for me? He is still too nervous around me."
Bob offers a consoling smile and a nod to Nemori, reaching up to pat her shoulder a half-second before catching himself and just stepping past instead. As he walks he hikes up the hem of his kaftan, maneuvering the cloth this way and that before tying it up below his groin. Loins girded, he wades out into the water and extends a gloved hand.
"You were great, IC, but let's get you out of there before a boat thumps you one." He waves and stretches to reach. "These tricky devils will have you warm and dry in no time." The gloves, he means.
In the river, just out of hand's reach, Jay splashes around. "Hold on, I lost my sword!" He dives a few times, less like a duck and more like someone who isn't good at swimming. The third time he surfaces, "I found it!"
He takes Bob's hand, and lets himself be pulled ashore. Water does run off his feathers like a duck's back, so he's considerably lighter once he's back on the ground and shaken off a few streams.
He looks at Nemori. He looks at Robert. His voice lowers, "It's like fighting my sisters. Tempty would be chasing me up and down the hall, and I'd be doing fine, but then Lucky would jump out and pull my tail and Sissy would put a sheet over my head and they'd all roll me up in it and say I need to watch out for distractions!"
"How do I deal with darkness? I can't deal with darkness."
"You did fine..." Bob grins, stepping back while Jay shakes, untying his robe and letting it fall. He steps back in after and lifts the gloves, smiling down at the egalrin as the accessories begin to glow red-orange and dry the fellow's clothing. Warming it, too. "I might stay on dry land next time, though. You get around well-- better than most-- don't rob yourself of that advantage."
The big Cerenzan shakes his head, glancing up from his work to catch Integrity's eyes. "You bring your fair share of distractions to bear, IC. Maybe more than that." He winks.
"You know the lady isn't going to hurt you, right?" Smile fading a bit, Bob considers Jay more seriously. "And if she ever really tried I wouldn't let her, yeah?"
"I'm not sure about that." The bluejay admits, opening and closing his beak a few times, turning so he's warmed and drying out. "She said she wouldn't, but then there was this look in her eyes and everything went dark, and my feelings don't care about the facts."
"I know you wouldn't let her." He adds, suddenly hugging the older man. A firm hug from a bird is still on the light side, "It's still..." He shrugs a little, "Fight or flight, and I have an advantage flying away. Although you're right, not into the water."
"I figured she wouldn't follow me, because it would handicap her too. I should say sorry."
He lets go and runs off towards the Mul'niessa, "Hey, Nemori! I'm sorry! Sorry! That was a nasty trick stabbing you under the arm, it could have really hurt! Sorry!"
OOC & Combatty
Artifice Shield Inspiration
https://youtu.be/KYUolurihOQ?t=65
Fucking magnets e-bolas, how do they work? part deux
<OOC> Robert says, "CMB"
<OOC> Jay says, "you said a CMB with Dex instead of Str? that's another +3"
<OOC> Jay says, "Nemori was saying that Bolas aren't 'attack to hit, do damage, then do the CMB, they're pick attack or CMB'"
<OOC> Robert says, "I don't think so? You usually need a feat for that. Dextrous Maneuvers or something."
<OOC> Jay says, "and that if the CMB is used for a thrown, it's Dex based"
<OOC> Robert says, "https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2mm1z?Bolas-and-ranged-trip-attacks"
<OOC> Nemori says, "From what I researched.."
<OOC> Nemori says, "When you are using a weapon for the maneuver, you use the bonuses you'd have on the weapon."
<OOC> Nemori says, "So if you had weapon finesse and used your rapier, you'd use your dex. Since bolas are ranged, they use dex."
<OOC> Robert says, "FAQ says negative."
<OOC> Robert says, ""FAQ/Errata: If I have Weapon Finesse, can I apply my Dex bonus to my combat maneuver checks instead of my Strength bonus??
It depends on what combat maneuver you're attempting. Disarm, sunder, and trip are normally the only kinds of combat maneuvers in which you're actually using a weapon to perform the maneuver, and therefore the weapon's bonuses apply to the roll. Therefore, if you're attempting a disarm, sunder, or trip maneuver, you can apply your Dex bonus instead of your Str mod on the combat maneuver check (assuming you're using a finessable weapon, of course). For other combat maneuvers, you use the normal rule for determining CMB (Str instead of Dex).""
<OOC> Nemori says, "That tells me you use your dex..."
<OOC> Robert says, "You are 100% right."
<OOC> Robert says, "I read it like a retard."
<OOC> Robert apologizes.
<OOC> Nemori says, "Oh, okay."
<OOC> Nemori says, "Nono! No need to apologize."
<OOC> Nemori has been wrong so many times, I always want my claims double checked.
<OOC> Robert says, "ACK, fudge."
<OOC> Robert sets his keyboard aflame.
<OOC> Nemori says, "SO yeah, Jay, it'd be your BAB + dex bonus + weapon bonus (ie. masterwork)"
<OOC> Nemori ships Robert a new keyboard.
<OOC> Jay nods, "Reading that thread. And still it's damage or trip, even though RL there's no way to not do the damage as part of the trip, as one of the posters in that thread pointed out.
<OOC> Robert says, "Do not attempt to apply RL to games with dragons and magic."
<OOC> Nemori nods.
<OOC> Jay says, "fine I'm kissing it with my beak and telling it not to hurt Nemori so much"
<OOC> Jay says, "soemthign that requires an EWP should not be so wimpy"
<OOC> Nemori says, "Jay is so much nicer than Nemori"
GAME: Jay rolls bab+4+1: (19)+3+4+1: 27
<OOC> Nemori says, "Now, 20 percent miss chance!"
<OOC> Jay says, "under 20 is miss. Also is that , well threat roll doesn't matter"
GAME: Jay rolls 1d100: (1): 1
<OOC> Nemori says, "oh my."
<OOC> Nemori says, "Actually, I don't mind if we ignore that."
<OOC> Nemori says, "The bolas were an awesome move."
<OOC> Robert says, "The darkness was a neat move, too."
<OOC> Jay says, "no I'm fine, we're getting back to how Jay was designed and him never hitting anything with these"
<OOC> Robert says, "You guys are both getting your particular flavor in this combat."
<OOC> Robert says, "I'll sneak in a pose after Jay."
<OOC> Nemori says, "This has gone a little bit beyond a practice sparring match :D"