Darkness Rising - The New Batch

[BLANDCorporatio]

*phew* "Finally some sense. Let's get out of here before more bad things happen."

[Nnelg]

As the last Marbit is despatched and things calm down, Melissa starts fawning for attention.
Nemo absently occupies her as he ponders the situation...

"Hm... Indeed we have succeeded at our task more than we had imagined possible. Our primary objective is now to vouchsafe the return of our newfound natural ally to the capitol.

However... There is still one other thing left to do here. We have no idea how deep this cavern is, and while it is doubtfull we shall be able to explore the full depth of it, we shan't leave without at the very least taking the measure of our new foe...

We can either camp now for the night, and risk the enemy engaging us on their terms, or probe further and risk running into a trap. Either way, waiting for the morrow might be the end of our expedition, should Creeperum deign to recall us now.

When the King contacts me, as it is likely he shall, I will request one additional turn to explore these caves before we return to Tenebris. If we are fortunate, we may even have a stack of gobwins to support us in the tunnels.


In fact... *leaves Melissa's side and approaches the freed prisoner*

Gobwin! What shall we call you, and how much of these caves have you seen? I hail from the side known as Tenebris, and I wish to offer you a home there. But first, tell me all that you know of your captors."

[MarbitChow]

The gobwin grins. "Me am Sto. Me speak gud! You find me. Me glad. Me just pop. Bits caught me. Caught friends. Talk to friends. Friends not speak. Not know how. Me know how. Friends croak. Me not croak. Me join Bris?"

[bob the 6th]

ooc miss a day, and you guys resolve the combat... /ooc

Well, we should call for someone who can pacify the caster... he seems well worth the trouble...

[BLANDCorporatio]

William is up for some hunting, but he's not here.

[BLANDCorporatio]

(IC as Zed-too)

Oh great. Let's count our blessings and politely say goodbye. It's not like this caster can threaten our cities if we, on their turf, nabbed their prize possession.

[Nnelg]

The way I see it... We are here now. If we have the strength to do so, we should deal with Lolly before he becomes a more serious threat... And if we don't, then he already is a serious threat, and we need to inform King Creeperum. Either way, we should push on for as long as we can; we can always pull out if things get too hot...

The only question is whether we press foreward this turn, or wait for the next.

[BLANDCorporatio]

(IC)

How about we wait for the next then? And the one after that?

(OOC)

Wait, Lolly's a he?

Anyway. Pros of waiting are that we heal, and since all of Lolly's units that we've seen, we've croaked, none of his/her/its units will benefit from autoheal meanwhile.

Cons of waiting are that Lolly may raise more troops in the extra turn. It's not like we're that damaged anyway. My OOC guess is that pressing on is the better choice.

[Nnelg]

Wait, Lolly's a he?

No idea.


But I concur that we should at least scout on this turn. If we take it slowly, with Melissa stopping halfway into each corner, we can make sure she's the only one who can be attacked, and that she won't be pinned by an enemy ambush. (We can also make sure we all have delayed moves/actions by each delaying until the last possible phase each round.)

[bob the 6th]

Problem is we are down to two solid melee guys, and a kitty to tank.

question for marbit, can you split the XP yet? or is the lack of an XP split mean more combat is imminent? I mean, If a couple of us level, moving foward could be a good plan...

[Werebiscuit]

The way I see it... We are here now. If we have the strength to do so, we should deal with Lolly before he becomes a more serious threat... And if we don't, then he already is a serious threat, and we need to inform King Creeperum. Either way, we should push on for as long as we can; we can always pull out if things get too hot...

The only question is whether we press foreward this turn, or wait for the next.

So you're saying that if Lolly is a serious enough threat and is able to wipe us out, we should inform your King Creeperum ? How do we do that ? Is he already with the Titans ? Perhaps Kilroy, Moe and Whump have already done that for us.
The way I see it... We have lost more than half our frontline, do not know the forces arrayed against us, have valuable information and a valuable prize to deliver. Yes the dollamancer may rebuild his defences but we can send an army against him ...rather than a scouting force. Regus, talk to him...make him see sense.

[BLANDCorporatio]

Yes commander, please do! There's no way we're getting out of this in one piece, look what happened to our comrades!

OOC

Oh come on where's your spirit of adventure ? Quoth LTDave, "you only live vicariously in forum games many times".

[MarbitChow]

question for marbit, can you split the XP yet? or is the lack of an XP split mean more combat is imminent? I mean, If a couple of us level, moving foward could be a good plan...

Quick reminder: please bold direct questions and orders to make sure I notice them.

XP has been split already, but units only level at the end of the turn.

[WhirdCheese]

I don't know about the rest of you but I am low on juice and there is a high level caster somewhere in here. He could probably take both nemo and I down with one shot! So if you insist on pressing deeper I will bless or curse ONE of you before leaving!

[Nnelg]

Problem is we are down to two solid melee guys, and a kitty to tank.

As long as the tunnels remain narrow, this isn't a problem.

So you're saying that if Lolly is a serious enough threat and is able to wipe us out, we should inform your King Creeperum ? How do we do that ?

I highly doubt he's got enough forces to wipe us out in one round. If he did, we're doomed anyway since there's no way we can escape this turn (what with only one overland move remaining).

If we take it carefully, moving forward one inch at a time, the worst that could happen is a frontal attack; and we're still no worse off than if Lolly decided to attack us on his turn. (In fact, we'd probably be better off since Lolly won't have time to construct additional golems.)

Remember, there's nothing forcing us to attack. We can always fall back should we wish to.

I don't know about the rest of you but I am low on juice and there is a high level caster somewhere in here. He could probably take both nemo and I down with one shot! So if you insist on pressing deeper I will bless or curse ONE of you before leaving!

Don't worry: when we first spot the enemy, Melissa and her rider will be the only units in LOS (Fort would be in the back of the column). If it makes you feel any better, Nemo can veil both casters and the gobwin so as not to be the first targets.

[MarbitChow]

Sounds like a plan has taken shape. Let me know when you want to execute it.

[bob the 6th]

"Casters, we need you. As you just proved, you can be of some use as backup archers. It is better to hit Lolly when he doesn't expect us then to meet his force in the open after he has had time to plan."

[Nnelg]

Well, he certainly expects us now... But he isn't ready, so that's just nitpicking.


The plan is fairly simple. We march forewards in column, dodging and always delaying move until the last possible moment. We move up four squares at a time, with WW keeping an eye out for a hex border, lest the entire group cross one unawares. Zed2 keeps Melissa buffed, and Anex & Rudy mutually buffing each other as well.

Melissa stops halfway around each corner, such as to block any possibility of an enemy passing by her. In order behind her are Zed2/Regus, Anex/Rudy, Nemo/Fort, and Sto (the gobwin).

Sto gets veiled to look like a legionaire, (preferably one with high defence but low combat) as does Fort if he insists. We'll leave Sto as our odd-man-out of the stack.


When we make contact it should be round 10, with everyone dodging with delayed moves/actions, and Melissa/WW the only units in enemy LOS. If we see anything we can't handle, we can start pulling back immediately.

This thread's been asleep long enough, so if anyone has any problems with the plan, speak up now.

[bob the 6th]

Were coming for him...

and to make it clear
The plan is fairly simple. We march forewards in column, dodging and always delaying move until the last possible moment. We move up four squares at a time, with WW keeping an eye out for a hex border, lest the entire group cross one unawares. Zed2 keeps Melissa buffed, and Anex & Rudy mutually buffing each other as well.

Melissa stops halfway around each corner, such as to block any possibility of an enemy passing by her. In order behind her are Zed2/Regus, Anex/Rudy, Nemo/Fort, and Sto (the gobwin).

Sto gets veiled to look like a legionaire, (preferably one with high defence but low combat) as does Fort if he insists. We'll leave Sto as our odd-man-out of the stack.


When we make contact it should be round 10, with everyone dodging with delayed moves/actions, and Melissa/WW the only units in enemy LOS. If we see anything we can't handle, we can start pulling back immediately.

[MarbitChow]

The group makes its way through a twisting, winding tunnel. The further along they get, the less rough the tunnel appears. First wooden supports appear, adorned with small magical lamps to light the way, then the dirt floor is replaced by stone tiles, and finally the ceiling and walls themselves transition to stonework. You eventually make your way to the Hex Border, beyond which you can see that the tunnel continues for a dozen or so yards before ending in a pair of doors that look significantly larger and sturdier than the last two you encountered at the entrance. These doors look like they might even stand up to siege equipment for a while, although it's hard to be certain from this distance.

You realize that, if you cross the hex border here, you'll be forced to end turn in that new hex, no matter what you find, and so you pause to discuss your options before continuing. Nemo estimates that you're about 3 turns away from Tenebris, which is to the south east of your current location.