"We could tell from inside pretty easily," I point out. "We could also help. Which would be good. Let's do that."

I ride Fluffy over to where Oleg left his horse, and dismount.

[I'll wait and see if somebody's going to get the door for me, I think.]

"Ghost that don't care what we want it to do is a security risk, aint it?" I comment idly, waiting for Pepper's orders to follow.

"I want to go in. Leatherleaf would have been fine, but Oleg may have a spot of bother. Pepper? Your call."

Her eyes widen at the coin, and she flashes Oleg a nervous smile.  "Oh, no, nothing like that," she says, with forced casualness.  Her back to the other patrons, she mouths be careful.  She gives a tiny wave of a finger to indicate the four cloaked figures, then subtly points to the corner of her eye as she pushes her hair back - they're watching.

"Oh, I see."

Well... they look like a cheerless lot. What to do, what to do...

"Ma'am, a round on me for the gentlemen in the corner."

"Oh, I see."

Well... they look like a cheerless lot. What to do, what to do...

"Ma'am, a round on me for the gentlemen in the corner."

"Very kind," she says, heading for the taps, when the watcher at the window slamming is fist onto the table makes her jump and scurry out of the way.

"We could tell from inside pretty easily," I point out. "We could also help. Which would be good. Let's do that."

I ride Fluffy over to where Oleg left his horse, and dismount.

[I'll wait and see if somebody's going to get the door for me, I think.]

"Another of theirs is outside," the watcher reports.  "An undead abomination." 

One of the others hisses disapproval, and two of them rise, pushing back their cloaks to reveal heavy, gleaming arms and armor.  They advance toward Oleg, hands on hilts.

With an apologetic look toward Oleg, the serving girl scurries off into a back room, dragging the other  innkeeper along with her.  You hear the thunk of the door to the storage room being barred from inside.

[Okay!  I'll post a map Friday and kick this thing off - if anyone has a last minute thing to sneak in before combat time starts, now's your chance, because I am too sleepy right now, lol.]

Explanation:
Rows 2 and 3 are the lightning rail stones.  There are the stones themselves, then a crackling zone of elemental energy around them.  A low fence (about 4 feet) prevents people and animals from the roadway from accidentally stumbling onto the line.  

Rows 5 and 6 are the highway.

On the left is the roadhouse.  The doors are currently closed.  Inside, at I-10, there is a steep stair up to a loft area for sleeping. K/L-8/9/10 is a kitchenette area separated from the rest of the room by a bar counter.

Row 13 is the edge of the forest.  It constitute partial cover and difficult terrain.  The rest of the outdoor terrain is normal (other than the lighting rail, of course).  Tables/stairs/the bar/etc indoors will be treated as difficult terrain if you try to go on or over them.  It's normal light out right now.

On the right is the fenced paddock and run-in shed. 

CIrcle A is an older human man with a face that looks chiseled of granite.  Circles C are younger, burly and clearly heavily armed.  Circle B is a wiry woman with a fierce gleam in her eye. 

Circles 1 are stocky, muscular, tall horses.  Circle 2 is a shaggy pony.   Circles 3 are the roadhouse staff.

The dotted line doesn't mean anything - I think it's just the edge of the paper if you're printing the map.

Please place yourselves on the map (and your mounts, if you've dismounted).  I'll place anyone not spoken for by Saturday around noon my time

Initiative order:
Pepper
A
Cs
Mari
Astra
B
Valenae
Oleg

Chaos, you're up!

[I'll put Fluffy at N8, Mari at M7.]

[Presumably we came from the left?  I think Astra, Pepper, and Val would be farther over, off the map, if we were waiting to see what Olegov found and maybe set an ambush.  Can we assume the same pattern continues off to the sides, with empty space where the buildings are?]

[I guess I would be over at C8, since I sat close to the fire. My mount would be stabled, I think.]

[So, purely out of curiosity...is the window in the Western wall large enough for a dwarf to jump through?]

[Martin, I can keep one marked consistently, and a second inconsistently; you?  Any preferences in how we divide them up?]

[Presumably we came from the left?  I think Astra, Pepper, and Val would be farther over, off the map, if we were waiting to see what Olegov found and maybe set an ambush.  Can we assume the same pattern continues off to the sides, with empty space where the buildings are?]

[If you want to embiggen the map by three or four columns to the left, that's fine with me.  But I can't do that in mapmaker, so keeping that map up would be up to you ]

[So, purely out of curiosity...is the window in the Western wall large enough for a dwarf to jump through?]

[Heeeee.  If he curled up like Sonic the Hedgehog while doing so.

They're big enough for a person to climb through, but probably not big enough to kool-aid man through, you know?]

[Martin, I can keep one marked consistently, and a second inconsistently; you?  Any preferences in how we divide them up?]

[I can mark one or two targets at-will for the entire encounter/until I reuse that marking power, and I have a defender aura, which effectively marks any unmarked target adjacent to me. Also have a few temporary marks. We should probably just wait and see how things look when our first turns come up.]

[So maybe -D, -E, rows 13/14 to start for Pepper, Val, Astra, and Astra's lizard?  Astra is unmounted and already has her sword out, but her shield is on her back; standard action to move it to her arm?]

[Pepper at N9. Action: animal handling to scare off the four horses: 20+13=33; movement to crawl through the window to L9; stealth on movement: 10+14 = 24; minor: draw cross bow and take aim at B]

Hells he just rides up and goes in. Hells they're all off now. 

[lol, I'll take the "animal handling" as a nature check.]



Pepper shoos away the warhorses, pony, and Oleg's beast.  (Fluffy, of course, is unfazed.)  They leap the fence, the warhorses moving to mill around uneasily in the road, the fat pony unconcernedly snuffling beneath the snow in the roadside verge for the last of the year's grass.  Oleg's dinosaur, in its excitement, takes a swipe at on of the warhorses, which kicks it soundly, sending it to scuttle a safe distance away.  [I'll assume Pepper left her dino back in the undergrowth.]

She climbs through the window, the people inside giving no indication they've noticed her. 

"Subdue the dwarf," the granite-faced man, clearly the leader, orders the two soldierly types, as he strides outside.  He pauses to size up Mari, then raises a hand, palm in her direction.  "Unclean spirit, I compel you," he intones forcefully.  Mari experiences a disorienting tunnel vision, with this man becoming her point of focus.  [If Mari attacks anyone other than A, she'll have -2 to her attack roll and take 6 radiant damage.  Also, Mari is marked.]

The two soldierly brutes advance on Oleg, grabbing at him.  They both succeed at grasping hold of him before he can twist away.  [Oleg is grabbed.]

[Mari is up, then Astra!]

"You know, sir," I comment to Valenae as we watch Pepper jump down from her lizard and take off without giving us any orders.  "I'm starting to get real sick of her ignoring us.  You think she's worked with other people before?  Or talked to 'em, or anything?"

[Does Astra hear any of what's going on from her position?  Pretty sure she can't see it.]

"Subdue the dwarf," the granite-faced man, clearly the leader, orders the two soldierly types, as he strides outside.  He pauses to size up Mari, then raises a hand, palm in her direction.  "Unclean spirit, I compel you," he intones forcefully.  Mari experiences a disorienting tunnel vision, with this man becoming her point of focus.  [If Mari attacks anyone other than A, she'll have -2 to her attack roll and take 6 radiant damage.  Also, Mari is marked.]

"Unhand the dwarf," I reply sternly, uncoiling the whip at my belt. "And explain yourself. Now."

Minor: Psionic Vigor; Mari gains 8 temporary HP.
Move->Minor: activate Defender Aura.
Standard->Minor: draw whip.

The man replies only, "Divine Light, grant me strength," fixing Mari with an intense stare.

[Astra!  jussr, while Astra can't see inside, she would have spotted the animals scattering and heard the exchange between the man and Mari.]

"Fuck's sake, that fucking ghost is gonna get us all killed," I mutter, tying up my lizard and then unslinging my shield from my back before creeping forward and peering around the corner of the building to try and figure out what's going on.

[Minor: Tether lizard to tree
Whatever: move shield to arm
Move: to A8]

The wiry woman at the window draws her short spear from beneath her cloak, and jogs after their commander, out the door.  She rushes past him, despite his stern, "Atrelioth, wait!"

Even with the rushed approach, her spear sinks true into Mari's ghostly form, doing 12 untyped damage, and 5 ongoing radiant damage (save ends).  [Martin, do adjust that however necessary in light of Mari's weird ghosty stuff.]  The warrior fairly radiates violence [anyone starting their turn in her aura 1 will take -2 to attack rolls and all defenses ].

[She was running, so she's granted combat advantage against her until the start of her next turn.]

Valenae, then Oleg, then Pepper again!

"Look," I call out to the guy from around the corner.  "I aint that big on the ghost neither, but we aint gonna hurt you, or let it hurt no one.  You don't gotta do this.  And I'm sorry if it scared you lot."

[Diplomacy: 15+2=17]

He spares the most fleeting look behind him at Astra, twisting his body slightly so he can glance between her and Mari.  "Drop your weapons and step out, hands up, and you need not be cut down today," he says, not unkindly.

"Uh, would you just surrender to a buncha strangers who said that to you?" I ask.  "All I know, you're bandits."