[D7, Early Morning] Marei's Seven

[Reader]

Through the day's early hour rode Marei's Seven, towards the imposing hill known as Harren's Justice. Would minstrels sing of their valour and bravery, or of their folly? Or would Lord Tullison seek to swear such a large company to secrecy. The

[url=Survival (track)][/url]: 5d6 19

"
Seven horses passed this way, and sit atop the hill ahead of us,"
says the famed hunter Eddrick Goodwater solemnly. "
The horses are heavily laden - captives, heavily armoured riders or both."


Two paths leads up to the plateau atop Harren's justice, according to Eddrick. The Red Fork runs swiftly nearby, overlooked by Harren's grim hanging tree.

[OOC: The Seven are welcome in this thread - they and others are free to create a parallel thread in the same timeslot for preparations]

Initiative

Ser Baelon Waters - 10
Ser Jorah Holt - 9
Lord Dunstan Tullison - 8
Five knights with splint mail, shields and longswords Initiative: 3d6-3 9, tiebreaker Initiative: 3d6-3 9
One knight in brigandine, armed with a greatsword Initiative: 3d6-4 8
Ser Jon Cobb - 7
Woodsmen armed with mattocks and wearing hard leather armour Initiative: 3d6-2 7, tiebreaker Initiative: 3d6-2 12
Ser Kevan Lyras - 6
Ser Benedict Blackthorne - 4 [tiebreaker v Darry please]
Ser Theomore Tullison - 4
Ser Darry, shield, bridandine, longsword Initiative: 3d6-4 4, tiebreaker Initiative: 3d6-4 8

[Baelon Drakeson]

"
No sign of an ambush then - good. Unless they had more go up the other side, of course."

Baelon loosens his sword in his sheath, ready to draw it if needed.

[Reader]

"
No signs of it Ser, I've checked both sides. Stake my life on it. Nobody has been up the other side."

[Benedict Marsten]

Ben follows Baelon's lead in loosening his sword. He shifts nervously in his saddle. "
Long way up. Reminds me of that fella back home who fell off a battlement. As he was falling, people on each floor kept hearing him say, 'So far, so good.' Heh, so far, so good."


ooc: Couldn't resist.

[Reader]

[OOC: seven - could you each post an initiative roll in your next post, in the unlikely event that we need it...]

[Baelon Drakeson]

"
Ser Benedict... when we get back remind me to find someone to teach you some new jokes. That was horrible."


OOC: "
Just in case"
he says, as we are riding into battle. Right...
[url=M7 Initiative][/url]: 3d6-3 10

[Benedict Marsten]

"
I will be looking forward to that."
Among other things. His sword hand sneaks into his shield hand gauntlet.

ooc: Ouch!
[url=M7 Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 4

[Jon Cobb]

Jon eyes the path up the plateau warily, his mind racing. He shivers in the cold morning air, his discomfort compounded by the cold sweat trickling down his neck.

It's like assaulting a castle. They're up there, we're down here, and they can rain destruction down on us with impunity while we're scrabbling to get to the top. This is folly, we should turn around before that lunatic Darry springs his trap!

[url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 7

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Ser Jorah loosened his sword as well as he rode up to the front. He was mentally prepared for the fight ahead. He noted the worry on Jon's face.

"
Ser Lionel is not here just to kill a few knights. He wants a spectacle. Something to inspire his followers and incite another uprising. He won't get that by dropping a few rocks on our heads."

ooc
I'm assuming that its quite obvious

[url=Initiative][/url]: 4d6k3-3 9

[Kevan Lyras]

Kevan rode behind his comrades, not participating in their chatter. He remained silent and observed the area to the left and right of them, his left hand stayed close to the hilt of his sword.

[url=Intitiative][/url]: 3d6-4 6

[Reader]

[OOC: anyone can arrive at the top of the plateau with a weapon drawn/readied, if desired. The path up is too steep to ride, you'll need to lead your horses]

As they crest the hill, awaiting our heroes is a scene from the nightmares of anyone who has ever loved another.

Marei stands atop a bay horse, a thick roped tied around her neck and looped over a bough of Harren's Justice. Her eyes bulge in a stomach churning mixture of terror and hope, ignoring Dunstan's companions and focusing only on her love.

"
I knew my Dunstan would come for me,"
she shouts, somehow managing to sounds braver than she feels. Her face is red from crying and fresh tears roll down her cheeks as her would-be rescuers approach. She does not appear to have been physically harmed.

Seven horses stand at the opposite end of the plateau, Eddrick's eyes didn't fail him....




But each horse carried two men. Fourteen are arrayed against Marei's Seven.



Stone Endures.



But can Seven endure against twice that?

"
Silence woman,"
booms Ser Lionel Darry, grey hair and a wild beard visible through his open visor. "
This Targaryen supporting-dog of a Lord has misled you."


"
No doubt he and his Seven are here only to silence you, to end his dirty secret! Seven for men and Seven for the gods will stand against him to do justice."
For the Seven for men Ser Lionel gestures to seven rough looking woodsmen in leather armour bearing axes, while the Seven for the gods are presumably Ser Lionel himself and his six knightly companions. Hard looking men, with cruel eyes, although the woodsmen struggle to concern a hint of nerves over going up against trained knights.

[Feel free to try to take on all 14, or to try to cut your way free, rescuing Marei and perhaps leaving a desperate rearguard for capture/death, or try a prisoner swap now etc]

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan gasps as he sees Marei.

She is still alive at least, he thinks. As he looks up he gives her a smile and a look that says that soon, everything will be fine.


Sun was shining against his visor, clouding his vision a bit, but he could see there is more than 7 of them.

Yes. The final supreme idiocy. Coming here to hide. The bandits hiding out in the middle of a battlefield.
, the young lord thought as he played with a war horn with one hand, thinking about blowing it or not, to summon the archers and scouts.

"
Ah, a cheater and a lier besides a kidnapper and murderer. I thought the trial by seven means seven people on each side. But apparently you would ignore what's written in the Seven Pointed Star and do as you please. It figures."
Dunstan spoke across the field.

[url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 8

[Kevan Lyras]

Kevan arrives the top of the hill as the last person, upon seeing the numerous fighers, he swings himself into the saddle once again and draws his sword, shield already in his right hand.

Bastards, honour is just too much to expect from these bigots...

He looks at Dunstan to see, how the lord decides to proceed.

[Jon Cobb]

Jon gives Ser Jorah a resigned look as the group arrives atop the hill. Spectacular enough for you?

With a sigh, he grips his mace tightly and then focuses his attention on the scene before him.

Fourteen men, but those boys with the axes look a little shaky. They're probably nothing but fodder to Lionel, but do they know that? Perhaps it's time to let them know that 'Holy' Harry sold them out - see if that shakes them up a bit more?

[url=Cunning (Memory)][/url]: 6d6k5 18 to remember something embarrassing about Ser Lionel
Effect: He wasn't always so holy - as a young man he pursued a Fossoway maiden

[url=Persuasion Assist][/url]: 5d6k4 19 to Baelon's taunt
Effect: +2 bonus to Baelon's Taunt.

John laughs cruelly at Ser Lionel's speech. "
Oh, Ser Lionel, you're a fine one to be talking about dirty secrets! Here, you men, has Ser Lionel ever shared the tale of how he spent his youth trying to mount one of the Fossoway girls, wedding or no wedding? How's that for a holy man?"


"
And speaking of holy, your loyal compatriot 'Holy' Harry seems to have lost faith in your cause. One visit from Ser Jorah over there, and he couldn't wait to tell how a band of outlaws threw you out of Rugar's Hold. If you can't even best some forest bandits when you hold a fortified position, what chance do you think you have now, against seven trained and blooded knights? Do you even know who you're facing? Here, I'll give you a hint - do you know the song Wrecker at the Bridge? Well, they wrote that one about me. I'm Ser Jon Cobb, and I've come for your miserable fucking heads!"


Stealing a glance at Marei, Jon ponders the group's options. That's a nasty setup. Spook the horse and the girl's in for a short drop and a quick stop. So, the hundred dragon question is - can any of us get over there and take control of the animal before Lionel can react? And where are the rest of the men-at-arms Dunstan sent with the girl?

OOC: Post revised after answers from Reader.

[Baelon Drakeson]

"
Dunstan, you are right."

Baelon says in a voice that carries across the hilltop as he remounts and draws his sword.
"
It seems that a Targaryan bastard and a 'sinner' like you have more respect for the Seven than these supposedly holy men. They reveal themselves to be nothing more than common brigands using the name of the Seven for their own selfish purposes. Truly, I cannot imagine the Father judging them kindly, nor that the Mother has much mercy for them. Seven for men? That's blasphemy if I've ever heard it."


OOC:
1) Trying to get Ser Lionel to dismiss the seven woodsmen - a taunt the way I've worded it. Assistance welcome.
[url=M7 Taunt][/url]: 4d6+2 16 1d6 6 1d6 4 (no substitutions)

2) Weren't we bringing squires? If Lionel won't dismiss his additional troops, maybe we can at least buy time for them to get up the hill?

[Ser Jorah Holt]

"
Ser Lionel, you are still the coward you were when Castle Grenward fell. All the Warrior will judge you is someone with no conviction, who only has the courage to murder farmers."

ooc
+1 assist

[Reader]

Ser Lionel tries to rally his wavering woodsmen, but he's a zealout and fanatic rather than a true leader of men. Threatening men with eternal punishment appears to have less of an impact than Baelon's taunts and the words of a war-hero. Several of the woodsmen glance at one another uneasily.

[url=Intimidate][/url]: 5d6k3 14

Sensing his men's unease, Ser Lionel decides to seize the moment.

"
Come men, let the Father lend strength to our just cause and the Warrior guide our swords! Let's start with this Targaryen dog and Northern usurper then the peasant defiling lordling! That could have been your daughter!"


[OOC: the woodsmen are likely to break after a few casualties, but may stay and fight if they are struck as they flee. Please note whether you'll righteously smite fleeing woodsmen for their part in Darry's scheme, or allow them to flee.]

Ser Baelon Waters - 10
Ser Jorah Holt - 9
Lord Dunstan Tullison - 8
Five knights with splint mail, shields and longswords [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-3 9, tiebreaker [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-3 9
One knight in full plate, armed with a greatsword [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 8
Ser Jon Cobb - 7
Woodsmen armed with mattocks and wearing hard leather armour [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-2 7, tiebreaker [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-2 12
Ser Kevan Lyras - 6
Ser Benedict Blackthorne - 4 [tiebreaker v Darry please]
Ser Theomore Tullison - 4
Ser Darry, large shield, full plate, longsword [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 4, tiebreaker [url=Initiative][/url]: 3d6-4 8

[OOC: just need Theomore's initiative roll I think? All - you'll need to spend your first action mounting unless you want to fight from foot, and trying to mount while engaged in combat may provoke attacks because I'm a jerk. Actually, screw the tiebreakers above - PCs win ties thanks to Baelon/Jon's taunt]

[Reader]

[OOC: everyone with animal handling 3 or better - it seems likely the horse will panic and bolt after two rounds of people fighting adjacent to it. At the moment nobody is adjacent to it.

It would bolt on its initiative.

[url=Initiative][/url]: 4d6k3 14]

[Theomore Tullison]

[url=iniative][/url]: 3d6k2-4 4

[Why would we not be on our horses already?]

Theomore as was his habit in all such things, took the rear. war lance at the ready. "
If they are going to play it like that...."
he mutters, quite loudly in fact. "
Archers, aim for their horses."

[Baelon Drakeson]

Baelon smiles to Dunstan, fire burning in his eyes.
"
Get ready to blow that horn."

Mounting his steel grey courser, Velox, Baelon surges into action, riding hard towards the captive Marei, his sword lashing out... at the hangman's rope, a foot or so over her head.
"
Now!"
he yells to Dunstan, as he prepares to receive the unrighteous fury of Darry's knights.

Lesser Action: Interact (Mount)
Lesser Action: Control steed (minimum roll = 4, can't fail TN 0 test)
Mount action(s): Greater action (sprint), move adjacent to Marei
Take Fatigue for extra lesser action
Lesser Action: [url=Cautious Attack, Mounted (vs Rope)][/url]: 10d6k5-1 21 (forgot the -1D for cautious, so 'only' a 21...) ??? DoS
Effect: ??? DoS x 5 = ??? damage - should be at least 3 DoS, for 15 damage,enough to sever the rope...

CD: 11 (14)
AR: 7
Health: 9/9
F/I/W: 1/0/0


OOC: We start unmounted because the top part of the path was too steep to go up mounted.

Somebody said something about a hostage?

[Jon Cobb]

OOC: I haven't done much mounted combat in SIFRP, but I thought it required a Lesser Action to maintain control over a war trained steed (p.58 and 164 of the GoT edition)? So, shouldn't your actions look more like:
Lesser Action to mount
Lesser Action to control steed
Steed takes Lesser or Greater Action to move
You spend fatigue for a Lesser Action to sever the noose?

[Ser Jorah Holt]

Ser Jorah mounted a fine Fossoway courser, drawing his sword and readying his large shield. He moved his horse in front of Ser Baelon as he freed Marei, ready to defend them both.

"
Ser Lionel Darry, do you have the courage to face me alone?"
He challenged the knight, hoping to shame him in front of his men.

ooc
I was going to ask the same thing.

Lesser Action to Mount his horse
Lesser Action to control the horse
Mount moves lesser action
[url=Taunt Ser Darry][/url]: 3d6k3 10 if I can do it as a free action.

[Dunstan Tullison]

Dunstan glances at Marei and Baelon, making sure she is safe enough. As he cuts the ropes and catches her, Dunstan yells

"
Go now, run!"


Mounting the black courser he picks up the warhorn and blows it as hard as he can, filling the air with sharp deafening sound.
He spurs his mount and rides in between his lover and the bandits, ready to take the beating so they cat harm her, if needed.

Lesser Action: Mount Steed
Lesser Action: Interact (Blow warhorn)
Spend fatigue for extra action: Ride between attackers and Marei

[Reader]

[OOC:

Greatsword knight - [url=charge dunstan][/url]: 6d6k4 23 - 8 damage per DoS
Knight - [url=charge Theomore, Kevan, Jon, Baelon, Ben (rolls in this order)][/url]: 6d6k3 16 [Theomore] - 6 Damage per DoS
Knight - [url=charge Kevan, Jon, Baelon, Ben (rolls in this order)][/url]: 4#6d6k3 9 15 16 12 - 6 Damage per DoS
Woodsmen - lesser action (move) x2, fatigue for extra action, knockdown [url=Theomore, Kevan, Ben][/url]: 3#3d6-1 10 7 10 - forgot to include the +2 for moving, so Theo and Ben get hit by 12s. Remaining 4 woodmen move a single move action and aim (+1b to next attack
Ser Lionel - mirrors Ser Jorah's actions to engage the Northerner in single (?) combat!]

[Reader]

[OOC: guys - try to post two rounds of rolls/actions please to see if we can finish this in a week! Flexible directions encouraged to account for various possibilities - IF/THEN/ELSE]

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