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Scarlet Heroes: Riko Akane saves a princess.

Zeth

Supernova
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Location
RI, USA
Riko Akane was in the Painted Stag tavern. When a royal envoy approaches her. "Miss Riko Akane, King Yukki has a request of you. The shou have kidnapped his daughter the Princess when she was en route to her wedding engagement with Lord Peppercorn. If you return his daughter safely, you may choose any one magical item from his great treasury. What do you say?" explained the envoy. He waits until for an answer and is willing to answer any questions.
 
Riko was enjoying the spoils of her recent victory. Ting and Rou who had accompanied her previously had gone their separate ways after getting their cut of the haul. It would seem that Riko had gained some level of notoriety to be sought out specifically for this task. More likely, that she just happened to be at the wrong place at the right time to be approached by an envoy. Right about when Riko was about to tell this envoy to bugger off, they said something that had caught her attention.

Now this was worth her while. A magical item from the King's vault. All Riko had to do was return the princess. It sounded so easy, as it was just one simple objective. Now, the questions were flowing through her mind. "I'll do it, but I expect to be well paid for this." Riko would mutter out in a tone befitting someone who had just been seemingly pressed back into service after being freed.

"Was the Princess travelling with anyone? Did anyone survive? Where was she going? Who has sent any demands of ransom? What was the method of the attack or ambush that resulted in the capture of the Princess? How did the Shou even know that she was travelling in the first place?" Riko would start to fire out questions as she would try to discern exactly what she was up against.

After the exchange was over, Riko would take a few moments to see if there was anything she needed to follow up on with the answers she was given.
 
"The princess was traveling with an escort. They let her groomsman survived to deliver the ransom demand. These Shou are bandits who will try to ransom wealthy people back to their family. They are just as likely to slit her throat as let her go if paid. No, what we need is some one to go in there and get her before they realize what is going on. You defeated the monsters of the fire temple. So a bad of uppity goblins and hob goblins shouldn't be too much trouble," said the envoy. He then took a breath. "The hard part might be the princess herself. The marriage was arranged as a political affair. She is the third daughter of King Yukki and a rebellious girl at that. I hope she hasn't taken a shine to a Shou chief ad is trying to escape her engagement. Either way, your task is to deliver her to safety," said the Envoy. Ah, the heart of the matter comes up.
 
Riko would almost try to hide her disgust at the situation that she had just gotten herself into. It was almost a waste of her time to go slashing up a group of goblins, but the true nature of the problem would reveal itself. The princess almost certainly wanted no part of this arranged marriage and Lord Whatshisnuts there had dispatched an envoy to find any help he could.

"So, let me understand this? I return her, she escapes again, and then you are back here a day later offering me another item from the King's vault?" Riko would fire back as the true nature of the problem was revealed. Riko half thought that it might have been the princess herself that had staged this mess if only to get herself out of the arranged marriage. At least Riko had an idea of where to head off to as the Shou lands are fairly well known. "How are we going to handle the ransom demand? Is someone going to travel with me and deliver the ransom money? They would need to stall for time, as I would not be able to liberate the princess if you simply paid them."

Riko was now trying to formulate the manner in which she would approach this rescue attempt. If she at least knew where the princess was, she could attempt a rescue while another group left off with the ransom demand. With the ransom money in play, Riko could assume that the princess was still alive. There could well be a fight over the ransom money, but that was not Riko's concern by what the envoy had described. The only thing that truly concerned Riko at this point was the location of the princess and what item she was going to take as a reward for successfully delivering this princess back to safety.. Only to have the cycle start over again as Riko full well expected the princess to find another way to escape this arrangement to be married to the Lord.
 
Riko would almost try to hide her disgust at the situation that she had just gotten herself into. It was almost a waste of her time to go slashing up a group of goblins, but the true nature of the problem would reveal itself. The princess almost certainly wanted no part of this arranged marriage and Lord Whatshisnuts there had dispatched an envoy to find any help he could.

"So, let me understand this? I return her, she escapes again, and then you are back here a day later offering me another item from the King's vault?" Riko would fire back as the true nature of the problem was revealed. Riko half thought that it might have been the princess herself that had staged this mess if only to get herself out of the arranged marriage. At least Riko had an idea of where to head off to as the Shou lands are fairly well known. "How are we going to handle the ransom demand? Is someone going to travel with me and deliver the ransom money? They would need to stall for time, as I would not be able to liberate the princess if you simply paid them."

Riko was now trying to formulate the manner in which she would approach this rescue attempt. If she at least knew where the princess was, she could attempt a rescue while another group left off with the ransom demand. With the ransom money in play, Riko could assume that the princess was still alive. There could well be a fight over the ransom money, but that was not Riko's concern by what the envoy had described. The only thing that truly concerned Riko at this point was the location of the princess and what item she was going to take as a reward for successfully delivering this princess back to safety.. Only to have the cycle start over again as Riko full well expected the princess to find another way to escape this arrangement to be married to the Lord.

"You will be given a magical item on her return. If she runs off again, that is not your problem. Lord Peppercorn might just call the whole wedding off upon actually meeting her. Though Princess Lily is quite beautiful and talented, she has a reputation for being headstrong. But that is neither here nor there. Now as you have guessed a small group of the king's men will be bringing the ransom demand. It will appear we have full intention of paying them. You are to liberate the princess from their forest hide out and escape. King Yukki doubted mere gold would sway you. Hence the magical item offer. You may also keep any loot you gain from the Shou," added the Envoy. He would then give her a map where the Shou camp marked on it and where the ransom was to be paid. "If you take a horse you can come in from the side while the spokesman meets our envoy. Basically the two of them meet on neutral ground to barter over her ransom. While they negotiate you have time to slip on, save the princess and probably slaughter some of them."
 
"So long as you realize what you are getting me into, I am not a delivery service. This one time and that is it." Riko would reinforce the emphasis on the last part. This was a one time affair as far as Riko was concerned. Though, Riko was somewhat taken aback by what the envoy said. Thinking about it a bit, 'any loot you gain from the Shou..' stuck in her head a little bit. It may not amount to much, but it was better than nothing.

Now it was time to focus on the task at hand. Riko would look at the provided map, and start to take notes on what the best method of entry would be. Escaping would be another matter entirely, because at that point the jig would have been up a long time ago so that was not as important an aspect as simply finding the best way in.
 
You have been provided a riding horse if you do not own one already. Give me a wisdom check to determine the best route. Your survival training adds to this.
 
How to spell FAIL? Pretty sure an 8 is gonna get me a trip in the entirely wrong direction. Maybe Riko could have held the map in the proper manner before trying to find the best method to go about her infiltration.
 
Riko Akane is ambushed by Shou Bandits on the trail. They are on foot while she is on horseback. Does she fight or out run them?
 
Riko would see two goblins, but this is not her first rodeo. She had a feeling that there were at least 2 to 4 more of them waiting to ambush her if she were to stop to destroy these borderline pathetic creatures. Riko had an objective for the time being, and was not particularly fond of taking precious time to destroy these goblins.

Riko would attempt to outrun the goblins that have attempted to ambush her.
 
Riko succeeds in out running them. She is on horseback and they are on foot. She speeds pass the bandits as they curse the humans for bringing horses to their lands and making robbing people harder.

Later our heroine has made it to the outskirts of the bandit camp. The camp proper is in a dungeon like cave and their are a pair of goblin guards at the entrance with spears.
 
Riko would try to find a place where she could tie up the horse. This was almost certainly going to be her method of escaping if things became unpleasant for her. With two goblins standing watch, Riko had figured there was little chance of there being an alternate way to get into the cave. Riko would at least try to sneak up to one of the goblins if she could to get the element of surprise in her favor.

(If she can get a surprise shot off with her bow before closing in to melee, I would like to go with that.)
 
Well players always go first in combat unless they get surprised. I'll give you one free shot since you surprised them, then you take a normal turn and act the they act.
 
With the chance to take a shot with her bow, Riko would try to seize the opportunity. Attack: 13, Damage: 4, Fray: 1 as Riko let loose with a shot from her bow. Soon after Riko would sheathe the bow and opt to settle things at close range. Moving in, Riko would get a little to overzealous with her charge. Attack: 4, Damage: 4, Fray: 5 as Riko would attempt to engage at melee range against the guards.
 
Well shit, she missed Her first attack completely. The second attack missed completely. Then the FURY! rose up in Riko and she slayed one of them with a hail of arrows. Fray die, fuck yeah.

A goblin screams "Intruder!" and charges at her.
Shou Goblins
Armor class 6. Hit Die 1.
 
As the remaining goblin would charge toward Riko, she would in turn try to meet that goblin with an advance of her own. Switching to her sword and shield, Riko would make Goblin-Kebab out of that remaining goblin. (I rolled a nat 20 so.. I think it is safe to call for a cleanup in aisle 2 now?) The poor thing lowered its spear in an attempt to impale Riko, which proved to be a big mistake as it allowed Riko a clean shot at the goblin's head and neck area.

With the first two guards defeated, Riko would look about both for anything that was able to hear the goblin scream out and if she could identify the entrance along with anything that may stop her from proceeding into the caves below.
 
The goblins were dead. She walked into a hall that gave way to a large central chamber. There was a door on the far side, a door to the right, a bunch of crude wooden tables and chairs. In the center was a big ass cage with an Elven woman in it. She was currently surrounded by 10 goblins and a 2 hobgoblins. "Stupid elf princess. Your father will pay up if he knows whats good for you," said a hobgoblin leader. He had the biggest hat, so he had to be in charge. They then proceeded to mock the elf and poke her with sticks.

After a moment they notice Riko! "Kill the intruder!" the leader scream and everyone charges Riko weapons drawn. Time to get to work Fighty McFighter!

Goblin hit die 1 AC 6
Hobgoblin Hit Dice 2 AC 5
 
The princess cringes feeling the wood scrape her as she is poked, She lets out a horrid scream holding her side as she moves to the other side of the cage crying. She is in a blue gown with gold embroidery and jewels. It is shredded a bit and tattered as she kept shaking, "GET AWAY!"
 
Riko would set about trying to thin the herd a bit. Her first moves were mostly defensive trying to set about getting the battle to move in her favor. While she started to get the goblins to set after her, she was able to catch one haphazardly running in while hopefully keeping herself in a position where she would not be flanked. The outer walls of this room were going to be her best friend in this encounter though Riko also had to be careful not to back herself into a corner. So long as she could keep moving, Riko figured she would cut these things down over time.

Attack: 9 (miss), Fray: 2
 
The 9 remaining goblins swarmed Riko and attacked with crude axes and stolen swords. Out of 9 attacks only 1 goblin managed a glancing blow and got past her defenses. The two hob goblins waited by the princess cage. They watched on in mild horror as this human warrior was besting 10 goblins.

Rolling at +3 total counting her AC
8, 10, 12, 5, 11, 15, 18, 23 hit, 15.

Damage 4. Riko loses 1 hp.
 
So far so good Riko figured, though she felt a spear graze across her upper thigh. It was not a clean strike but it was enough that it would leave a bit of a scar were she able to get through this encounter. Continuing to try to keep some manner of distance with herself and the unwashed battalion of goblins stumbling over themselves at times trying to flail about and hit her. This could not continue on for very long as Riko had already been grazed once by these things.

Attack: Missed Fray: 4

Riko would at least catch one more with her sword as they continued to advance. That would be two of them down and 8 more to go. Then Riko would see if the larget hobgoblins would engage her at some point. At least for now, they seemed more interested in guarding the princess than trying to engage with Riko.
 
Another goblin Died. The goblins scored only two more hits. This time drawing some blood. But Riko for the most part was still in fighting form as they were dropping left and right. They looked like they were going to turn tail and run, but the hobgoblin yelled," Fight you fools. Or she will slaughter us all!"

8, 19, 23 hit, 9, 16, 8, 20 hit, 8

Damage
6 so she takes 2 damage,
5 so she takes 1 damage

Morale Check passed.
 
(Doesn't the 5 do 2 damage as well?)

Riko would need to change her tactics up a bit it would seem. Riko was only able to dispose of one of these goblins and now she was hit two more times which had sent her into a little bit of a panic. She needed to think of something she could do to change the tide. It would seem that the goblins were scared of their hobgoblin master more than they were of her. At least the hobgoblins realized that she was a threat.

The whiff

Riko could not properly focus as she was adapting a bit to try not to get hit anymore. So much so that she did not even try to capitalize on any openings the goblins were leaving for her to dispose of another one or possibly two of these things. Instead, Riko was on the defensive as these goblins seemed to be rallying now.
 
the damage chart is 1= 0, 2 to 5= 1, 6 to 9= 2, 10+ =4. So those two handed weapons and magic weapons are real killers. I could post a copy of it in the rules thread if that helps.

I'm off to shovel snow then work. I'll see you tomorrow.
 
No need, I think I was just getting my damage dice confused since the sword hits for 2 on a 5 (because of the +1)
 
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