MrAbdiel
   
 
   Humble Beginnings   

Stranglethorn Vale is no one's idea of a tourist destination. The beasts are large and hostile. The plants are spiny and poisonous. The mosquitoes are fist-sized and wickedly thirsty. Horde and Alliance interests in the natural resources of the place have met with mixed results at best.

In truth, there are two kinds of successful 'faction' in Stranglethorn. The first are the lunatics. Remnant splinter tribes of the Gurubashi empire now caved in to cannibalism and madness; snarling ogres who have taken the savagery of the locale into their typically charming temperament; humans who delved into the jungle and collapsed into their own primal tendencies. These are all pitiable, in their own way.

The second are the goblins, who imported their own brand of madness to stave off the local kind. To other races observing from the outside, this capacity to develop limpet enclaves of quote-unquote civilization in even the most uncooperative and belligerent environments for the sake of fun and profit is considered hubris and greed. To the goblins, it is called  goblinpreneurship. 

Gurgthrock Razzlespike is a goblinpreneur. When everyone else saw the Gurubashi arena lying dormant, steeped in the ancient blood of combatants willing and unwilling in ages past, they saw a forgotten relic overgrown with thorny vines and choked with seething troll ghosts.

He saw  money. 

With the aid of his Troll-Servant Wodin, he enacted a plan that drew the seed capital from dozens of goblinvestors in Booty Bay. First, the ruin was cleared of overgrowth and the furious dead given a helpful jab out of this life and into the next. The mechanisms and gates were refurbished, the stands cleared and cleaned of mess and rubble.

And then, week after week for a year, he had Wodin dump a modest chest full of coins and trinkets in the middle of the arena with no explanation or announcement. Rumors grew. Treasure hunters came, beat the crap out of each other, and absconded with loot. Some began waiting around for days to be the first to have a chance to snatch up the prizes. After a few months, greedy and bloodthirsty adventurers were travelling from far lands for a chance to become a Gurubashi champion.

Then the chests stopped. And the advertisements began.

That's how you ended up here.

 * * * * * 
 "What a crowd, what a crowd, Dag! They are restless, they are excited, and they are ready for some action!" 
 "I see 'em, Chip; Horde or Alliance, there's something we can all cheer for - and that's good old fashion bloodshed." 

Gnome veteran  Chip Stunjuggle  and goblin sapper-survivor  Daglin Throttlethrottle  go back and forth like this for a while, their voices thundering out tinnily through speakers roughly bolted into the ancient stone of the arena, obscuring time-lost carvings in the process. You have been assured, in your briefing before the contest today, that this is being broadcast in a radio signal that might be heard all over the Eastern Isles - though radio remains a very new and under-adopted technology prone to failure, so this might be an aspirational assurance more than a factual one.

It is hot, and it is humid. The arena sand has been turned to steamy, gritty mud by a brief storm that did its business and left; now you're being cooked under the noonday sun, glaring down at you from directly overhead. The several  thousand  attendees who have come to squeeze into the stands are benefiting now from the newly rigged shadecloth, but you are not. All you have is the growling interest of a bloodsport crowd, the echoing banter of two announcers who seem certain that everyone must love their voices as much as they do, a handful of dubious allies, and the vague assurance from Wodin that the match will start  "not long after you get out dere" 

That was twenty minutes ago.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Alright guys, please place yourselves on the board so to speak - a little presense-post will do; you'll get about a turn to prepare for a 'wave' but if you could roll your initiative  now  you'll make my life easier.

OOC thread is  here .
Recruitment thread (Still open!) is <a href="https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?669481-M-amp-M3-Warcraft-Oneshots-Ring-of-Blood!]here[/URL].
Roll thread is [URL=">here .
 
 
Cazero
After chugging his potions for these precious defensive buffs, Pyrodinn nonchalantly walked into the arena, trying to work up the crowd.
He wasn't very good at this. There's only so many time you can say   "Are you on fire yet?"   in twenty minutes without it becoming dull.
He did try throwing fireballs in the sky as impromptu fireworks, but it didn't really got the desired effect.

The self-proclaimed baron was growing impatient. There's no way he would turn heels and leave now, but he was starting to wonder if his allies weren't meant to be his opponents.
dangelo
Garrick gallops ahead of his soldiers, waving a banner of blue-and-gold and singing of the joy of the battlefield. His troops sing with him, blowing horns, banging wardrums, and clashing their swords against their shields. The Paladin makes a complete lap around the pit before landing again and planting the Alliance banner into the ground.    "Men, to arms!"    His mighty Silver rears up on her hind legs, ready for combat.

Move action: Draw sword
Johel
 With the soft, aerial steps typical of elves,  Sharnise  walks into the arena. Focused, she ignores most of the noise and movements from the stands, her eyes scanning the muddy sand and the prize at its center. The rules were a bit fuzzy. or so she thought, not having been the most attentive during the briefing. "Kill everyone and run away with the loot" seemed like a simple, straightforward plan here but, not knowing what the opposition even was, she decided to start cautiously. From the bottom of her mind, she called upon the local flow of mana and manifested it at the tip of her fingers. The following instant, the air started to shimmer a few inches around her. 
 
 Spoiler 
Casting Arcane Shield (Protection 7 [Arcane])

 Initiative : 18 
 
MrAbdiel
 "Alright, alright - clear out, you lot. No hangers-on!"  This, from a ropy limbed troll guard - one of a handful around the arena, wearing a tabard with a tan field and a jagged red ring in its middle. He's talking to Garrick's troops, who are harried off the field and into the lower stands - though that is unlikely to contain their exuberance for long.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Dangelo, I figure I'll just put your footmen on the sideline as a general narrative case, and you can have them run in for the assist and get harangued off the field again as often as your powers require.
 


Then a rumble shivers the steamy mud of the arena, and the whole crowd rumbles with it.

 "Ladies and gentlemen, that sounds like it's time for us to start today's proceedings - all bets are  closed  with official bookmakers, so take your seats, because  these three heroes are about to show us what they're made of!" 
 "Muscle and blood, Chip; they're made of muscle and blood. And magic." 
 "And magic. But let's not get ahead of ourselves because there's a lot of action today - contestants face the opponents in waves one after another. At the end of each wave, they can choose to tap out and go home with pride and empty pockets. Clear wave six, and they'll win the grand prize - gold, and lots of it!" 
 "Oh, I feel that - feels like wave one is about to arrive. I hope these schmoes ain't allergic to bugs!" 

The manner in which the organizers have secured such opponents to fight to the death in this arena is an enduring mystery - and one no one can spare thought for right now. In scattered spots around the arena's edge, the earth shimmies and shakes and collapses in to disgorge tunnelling occupants, six in total. They are nerubians, known to the fighters here either by reputation from the third war or perhaps by some personal contact - bizarre spider people who fought alongside the Scourge! Bulbous abdoments nod behind their many legs as they drag themselves up onto the field, deeply alien faces chittering and drooling while swarms of fist-sized spiders slink and wind around their bodies!
 
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugral Ring of Blood Entertainment Experience!  Let there be blood! " 

Somewhere a bell rings. And then it begins.

From two of the spider-creatures, writhing swarms of spiders race across the intervening ground and leap like venomous grasshoppers at the two pyromancers, while the third nerubian thrusts is abdomen forward between its steepled legs and sprays a spinning hail of web at the knight!

 
 Spoiler 
Well, that was an impressive first serious of rolls... See them  here . Fortune favor you on your defenses, adventurers!
 
Cazero
Pyrodinn takes the hit, his fire wards incinerating most of the bugs right after they strike him. He's already preparing his counterattack, as fire erupts from his right hand and shapes itself into a ball.
  "Stingy spider, kill it with fire !"  
He throws the fireball towards the nerubian that hit him.
MrAbdiel
In a display of hideously sacrificial symbiosis, Pyrodinn's fireball slaps into the Nerubian's chest but spends most of its force immolating a dense wave of the smaller spiders, filling the air with foul smoke but leaving the Nerubian himself largely unharmed, and only superficially scorched!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
An incredible time to roll a Natural 20 on the toughness check. And a muscular roll against the secondary effect, meaning this minion gets away with his menace for a turn. Sorry Pyrodinn!
 
dangelo
Garrick pulls the reins to the side and Silver sidesteps out of the way of the cobwebs, knight and steed moving like one in perfect synchrony. ( Dodge 15 )

Wheeling his mount forwards, Garrick attacks the Nerubian with his sword. ( Attack 20 , damage 3)
MrAbdiel
With a crowd pleasing  thuck  and then the ring of freeing steel, Sir Garrick's sword punches into the side carapace of his target and spills its arachnid guts out on the sodden sand! One of the creatures has fallen - five remain!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
One minion down! After Sharnise's turn, all the bad boys will act again!
 
Johel
 The arachnid swarm   slamed onto Sharnise's magical shield  , a sickening frying sound rising as the small creatures tried and failed to get through.

Sharnise had been slow to react : it was her first taste of real combat, after all.
Satisfied to see her protection are holding up, the elf lifts her right hand, tracing a few symbols into the air, the movement gathering speed as small flames start appearing. She then extended her palm forward and blew inside it, five small falcons made of fire screaming as they took off toward the second Nerubian. They circle their target before   trying to hit it  . The mage then shout at her fellow competitors : 
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
Unarmed : Close ; +1 ; Damage 0
Fire Birds : Ranged ; +5 ; Damage 5 [Fire] ; Homing 3
Fire Blast : Ranged ; Area [Burst] 30 ft ; Dodge DC15 ; Damage 5 [Fire]
Ignite : Perception ; Damage 5 [Fire] 
 Sharnise : 
  Warriors ! Troll ! That creature is marked for death ! You can safely ignore her !  
 
 Spoiler 
Rolled a 16 to hit.
If the birds miss, they can try 3 more times to hit in the following rounds.
If they hit, the Nerubian has to make a Toughness check against DC 20 (fire damage)
 
MrAbdiel
With a chittering scream, the second Nerubian goes up in retaliatory fire - this one's protective swarm unable to coalesce in time to save it as it thrashes, topples over, and curls its legs pitifully to its chest.

They're less bold, now, these Nerubians. All begin striving to contain the situation with their weaponized web volleys. Two target Sharnise from behind, but the blood elf is quick enough on her feet that the webs catch nothing but arena dirt. But one aimed at Pyrodinn, and the backwards-scuttling one near to Garrick, launch with a much more threatening accuracy!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
 Two bad misses on Sharnise, and a hit on each Garrick and Pyrodinn  - that's a Dodge roll of 15 for each to avoid the listed effects, then it's the hero turn again! But also, feel free to make me a Perception check for free...

 
 Spoiler: Perception Success DC 10 
You can feel the earth shiver again - there's more coming...

 
 Spoiler: Three or more degrees Success: 
...And one's much bigger... and right underneath the middle of the Arena!
 

 

 
dangelo
Sir Garrick (Initiative 16)

   "We press on!"    Garrick cries as his target falls by his sword, chaining that strike into a gallop and swinging his blade at one of the remaining unmarked nerubian.    "Stormwind! Stormwind!"   

However, an incoming wep traps the mighty Silver in place, and as Garrick refuses to leave his pegasus behind, the paladin is unable to advance. With a grunt of frustration, he thrusts his sword into the ground and draws a heavy composite hornbow from his back. The great bow creaks under the pressure, Garrick's powerful back muscles doing the heavy work to pull the arrow all the way to his cheek before releasing it with a loud  thump .

 
 Spoiler 
Rolled a  27  to hit with Bow +7/3, modified to +9/1 (Accurate Attack)

Dodge roll: 2 degrees of failure

Takedown
 
 Spoiler 
If you render a minion incapacitated with an attack, you get an immediate extra attack as a free action against another minion within range and adjacent to the previous target’s location. The extra attack is with the same attack and bonus as the first. You can continue using this advantage until you miss or there are no more minions within range of your attack or your last target.
 

 
Johel
 Ignoring the webs shot at her as they either miss or fizzle against her shield, Sharnise admires the work of the first of her five creations. The remaining four circle the arena, waiting for her mental command,   which comes quickly  . She then prepare herself to summon more fire birds to end whatever the arena had in store next, obvious as she was to whatever else might be going on. 
 
 Spoiler 
Failed the perception check.
If the extra attack from Take Down 2 didn't hit (I rolled a 11), then the fire birds will automatically try again up to 3 times in the following rounds (Homing 3).
If the extra attack from Take Down 2 did hit and didn't incapacitate, then it's the end.
If the extra attack from Take Down 2 did hit and did incapacitate, then a second attack happens on another target and fails (I rolled a 6) but the fire birds will automatically try again up to 3 times in the following rounds (Homing 3), keeping the cycle alive for a while if needed.
 
Cazero
Pyrodinn waves away the web as it reaches him. For a moment, he's distracted by Sharnise's fire birds.
  "Nice birdies. I should try making some someday. Ho, right, nerubians to burn."  
As he focuses his magic, a large circle of land beneath two of the nerubians cracks and is suddenly set ablaze, with a short lived pillar of flame forming between them.
MrAbdiel
The arrow whistling from Sir Garrick's bow punches into the nerubian's thorax-torso, spilling purple blood and vital fluids, and it shudders to the ground, unable to capitalize on the webs it has deployed on the knight and steed. The fiery bird harrying the creature adds insult to injury - thumping into its corpse, setting it alight, completing its own mission.

On the other side of the field, another of Sharnise's deadly avian spell constructs weaves and darts about one of the Nerubians, who mages to avoid its first pass - but may yet still suffer on the return pass.

When the column of fire erupts between the other two attackers, one is just barely nimble enough to skitter clear with only its hairs singed - but its companion is not so lucky, washed with flame and then throw tumbling and scorched to a halt nearby, slain. Both survivors seem desperate and scattered, trying to defend themselves!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 

Nerubian 2 is dead - arrow'd.
Nerubian 4 is alive with 3 more Homing firebird passes pending.
Nerubian 5 is dead - cooked!
Nerubian 6 is alive, the cheeky fella.

Nerubian 4 and 6 both actively defend this turn, and scatter away from each other by another 20ft.
 


 
 Originally Posted by Your Commentators, Chip and Dag 
  "Wow, wow, wow - feel that heatwave, Dag. These spiders are no match for this unlikely, infernal duo!" 
 "Elves and trolls, united by their common love of fire - it's a beautiful thing! Ha ha!" 
 "And that knight's no slouch either - two down by his hand by my count - though he is in a sticky situation and at the worst possible time, because the rest of wave one is-"  
 

With a great ripping of stone and earth, the ground between Pyrodinn and Sharnise - and beneath their feet! - bursts apart as a massive form tears itself from the ground. Elephantine in size, plated in glossy black carapace with chunks of churned Strangethorn earn trickling off the spiny surface, a monstrous Nerubian Crypt Lord explodes into the arena! The very effort of its arrival is a hazard - what of its powers to claw, and bite, and kill?


 
 Originally Posted by Your Commentators, Chip and Dag 
  "AND THERE HE IS FOLKS, there's our wave one champion Tatuken-Khatep, WOW what an entrance!" 
 "You thought the little ones were big? Check out the big ones! Hahaha! All the way from Azjol-Nerub, and looking angry for the commute!"  
 

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Boo!

 

Tatuken-Khan's arrival 'attack' is an Area, so it requires no hit roll - but Pyrodinn and Sharnise can make some rolls to avoid it!

 Dynamic Entrance  – Area Damage 6, Linked
Area Affliction rank 6, Hindered/Prone, Fortitude Resistance, Overcome 1Turn/Standup

So that's: A dodge check to half the effect ranks of both to 3 (DC16), and a Toughness check (DC18/21) to avoid the damage and a Fort check (DC13/16) to avoid the knock-around. He joins the initiative order at Initiative 1, and the initiative ticks back to the top of the turn, and our Heroes. Tatuken-Khan is adjacent to both pyromancers right now.
 
Johel
 Nodding to the troll, Sharnise let out a light laugh. 
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
Unarmed : Close ; +1 ; Damage 0
Fire Birds : Ranged ; +5 ; Damage 5 [Fire] ; Homing 3
Fire Blast : Ranged ; Area [Burst] 30 ft ; Dodge DC15 ; Damage 5 [Fire]
Ignite : Perception ; Damage 5 [Fire] 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Why yes, thank you ! It is a creation of mine. Very entertaining and so appropriate for such a setting. That pillar of flames is not bad either. For a troll. Maybe we could trade notes when this is ov..."  
 Then the earth shook, a chitinous monstrosity emerging, the ground tumbling beneath the mage's feet.   She didn't quite manage to get out of the way  , chunks of rocks as big as her skull hitting her arcane protections in full force, shattering the force field and slamming into her head. Somehow, despite the strength of the impact, Sharnise didn't fall. Or did she ? The world was spinning... 
 
 Spoiler 
Rolled 20 to dodge so that's half the effect.

Rolled 10 against Damage DC18.
Is that one or two degrees of failure ?
   Failure (one degree):  The target has a –1 circumstance penalty to further resistance checks against damage.  
   Failure (two degrees):  The target is dazed until the end of their next turn and has a –1 circumstance penalty to further checks against damage.  

Rolled 19 against Affliction DC13 so that's a success.
 
Cazero
As the earth erupts, Pyrodinn is violently projected to the ground and covered in rubble. He groggily stumbles back up.
  "Did someone catch the plate on that donkey cart?"  
He then turns around and notice the crypt lord.
  "Ho. Heeeeey. Want a light?"  
dangelo
Garrick takes 2 degrees of damage, but resists the knock-around effect.

The paladin's helmet is flung out of his head as cracked earth and debris washes over him, revealing the terrible Nerubian Crypt Lord. Unable to close into the action, Garrick raises his hand in the air and conjures one of his holy spells.    "Prepare to be judged!"   

Prepare for judgment! [Fear, Emotion, Holy]
 
 Spoiler 
Affliction 5 (Impaired, Disabled, Incapacitated)
Area (Cone) +1, Progressive +1, Concentration +1
Instant Recovery -1, Sense-Dependent -1, Check Required (Intimidation) -1
Alternate resistance: Will +0

Ideally I'd like to target the Crypt Lord as well as any minions nearby. Also I'm hoping the Cone Area will be enough to compensate the distance between Garrick and the others.
 
Johel
 In disbelief, Sharnise watched as both the troll and the human taunted the gigantic abomination. Those two were brave, no doubt about it. But bravery rarely meant an extended lifespan and, coming from a species whose members could witness eons, she knew a thing or two about when to be a dirty coward when needed. Such as right now. Her head still heavy, she blurted a single syllable. The second after, her skin and cloth stopped blocking light. For all purpose, she had become invisible. 
 
 Spoiler 
1 standard action : casting "Arcane Magic : Invisibility"

  Concealment 10 [All Visual] - (Blending)
When invisible, Sharnise cannot be seen.
She has to move at half her speed, though, as there's a slight lag between how the spell bend the light.  

Normally, Concealment 10 is for   ALL   senses but that wouldn't be thematically appropriate.
I put it at 10 just because the "Variable" Power allowed it.
If we get further PP later (big if), I'll make it an independent power but, for now, I didn't have the budget... which is normal for a apprentice mage.

The   Expertise Check for Arcane Magic  , rolled earlier.
 
MrAbdiel
 Shoom!  Pyrodinn's target goes up in a gout of spontaneous flame, squealing in its ultrasonic garble before pitching over dead in a smoking pile.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Nerubian 6 is dead; only Nerubian 4 remains, though he manages to avoid a second round of homing attacks from the firebird long enough to attack!
 


Sharnise is nowhere to be seen - but her firebird continues to harrass the lone nerubian warrior left to support his wicked captain. Showing admirable pluck (for an arthropod), the nerubian dashes toward the midfield and throws its upper limbs wide, propelling its spider-swarm symbiotes to detach and race toward the troll pyromancer!

The Crypt Lord's necromantic nature is so greviously offended by the paladin's declaration that it aborts the downward blow of its claw, otherwise destined for Pyrodinn, to totter back a couple of steps and howl out an alien cry of pain. It gives a shake of its carapace, that dislodges numerous tumbling, glossy purple beetles, and then burrows under the stadium earth again, vanishing into the ground with only a nebulous tremor left to detect....

 
 Spoiler: Insight Check: DC10 
It doesn't take a genius to guess the Crypt Lord's next move - he's going to come up from beneath the web-stricken knight and steed, for sure!
 

 
 Spoiler: Perception Check: DC10 
Those beetles have shimmied through the earth and begun to burrow into the smoldering bodies of the nearby dead nerubian warriors... (Nerubians 5 and 6). For what purpose?
 
Cazero
Pyrodinn closely dodges the creeping swarm and slowly backs away.
  "For the big one, we're gonna need a bigger fireball. And I can provide."  
Once again, fire erupts from his hands and shapes itself into a sphere, that grows larger and larger.
dangelo
Finally free of the spider webs, Garrick flies upwards in a rising spiral, leaving his sword behind.

Move action to fly up: Flight 3
Standard action to  Defend 

Improved Defense Advantage
 
 Spoiler 
When you take the defend action in combat (see Defend in Action &amp; Adventure) you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your active defense checks for the round.
 
Johel
 Gathering her thoughts, Sharnise kept walking in a slow, careful pace, watching closely for how the light did not reflect on her. When the large creature dived underground again, the elf readied herself. She had watched the beast, for all 12 seconds it had been around. Not much the say except that it looked tough, that it could disapear quickly and that its reapearance would be heraled by a rain of boulders, which had proved a serious danger for Sharnise and the other contestants. If the beast was hard to harm to begin with and could then barely be targeted, it would be a nightmare.

Luckily, while monsters of that size could be fast, they were rarely agile : there was only so much the Laws of the Universe could tolerate before rebelling. Magic existed specifically to bend those Laws but the giant insect's nature could not be THAT mystical. And the mage went to work, readying a spell that would target the ground around the monster's legs, engulfing them in a thick layer of molten rock at the precise moment it would emerge again.

Meanwhile, hissing screams informed her that   the birds had dived again.   She didn't spare a glance for their prey : if it lived, more hawks would descend on it until it didn't anyway... 
MrAbdiel
The hunting hawk of Thalassian fire finally strikes home - it slaps into the Nerubian's chest, golden flame splashing upon it and catching on the forest of fine hairs and symbiotic arachnids, before the bird constructs itself on the other side from the curling flames like a phoenix in miniature. It soars up, but finds no suitable prey remaining; so it dissolves into motes of mana rapidly contracting back into Sharnise's new spell weaving.

Pyrodinn's efforts conjouring a roiling, shuddering sphere of powerful flame are unhindered as a battlefield clear of nuisances permits full concentration. And Garrick takes to the air on Silver's powerful wings just in time for the massive Nerubian Cryptlord to explode out of the ground beneath where he was moments ago webbed. Scything claws rake through the air inches beneath the pegasus' fleet hooves, but the hulk's beetle-wings seem largely vestigial, and it gives no chase - just a clicking, bitter cry of disappointment.


 
 Originally Posted by Your friendly commentators 
  "Wowee, folks; it was nearly good-night for the good knight there, but with a little horsepower he's out of Tatuken-Khan's range and the big bug's not happy!" 
 "These brawlers are learning lessons quick - explode up from under my feet once, shame on you - explode up from under my feet twice shame on me!"  
 

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Attack successfully avoided. Time to attack, heroes! Tatuken-Khan is about 50ft from the mages and about the same from Garrick, though the latter is airborne. Strike!
 
Cazero
Trying to capitalise on surprise as much as possible, Pyrodinn throws the globe of flame, now bigger than his head, without saying a word.
dangelo
Garrick rides in a wide circle, his pegasus' hooves moving as if she was galloping, although her powerful wings are doing all the work.   "It likes the ground!"   The paladin cries to his allies as he conjures a healing spell upon himself. ( 3 degrees of success ).   "Fire mages, can you combine your power to turn the ground into lava?"   He looks from Sharnise to Pyrodinn.   "Kill it with fire, kill it with molten rock!"  
Johel
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6 
 Sharnise : 
  "-We are trying !"  
 Says a soft voice going from nowhere.
And with this being said, Sharnise slowly moves away from her position while trying to immobilize the giant bug. 
 
 Spoiler 
Standard action : cast "Floor is Lava" at the Crypt Lord -   Here is the latest roll  
Move action : move 15 feet away from her position, staying near the edge of the arena.
 
MrAbdiel
This time, the great Nerubian is not so fast - the dust and sand beneath it flash heats into sizzling molten form, searing the tips of the monstrous bug's legs and, most importantly, denying it the ability to maneuver!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Failure of two degrees, so Tatuken-khan is  Immobilized! 
 


Unable to maneuver, it has no option to line up both fire mages in its wrathful approach - but it's not without avenues to punish! Slamming its bulky forelimbs into the ground, the smoldering earth rumbles as some piercing, burrowing membrane extrudes from its claws and  races down the same line the enchantment took to catch him... before erupting beneath Sharnise in a great spike of barbed chitin!

 
 Spoiler: Dodge, Sharnise, Dodge! 
Impale attack! It's a line, so no roll to hit required - but only Sharnise is caught in the line.

This is a  Damage 4  line linked to an  Affliction rank 6, Vulnerable/Stunned, Resist with Dodge, overcome with Fortitude.
 

First comes a pair of Dodge Checks to halve the effect of the area attack (Dodge vs DC14 and DC16 respectively)

Then the Damage calls for a Toughness Check vs DC19, or DC17 if you passed the first check to halve the ranks.
The Affliction calls for a Dodge Check DC16, or DC13 if you passed the first check to halve the ranks.
 
Cazero
  "Heh. You've been aiming this at the wrong mage ! Second serving !"  
Pyrodinn throws another ball of fire at the crypt lord.
Johel
 Fortunately for the blood elf, her magical protections held against the spike. Barely, though, the shock of the impact still pushing Sharnise back a few paces. As she she staggered on her feet, she heard a sickening crunch, followed by a overwhelmingly hot pain which shot up her right leg. Any normal being would have had her concentration broken but Sharnise had sharpen her mind against such distraction through decades of academic training. Which was part of the problem : no normal being would have described her pain as "overwhelmingly hot". It was not even a sprained ankle. But such is the life of bookworms when facing the real world... 
 
 Dodge  3   2  - Parry  3   2  - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Vulnerable  
 Sharnise : 
  "-Curse upon you !"  
 In half a breath, limping, Sharnise incanted the same spell as before, altering the hand gestures slightly, flexing ever so subtly the fifth syllable while adding a small curve into the last rune. What arcane miracle left her arms was barely visible at first, until it shattered against the Crypt Lord's   fourth leg  . 
 
 Spoiler 
Standard action : cast "Floor is Lava" at the Crypt Lord -   Here is the latest roll  
Move action : move 15 feet away from her position, staying near the edge of the arena.
 
dangelo
  "What a treacherous, vile creature!"   Garrick cries as he kicks his heels into Silver's sides. As a response, Silver folds her wings around her equine body and both knight and steed dive at the giant monster, recovering from the dive on the last second and rising again with a single flap of her powerful wings.   "I will be your enemy now!"   He shouts at the Nerubian.

Garrick proceeds to dive and recover, flying around the Nerubian like an annoying insect. Move Action to fly around, Standard Action to take the Defend Action.

  "Fire Mages, I'll take the frontline again! Focus on your spells!"  
MrAbdiel
Tatuken'Khan manages to shift his chitinous bulk out of the path of Pyrodinn's fireball - but the flames from the pyroblast cling and sear, burning great smoking grooves in the creature's shell to its grand disapproval. Likewise, Sharnise's second patch of molten ground does not improve upon the creature's immobilization - but neither does he manage to pull himself free from the clinging molten rock in which he is already embedded.

With a furious shriek, as Garrick arrives to challenge directly, the monster hefts a massive claw and slams it down toward the knight...

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Still at -2 Bruised, Still Immobilized.

Rolled a 15 to hit Garrick with a Mighty Claw attack. The good news: with a natural Parry of 4, and a Defend Action, Garrick needs only to roll anything but a 1 or an 11 on his active parry to deflect the blow.

Bad news: if he rolls a 1 or 11, he gets hit with a level 8 Damage attack, a level 6 Affliction (hindered/prone, Fort), and a strength 8 Grab from Fast Grab! Good luck!

Hero turn! Pour on the hurt, warriors!
 
Cazero
Focusing on offense, the troll prepares throws yet another fireball at the nerubian.
  "You're going to burn down eventually. Might as well lay down and die now."  
Johel
 Sharnise's teeth gritted as she saw the spell fail. A small shiver of despair and urgency ran along her spine when she saw the beast cleaves at the human bucket. The blow was strong and fast and precise but somehow, the paladin managed to survive. Was it skill or luck ? Didn't matter : this fight had to end quickly. The elf let herself drink deeper into her mana reserves, which were already quite tapped. There would be a price to pay for this later : already, she could feel tremors in her hands. Yet she drank. 
 
 Dodge  3   2  - Parry  3   2  - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Vulnerable  
 Sharnise : 
  "-Well done, human ! Keep it busy ! You'll prevail !"  
 He wouldn't. But neither would she and the troll if the meatshield didn't buy them time. The esoteric gestures were complete and, as smoothly as she had disappeared, Sharnise's form emerged again in the arena, her skin and cloth no longer compensating for the light. In her pocket, a small stone waited to be used soon. 
 
 Spoiler 
Standard action : Changing "Invisibility" for "Arcane Familiar" in the "Arcane Magic" Variable.  Expertise Check here . Sharnise needs to roll 21 to be able to use the power at its best. She rolled 31 so no problem.
Move action : move 30 feet away from her position, staying near the edge of the arena.
 
dangelo
Silver gave a powerful flap her wings to dodge the Nerubian's claw, but Garrick saw there was no way out of that blow: The paladin raised his hands in and crossed his forearms in front of the blow, clad in gold-lined steel and burning with the spirit of battle.

The mighty blow throws Garrick off Silver's back, hurling him away like a missile and exploding against the rocks in the outer section of the arena. His soldiers gasp in exasperation, but when the dust finally settles, Garrick is revealed to be still standing, his forearms crossed in front of his body. The Nerubian's claw had ruined the gold enamel on his vambraces and left several dents on the steel, but other than that, Garrick remained unscathed.

His soldiers cheered, and warhorns sang with the noise of the crowd. Garrick leapt forward just as Silver circled back and dove to catch him, carrying the paladin back to the skies.

  "Knock! Draw! Loose!"   He commands, drawing his Oversized Battleaxe on his way back to the fight.
MrAbdiel
Sharnise becomes visible again, butthe Crypt Lord is in no position to capitalise on the revelation. Unable to pull free from the slaggy ground beneath its feet, it cannot avoid Pyrodinn's blazing fireball that crashes into its carapace hard enough to make the beast reel, coursing fire across its massive body and cracking its carapace! Even the crowd gasps, and roars for the force of it. It lets out a keening insectile squeal and sags on its legs, arrows raining down on its settling body and fletching its shell...

 "HOLY SMOKES, folks! What a hit! These warriors have found their rhythm and they've got a plan and Tatuken'Khan is feeling the burn!" 
 "You can't fight a foe that's stronger, tougher, and more mobile than you - but take away one or more of those, and suddenly you got options, kid! Haha! W-" 

...then the wail drains into an inhuman, unmammalian, even unliving growl that clicks and rumbles as the Crypt Lord draws itself back to its feet... and lurches forward hard enough to rip its imprisoned leg from the socket! Seemingly unalarmed by its dismemberment, its wounds, or the curling flames on its hide, the nerubian flexes open the cracked carapace wingcovers... and from warrens and wormholes in its necrotised inner tissues, a billowing, repulsive cloud of buzzling locusts, each a hand in length. They surge out and up into the air like a twisted murmuration of starlings, cresting in the air and then plunging back into the arena like a crashing flood that fills the air with flashing black shapes, buzzing, clicking, and the buffeting scrapes of spiny insects colliding with the heroes. A rippled scream goes up from the crowd, and then a howl of wind follows as a shaman in the arena's employ erects a whirlwind to keep the swarming bugs inside the arena proper - but Sharnise, Garrick, and Pyrodinn can't see that. They can't even see each other.  At the edge of the arena, Sharnise can see neither ally nor substantial foe.  Garrick is close enough to see the reinvigorated Tatuken'Khan turn his furious attention to him a second time.

Pyrodinn, still somewhere near the middle of the arena, does see something else - the two Nerubian corpses earlier invested with scarabs from Tatuken'Khan's body rupture and split open, so that two pairs of dog-sized carrion beetles tumble out, righting themselves, and feeling about with gore-soaked antennae for more meat.

The announcers are saying something, but it's lost in the buzzing roar - each hero suddenly alone in a sea of chitin and deathless rage.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Congratulations, you have defeated Tatuken'Khan's Phase 1! You're not on to phase 2, which is also the final phase, which means not quite so tough but new abilities. Tatuken'Khan is no longer bruised or immobilized.

The arena is affected by  Locust Swarm! 
 Locust Swarm: Senses that are not sufficiently unusual to penetrate the swarm's occlusion are reduced. Senses lose the "Accurate" quality (the ability to target and fight in combat by that sense) after 15ft, and the "Acute" quality (the ability to distinguish and identify between similar subjects, friend and foe) after 30ft.

At the beginning of a turn in which you are not in some way sheltered from the locust swarm, your character must pass a single DC 10 toughness check or else take a bruise (-1 to Damage resistance checks) and are  Dazed  for the turn. Prone targets get a +5 circumstance bonus to resist this effect.

Finally, flying within the swarm is extremely difficult - attempts to use Flight movement trigger an immediate DC15 Fortitude check, or else the would-be flier is knocked prone. 

Four  Carrion Scarab  minions have joined the fight, near Pyrodinn at the middle of the arena. They will act on Tatuken'Khan's initiative, starting next turn.

Heroes may act! Good hunting!
 
Cazero
The swarm of bugs took Pyrodinn completely by surprise. Disoriented and blinded, he tried to use his magical monocle to find his target. Which would have been a good plan against something that wasn't an undead bug hiding behind other undead bugs.
He then noticed the scarabs. No doubt enemies. Better incinerate them, just to be sure. With a flame strike.

It's a good day to be warded against fire.
Johel
 
 Dodge  3   2  - Parry  3   2  - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Vulnerable  
 Sharnise : 
  "-By the Sun !"  
 The sight of the beast severing its own leg to get free churned Sharnise's stomach. But she didn't have time to pounder the implication : reflexively, the mage raised a defensive hand above her face as the swarm bursted into existence, filling the arena with buzzing and chittering. The dozen of short sizzling sounds, along with the faint smell of ozone in the air, told her that her arcane shield worked   but a few bugs did come through nevertheless   : it would not be a good idea to advance into that mess.

Not seeing much, she decided to use her time to summon the arcane elemental, all the magical links and binds just refreshed in her mind while, in the palm of her unraised hand, a small stone pulsed with power, begging to be unleashed. The elf had already invested her mana into it and the situation called for it anyway : if the fight had to end quickly before, it had now taken a turn for the worse. 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Aranal rea bandu thoribas !"  
 Behind her, a towering 8 foot tall mass of twisting nether appeared, its edges forming in a roughly humanoid shape where two eyes burned with a purple fire.
The creature took sight of the arena, the bugs and the torchlights that emerged from the cloud of chitin. It waited for a clear command. 
 
 Spoiler 
Standard action : Summoning "Arcane Familiar" in the "Arcane Magic" Variable.
Move action : move at the edge of the swarm, so as to stay away from the attacks of the bugs but close enough to see something.
 
dangelo
Garrick kicks his Pegasus forward, pushing through the swarm and waving his axe in the air. His full plate armor over chain mail and enclosed greathelm is sufficient to keep the swarm from blocking his senses entirely, and he manages to guide Silver through the thicket of flying insects.

The presence of the huge beast in front of Garrick is still looming, even through the swarm. A goosebump tells him what his vision cannot: another attack is coming, and this time he might not be as lucky as the last.

Garrick blows on his warhorn, making as much noise as possible so his allies can pinpoint his location, and by extension the location of the enemy. Then he raises his axe and prepares himself for the incoming blow...

(Taking the Defend action -- again!)
(Move action to circle the enemy, so the Nerubian boss is between Garrick and his allies, hopefully making it easier for the to pinpoint their location)
MrAbdiel
Smoldering with rage and crawling fire, Tatuken-Khan's massive claws slam down at the paladin through the haze of battering locusts - but with the power of the blow comes clumsiness, and Silver is quick to dart away. The blow finds only the vitrified sand where the pyromancers' bombardment has landed, throwing up blackened, crusted shards; and the knight slips around behind the great monster!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Natural 1 for that attack - Garrick skates again, unstruck!
 


In the middle of the arena, the remaining Carrion Scarab rushes through the ashes of its kin and throws itself with a buzzing malice at Pyrodinn!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Pyrodinn needs to make a Toughness check against damage, DC19!
 


At the far edge of the arena, the whirl of arcane fire coalesces into Sharnise's blazing familiar. The scarabs throw themselves against it, but cannot target the essense holding it together - they pass through it, barely rippling its substance, while some of the locusts themselves burst into sparking pink flame and crash to the ground for their futile efforts. Unfortunately, there seems to be nowhere Sharnise might retreat to to escape the swarm entirely. Against the arena wall now, she can makeout the crowd cheering and roaring above the flat rise of ancient stone, and above that a sheering wall of wind that is throwing the locusts up into the air and presumably funneling them back into the middle of the swarm, doming the effect away from the crowd. She could try to escape the Arena itself, but that seems like it would constitute disqualification, not to mention the abandonment of the others whom, however briefly acquainted, she was united with in the bonds of blood and battle. The swarm seems here to stay, until its master is laid low - and that may only be achieved through the biting, scraping haze of locusts.

At the far edge of her perception, she can make out conflict in the middle of the arena where the flamestrike had fallen. Has the troll been overrun? Struggle continues there, two figures shadows intermingling. And beyond that, at the other side of the Arena, both Pyrodinn and Sharnise can make out the blast of the warhorn the paladin had carried by his saddle - he fights on, presumably against the greater creature, within the vortex.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
I know I promised a map, but I'm running behind on some RP and RL projects so I can only ask forgiveness for the moment. Loosely, we might say the Arena is roughly 150 ft across (I reserve the right to warp this reality if I find a particularly good map). Pyrodinn is fighting bugs in the middle, Garrick is about 50ft south of him with Tatuken-Khan, and Sharnise is north of Pyrodinn, somewhere between 45ft (the total visual maximum in the swarm conditions to make out anything at all) and 75ft (all the way to the arena wall). I'll let you decide where in that band Sharnise ended up Johel, since you were gunning for the edge of the Arena for a while but maybe not anticipating such distances without a visual aid.

Heroes are up! Pyrodinn needs to make his toughness against the carrion beetle, and everyone needs to make their checks against the swarm!
 
Johel
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness  7   6  - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Bruises : 1  
 
 Arcane Familiar 
 Dodge  6   5  - Parry  1   0  - Toughness 4 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 4
 Vulnerable (from taking Aim) ; Insubstantial (Energy)  
 The mage pointed to where the monstruous insect was supposed to be then barked an order in Thalassian. 
 Sharnise : 
  "-[Go. Fly. Find the human. Assist him against his foe.]"  
 The instructions to her familiar were clear enough. It would have to be : she could help much in this situation. She could try to fry the locusts but so far, she didn't know how easy it was for the beast to produce more. It could be that her effort would be for naught and, the way she was planning for it, it would take at least two to three minute before the locusts would start dropping dead. Another problem was the fact she was constantly being attacked by said locusts. One had already breached her defenses. She could not risk it happening again but couldn't do much against it : there was nowhere to shelter, as the swarm engulfed the whole arena. She could, of course, make a shelter. But it would, again, take time. And here, far from a laboratory, this was what she didn't have : the fight had barely been going for maybe two minutes... and she had nearly died three times already !
In frustration, she advanced inside the swarm : if distance offered her no protection, better be close to her allies. As the form of the troll appeared, she screamed : 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Troll ! What is your priority ?! I can try to shelter us or I can try to kill all the bugs but both options will take time ! Or we can focus on the beast as we did so far but I cannot even see it !"  
 Maybe her companion heard. Or maybe not. She wasn't sure to hear the answer over the   buzzing of hundreds of locust crashing on her Arcane Shield, their burned corpses pilling up on the ground  . Behind her, the familiar took flight, raising into the air then diving deep into the swarm, getting close to where Tatuken-Khan was before the swarm appeared. Through the clouds of chitin, it searched for the human and the massive Nerubian. 
 
 Spoiler 
 Sharnise : 
Move action : move 30 feet toward the center of the arena
Move action : move 30 feet toward the center of the arena
As she was near the walls of the arena, this should put her at about 15 feet of Pyrodinn.

 Arcane Familiar : 
Move action : fly up at about 30 feet then 90 feet toward the south of the arena.
Standard action : Take aim at Tatuken-Khan
As it was near the walls of the arena, this should put it at about 30 feet (and 30 feet up...) of Tatuken-Khan.
Close enough to fire at the beast with a -5 from the total concealment... which will be negated by taking aim.
 
Cazero
Pyrodinn withered the scarabs attack, walked back about as far as he could without losing sight of it, and lobbed a fireball in it's direction.

He then heard the elf's voice. Maybe. He wasn't sure. It was getting hard to hear with all that buzzing.
  What? We gotta burn the big one ! He's the nest !  
dangelo
Lost in his battle rage and deaf to the world outside the vortex, Garrick lifts his weapon and rests it on his shoulder, ready for a downwards cut. Unlike the rest of his arsenal, which is castle-forged and adorned with the Stormwind crest, his Oversized Greataxe was taken from the hands of an orc general Garrick defeated in the battlefield, and is in all its excellence a masterwork orcish weapon.

  "It is time to end this swiftly!"   Garrick leaps off his pegasus' back, dragging his orcish greataxe behind his body, and swinging it down at the Nerubian with all the momentum of his leap.    "Stormwind! Stormwind! Stormwind!   

(Attack: 24, natural 20)
MrAbdiel
For Pyrodinn and Sharnise, the way wasn't easy, but was clear - the Crypt Lord needed to die, and soon. But between them and the obscured combat in the direction of the sound of the horn blast rages the swarm, and still the remaining belligerent carrion beetle. It is scorched but unstopped by Pyrodinn's reprisal flash, and skitters crabwise to avoid the fireball, before biting out with its sideways jaws at his ankle!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
That's a 17 to hit Pyrodinn for a DC19 Toughness.
 


The arcane summonling glides off into the haze, hunting for the hidden paladin and the monster...

...And then another sound, a pulsing roar from outside the combat, begins impeding on the sound of the swarm; a thumping heartbeat that seems a poetic defiance of the carrion creatures and necromantic horrors even before the bugs begin to drop lifelessly from the sky in ones and twos, and the droning gives way to the exterior sound:

   Stormwind! Stormwind! Stormwind!   

Garrick's men had taken up the chant in the stands, and even unable to clearly perceive their lord, they had kept on. The crowd is more Horde aligned than Alliance, but they're here for the entertainment, and they're good sports about it; especially as the swarm clears to reveal Sir Garrick, his pegasus rearing and rampant, infront of the slouched and still husk of Tatuken-Khan with a massive lion-crest axe splitting its skull in twain.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
When you roll a crit on a big damage attack, and I roll very low on toughness, things get hurt - missing a DC26 check with an 11 means that's a 3 Degree hit, a stagger, and death to Tatuken-Khan.
 

   Stormwind! Stormwind! Stormwind!   

The arcane summonling looks back to Sharnise, as the swarm creatures perish in sympathetic shock in droves, carpeting the arena floor with their husks and clearing the skies altogether. It gives a universal, open handed, half-shrug of a gesture - it seems the human does not need assistance, after all. The bombardment of fire and the entrapment of its limbs to eliminate its mobility seems to have been enough to create the opening.

 "And how about THAT, folks! Just when it looked like it might be over for the contenders, it's over for Tatuken-Khan of Azjol-Nerub! Dag, I'd give my least favorite grandchild away for a chance to have seen that skullcleaver of a blow without a million locusts in the way; but the crowd still loves it." 
 "What's not to love, Chip? The mages grilled it, and the knight killed it. Say what you want about humans, but when a human knight is locked in a deathmatch with a monster many times is size, they can  Lok'Tar Ogar  with the greenest of 'em." 
 "They sure can. Wow, wow. What a round. That'll bring us to a short break - time to stretch your legs and refresh your drink while the contenders take a breather and the attendants reset the arena so it's not riddled with holes and bug corpses. When we're back in five minutes, we'll find out if this trio wants to tap out and take the Round One prize, or risk flesh and blood to push on for the Round Two spoils!" 

The fact that a carrion beetle is still alive is really not that interesting to the crowd or commentators. Once that's dealt with, you've cleared the round - and can afford to breathe and consider your options!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
You win Round 1! Almost! Someone kill this minion, but also feel free to weave in victorious banter and consider if you want to push on to a harder challenge.
 
dangelo
Garrick does a complete lap around the arena before landing next to the Fire Mages, his soldiers banging on their war drums.   "I appreciate you watching my back, but there's more I must ask of you."   He finally takes his helmet off, revealing a face of hard features, crooked nose, battle scars and scruffy blond hair.   "I'm still hurt. I might not be as much use in the vanguard next round.""  
Johel
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6 
 Sharnise extends a hand over Garrick's shoulder, patting it lightly while smiling warmly. 
 Sharnise : 
  "-I commend your... temerity, human. Few of your kind would have faced such monster and stood their ground as you did. Fewer even would have done so and fought with such disciplined talent and focused might. You did good.  
 Discreetly, she rubbed her hand against her robe, as if to clean it. All the while giving a detailled look at the knight's injuries. 
 Sharnise : 
  "-This is mostly superficial wounds. Nothing to worry about !"  
 Not that Sharnise should know anything about human anatomy : she was a mage, not a taxidermist. 
Cazero
The last carrion beetle lunges at Pyrodinn for a powerful blow. As it's mandibles contract on the troll's thorax, the glistering orange aura surrounding him is set ablaze and quickly ignites the beetle, forcing it to release him and making quick work of it. Pyrodinn doesn't even turn around to acknowledge the attack.

The troll stretches his wound with a smirk of pain.   "Yeah, can't be that bad. You'll get back in good shape real soon. I'll get you some trollblood potion. Make it myself, with my own blood. It's the good stuff."  
Pyrodinn searches the pouches of his robe.   "I thought I had some extra, but apparently not."  
Cazero
  "Hoo, I could brew some extra real quick !"  
Pyrodinn pulls a few flasks and herbs from his sleeves and starts an impromptu alchemy session.
  "It's not gonna be as good as the stuff I can make in a proper lab, but it should be good enough."  
The troll cuts his finger on his tusk to collect a few drops of blood, and mix them with a few crushed herbs and the remains of several almost empty potions.

After a few minutes of mixing, remixing and shaking, the contents of the flask spontaneously catch fire.
  "That wasn't supposed to happen. I suppose you can't really drink that?"  
MrAbdiel
As the fighters refresh themselves, the attendant spellcasters at the edges of the arena do their own work. Shamans animate the earth to drag the carcasses of the locusts and the chitinous monstrosities deep underground, filling the warrens they used to arrive. With sufficient churning, the arena is clear again, and a fresh layer of fine dry sand is ejected to the surface... as well as four ancient stone columns, pushed out of the ground in the arena's middle.

 
 Spoiler: Perception DC 25 
There was something on top of each of those columns, as they rose up; lumpen earth that seemed to be concealing something, quickly raised out of line of sight...
 

 "Alright, looks like our contenders are ready for round two - and not before time, because turn your eyes to the skies, bloodsports fans; because no vector of attack is safe in  this  arena!" 

Pitchier, spitter than a lion's roar comes the cry of the wind rider; and it does not cry alone. Great leonine shapes with forelimbs spread out like batwings, and scaled tails tipped in poison barbs, a half dozen of the creatures spiral down from the sun to circle the arena to the screaming adulation of the crowd. Each one bears an orcish rider, scarred and marked for war, leatherclad and wearing caps of leather with glass eye lenses, toting longguns with the dark metal finish that speaks to aficionados of Tauren manufacture.

 "Ladies and gentlemen, Horde and Allies - Rawley's Reavers!" 

It seems the second round's opponents are, unlike Tatuken-Khan, perfectly willing to conduct the combat at range.

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Reaver1 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 17 ] 
Reaver2 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 9 ] 
Reaver3 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 5 ] 
Reaver4 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 15 ] 
Reaver5 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 23 ] 
Reaver6 Initiative:  (1d20+3)[ 5 ] 

Each Reaver is 'composed' of a Gunner and a Wind Rider, which act on the same initiative for sanity's sake. I'll split them up as required.

Sharnise Initiative: 14
Pyrodinn Initiative: 5
Garrick Initiative: ???
 
Johel
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Well here we go again. I suggest targeting their mounts first and let the fall ease our task.  
 Like against the Nerubians before, Sharnise wasted no time and casted a spell which blurred her form, making her invisible to most eyes. She then proceeded to step softly around the South-East pillar, which would provide her some additional cover for the time being. 
 
 Spoiler 
Round 1 :
 
 Standard Action : either activate "Arcane Magic : Invisibility" variant (  if not done out of scene during the interlude  ) or cast "Arcane Magic : Invisibility" 
 Move 15 feet as per map 
 
 
 
MrAbdiel
With a sharp whistle from the foremost of the wyvern riding warriors, they attack; spiralling down and racing in circuit around the arena's airspace. As the batwinged mounts bank, the orcs are sighting up their weapons.

Garrick is the first to be targeted - a glimmer of red light off the goggles of one of the riders imparts a feeling of exposure and dread, before the the longrifle  cracks  off a shot toward him!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Attack in the roll thread, but Garrick needs to make a Will Check against a Hunter's Mark (Which is a Weaken Dodge Rank 5 effect) and then a toughness check against DC 20! Then it's Garricks turn!
 
Johel
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 - Toughness 7 - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Sir Human !   Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooodge !    
 On these (mostly useless) advices, Sharnise started to gather mana to counter-attack, targeting the mount of the closest rider. In her mind, the fire hawks would rise, circle around the back of the leonine creature and then hit its belly, engulfing it in flames. She would then hurry to move away from her position, circling the pillar while hoping those wyverns stayed airborne : the elf was much more comfortable with them trying to hit her invisible skin through her arcane shield from up there than she was with a monster pouncing on her. 
 
 Spoiler 
In case we need to move forward without dangelo's Toughness Check.
Round 2 :
 
 Standard Action : cast "Fire Bird" at the nearest rider (6 ?) 
 Move 15 feet as per map 
 
 
 Link to the PDN file for PaintNET 
 
dangelo
  "I AM NO PREY!!"   Garrick cries to the whole arena, his voice booming through his greathelm. He kicks Silver forward and charges at the Wind Rider in front of him, taking the rain of arrows on his back, and downing his Oversized Battleaxe at the warrior's lion-faced mount instead of his body.   "It will be a pleasure to kill more  Orc  with this weapon!"  
 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Resisted Hunter's Mark.
Flying towards enemy number 1 with a Movement Action and using my Standard Action to attack the flying creature, rolled a  14  to hit (It's like a manticore? I googled it and found a very awesome Wind Rider creature from WoW so that's what I'm picturing right now)
 
MrAbdiel
The paladin's faith is proof against the ranger magic that seeks to mark him for death in the moment, though the shot leveled at him still finds purchase. The crowd  ooh's  as sparks fly from the warrior's plate, and the shooter pulls his wind rider into a banking dive away from the swinging axe - saving it from the culling blow!

Immediately, two more of the riders, those in the circling pattern behind the first - are lining up shots of their own on the paladin...

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Two more shots at Garrick - one's an 8, the other's a 22, so that's one more hit and another DC20 Toughness check for the poor peppered paladin. Then it's Sharnise's turn!
 
MrAbdiel
From shimmering nowhere, a soaring firebird races upward to the windriders. It punches through the leathery membrane of the wing of one, and carries on to ignite another in passing. The beasts, screaming and roaring begin to spiral down - but the canny riders have apparently endured similar circumstances, and bucked from their saddles, each pulls a ripcord  that snaps open a woven silk parachute to decelerate their fall! It's a short drop, and the parachutes barely deploy, but with a tactical roll from each orc, they find their feet shortly after their smoldering mounts crash to the arena floor.

 "Well it's a bad day to be a wyvern, folks! If you don't have a plan to deal with mages, you're going to have a hard time against out challengers today, and with two grounded already - maybe three - woah!" 

The firebird's third target gets close enough to scorch the wyvern's fur, but the rider hauls up on the reigns into a thrilling spiral assent, dodging and weaving the magical construct's multiple passes. The rider looks contemptuously back over his shoulder and, not seeing the source of the attack, flicks a sparking rod from a pouch at his hip that blooms into a blazing blue star in the air beneath him, radiating conventional light and a trick of ranger magic seeking to reveal a hidden foe!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Reaver 5 and 6 lose their poor mounts, but use their reactions to deploy their parachutes and Safe Fall. Reaver 4 is up, and he deploys a flare (rolling a 24 on his rank check to dispel Sharnise's invisibility!) before flying directly up, putting another 80 feet between him and the combat, pursued by a firebird the whole way!

Pyrodinn is up! There's now two orc Reavers on the ground near enough for Pyro's consideration, as well as 3 in the air, and 1 in the air but much higher.
 
Cazero
 "Y'a know, I really like my fights on a level playing field." 
Pyrodinn takes a few steps to keep himself at roughly equal distance between the parachutists then does a spin trick to build up momentum for a fireball aimed at the one on his left.
Johel
 And so, suddenly,   Sharnise was visible  , the light of the flare glowing along her masked silhouette.
The elf was not pleased, realizing immediately the problem. 
 
 Dodge 3 - Parry 3 -  Toughness 7  - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Conditions :  Revealed By Flare [DC 24]
  Fire Magic / Fire Birds :   Damage 5 [Fire] ; 1d20+5 ; Homing 3 ; 125 feet
  Arcane Magic / Invisibility :   Concealment 10 [All Visual] ; Blending
  Arcane Shield :   Protection 7[Arcane]  ; Sustained 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Oh F..."  
 She looked at the two dismounted orcs, a small, cold drop of sweat rolling along her brow. The force field might hold them a bit. But for how long ?
Sir Meatshield was busy up there and... then flames exploded around one of the fallen riders. 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Yes ! Oh Troll, you beauti... Well, maybe not. But well aimed !"  
dangelo
  "Parachutes! Damn  Yrch! "   Garrick had hoped they would just plummet to their death, but of course these orcs would have a trick up their sleeve; It wasn't the first time he has underestimated the Horde.

  "Pyrodinn, keep doing your thing! Burn them down!"   The paladin leans over Silver's back and whirls her down into a powerful dive, her wings closing around her body like a missile, only to spread open in the last second and recover from the fall, transitioning from flight to gallop as her hooves crash against the dirt. A gust of wind whirls around the pegasus, her powerful wings flapping.   "How dare you attack a lady? I am your enemy!"   Garrick cries at the orc.

 
 Spoiler: OOC 
Spending a Victory Point to grab the  Interpose  Advantage temporarily. Standard Action to take the  Defend  action.

 
 Spoiler: Interpose 
Once per round, when an ally within range of your normal movement is hit by an attack, you can choose to place yourself between the attacker and your ally as a reaction, making you the target of the attack instead. The attack hits you rather than your ally, and you suffer the effects normally. You cannot use this advantage against area effects or perception range attacks, only those requiring an attack check.
 

 
MrAbdiel
Pyrodinn's firey missile finds its mark, and the orc rifleman lets out a bellowing scream as he goes up in flames, collapsing to the side! His companion, recently touched down beside him, does all he can do - he snaps off a shot with his firearm, and then hurls himself into cover from Pyrodinn behind a nearby pillar!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Reaver 6 is dead! From Reaver 5, that's a 21 to hit, so that probably catches the troll - a DC20 Damage check for the fiery Darkspear!
 


Banking around on his wyvern, the first of the riders one again sets his sights on the paladin - trying to fix him with winnowing ranger magics, and then popping off another shot!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
For Garrick, that's Reaver1 check against Hunter's Mark...

 Hunter's Mark is a perception ranged Weaken power.
Limited Degree. Rank 5. Weakens Dodge specifically. Decays by 1 extra turn after a hit that causes at least a bruise. On the target. So that's a Will Check DC 15 for Garrick, weakening his Dodge by 1 for each point (not degree) by which the roll fails. 

And then, if a 15 hits his modified Dodge, a DC20 Toughness check against another bullet.
 


As lead whips through the air toward the human, another pair of the Reavers are setting their sites on the newly revealed elven mage - a flash of illuminating magic seeking to find purchase on her, and two more bullets singing in her direction!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
For Sharnise, well, they rolled bad. Still, I'd like a save Vs Hunter's Mark...

 Hunter's Mark is a perception ranged Weaken power.
Limited Degree. Rank 5. Weakens Dodge specifically. Decays by 1 extra turn after a hit that causes at least a bruise. On the target. So that's a Will Check DC 15 for Garrick, weakening his Dodge by 1 for each point (not degree) by which the roll fails. 

...And then Reaver 2 and Reaver 3 fire at you, with a 7 and an 11 respectively. Even if you fumble the Hunter's Mark save so bad that 11 hits, it'll trigger Garrick's Intervene, so let's see what happens!

After all that's resolved, it's back to Sharnise's turn! And it should begin making another attack with the firebird chasing #4 into the sky!
 
Johel
 As if it wasn't enough that she was visible, Sharnise now felt... intensely observed. In a very creepy and threatening way.   A loud buzzing started in her ears.   Barely a second later, two shots were heard and it felt like the world went really slow : the brief crack from the orcs and their guns, the flash of burning powder illuminating their shadow against the sun, the small pebbles running toward her, the comforting thought that her force field could probably take it... then the sight of Sir Tin Can throwing himself in the way, followed by the dull sound of one impact. Then the sound of an electric fizzle as   the second ball of lead hits Sharnise's force field harmlessly  . Then the flow of time resumed, along with the sound of battle. The buzzing kept going but she could somehow ignore it.

Above, another light shone as her Fire Bird found its target. Good. Without a second thought, Sharnise invoked a new flock of murderous fiery falcons and threw them at one of the orcs that had tried to shot her, again aiming for the mount. That should keep him busy, at least. Now, what to do ? Oh right, the Human ! The mage turned toward Sir Meatshield, her voice like honey. 
 
 Dodge  3    -2   - Parry 3 -  Toughness 7  - Fortitude 4 - Willpower 6
 Conditions :  Revealed By Flare [DC 24] ; Targeted by Hunter's Mark [DC 15]
  Fire Magic / Fire Birds :   Damage  5  3 [Fire] ; 1d20+5 ; Homing  3  2 ;  125  75 feet
  Arcane Magic / Invisibility :   Concealment 10 [All Visual] ; Blending
  Arcane Shield :   Protection 7[Arcane]  ; Sustained 
 Sharnise : 
  "-Thank you, brave knight."  
 Then she ran toward the center of the arena : she better be close to it for what she had in mind. 
 
 Spoiler 

Round 3
 
 Standard Action : cast "Fire Bird" at the rider#2's mount 
 Move Action : Move up to 30 feet to the center of the arena 
 
 
 
dangelo
With a single motion of the reins, Garrick makes Silver flap her wings once and vault over to Reaver 5. He downs his orcish greataxe at the creature, hoping to take it away from the fight as soon as possible (attack result 24)
MrAbdiel
As Sir Garrick deflects, and in some cases absorbs bullets, Sharnise releases more of her fiery creations into the air. The most recent conjuration sets on a hunting path after its target, who has seen enough of their menace so far to know to begin weaving and evading right away. High in the air, the firebird previously summoned rakes is flames along the flank of the wyvern, eliciting a roaring shriek - and a hard decision from the rider, who kicks from the saddle, folds his arms to his sides, and plunges like a javelin of the gods down towards the arena. As he descends, he flicks another cannister from his belt, which pops in the air with an unremarkable red flicker that quickly fades; and when his parachute deploys near the impact, the orc swings nimbly and sheds the harness, rolling to his feet with a double barrelled shotgun in one hand, and murder in the eyes behind his aviator's goggles!

 
 Spoiler: OOC: 
Pyrodinn, you're up! There's now two orcs on the ground, and three still circling in the air, lining up shots. You have an abundance of targets!
 
Cazero
Pyrodinn is still stumbling from the shot that hit him earlier, but not enough to stop him from throwing another fireball straight towards the orc that just landed.
MrAbdiel
No sooner has the airborne orc touched down and prepared to fight than Pyrodinn's fireball slams into his chest. he lets out a wheezing gasp as he is flies backward, immolated; hitting the ground as a smouldering bag of bones and secondary explosions as his powderhorn and contraptions cook off.

The remaining earthbound orc, seeing this horrific demise, elects to make atleast a modicum of defensive action. He snaps off a shot toward Pyrodinn, before ducking into cover behind the nearest pillar!

 
 Spoiler: Shot at Pyrodinn 
...is an 11 to hit, so looks pretty poor, from Reaver 5. Alas!
 


One of the circling riders attempts to reapply his bullet-attracting enchantment on the defending knight, following it with a slick one-handed rifle shot over his shoulder!

 
 Spoiler: Shot and Mark at Garrick 
That's an 8 to hit, which I don't think is likely to connect. But before that, another DC15 Will check to see how much the Hunter's Mark sticks. But unless it can make an 8 hit, it's a miss - and Garrick is free to act.
 