conversations: human
conversations:  Ten years have passed since the events of AVB.
  
  King Alben Rosen has died. Wilfred Rocholl is now King, and his true nature has revealed itself. The city is subjugated, a dark dictatorship in which the law has an iron grip. People spy on their neighbours in the hopes of achieving an advantage, wives on husbands, children on parents, and the intelligence machine of the city seems, to the average man, to know all.
  
  To make matters worse, religion has been subjugated, the very right to worship taken from the people. The Faith, a dark monotheist religion, has become state-sponsored, and the law has it that worship of any religion but that of the Faith is punishable by death without trial. The temples have been destroyed, replaced by the sprawling Cathedral of the Faith. Only the Temple of Solaron still exists, its Gate blockaded magically and heavily guarded to prevent the return of the Gods of the Prismatic Kobolds. The Faith's Inquisitors are judge, jury and executioner, and Jace Dalanar, Archbishop of the Faith, a powerful orator and terrible man, has taken the law into his own hands. The City Watch has been disbanded, replaced by the Inquisition, and the very idea of justice has been twisted and corrupted.
  
  However, there is hope. You have heard rumours of a resistance and a strike that entered the Palace. Rumour has it that the strike team was headed for the King, and that their leader fell last, fighting through dozens of Inquisitors and Palace Guardsmen to fall at the hands of the Archbishop himself, on the steps of the King's Throne. Today, a historic hero is set to die. Perry diCarto is to be publicly drawn and quartered, the death of traitors, while the corpses and wounded men who went in with him look on, crucified. The Archbishop will carry out the sentence personally. But while the loss of diCarto will surely be a blow to the Resistance, they are surely not defeated yet.
  
  You start in the Plaza, which looks very similar to how it used to, except the Inquisitors watch with extreme vigilance. There is an adventurer's inn known as the Spire Hawk that has been seized and is now state-run. Erbauer's still exists, though prices are now regulated by the State and are standard (and highly taxed), run by employees who know not where the legendary artificer is.
  
  As you enter the area, the Inquisitors eye you warily.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven stands amidst the crowd in his usual, slightly greasy work clothes, his pistol tucked away in a secret pocket near his groin, where it always rests within quick, easy reach. Looking around, he wonders just who this "diCarto" fellow is, having never actually heard of him before this incident. 
   Spoiler 
  HP  (10d6)[ 3 ][ 1 ][ 4 ][ 5 ][ 3 ][ 3 ][ 5 ][ 5 ][ 3 ][ 4 ](36) 
   
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will look out, and recall what he can about this DiCarto fellow.
  
  The small fellow is wrapped head to foot in garish mismatched clothe that do not let an inch of skin show.
  
   
   Spoiler 
  setting me wild card knowledge skill to [local] for the day
  
   (d20+13)[ 21 ] 
   
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  @Plans Knowledge Check
   
   Spoiler 
  Perry diCarto was, for all intents and purposes, a city hero for several years before the Faith and the Iron Reign. He rose through the ranks of the City Watch to Captain of the Guard after the death of Marcell Herrman and was hired as the King's Fist, an elite agent of the Crown, until the Iron Reign became unbearable. diCarto was a Baron when the Faith came into play and spoke out so seriously against the happenings in government that he was forced underground, along with a number of his followers and friends.
  
  He was a founder of the underground, though not the financial backing that some might have expected. That came from somewhere unknown to you. However, in the last couple of years, Perry diCarto has become a major Resistance fighter. He is known for his contact web throughout the city.
   
  
  
  You hear the crowd begin to roar as the Inquisitors begin to bring out the dead and wounded and slam them onto crucifixes. Once they are all done, a cart comes down from the Noble's Quarter and comes into the centre of the Plaza, where a large gallows has been set up with a headsman's block on it.
  
  A ceremonial litter flanked by fifty Inquisition troops comes next to the stairs, and a handsome human with a legendary goatee and a massive mace and shield on his back exits, climbing the stairs. His breastplate bears an insignia of the Faith (a red spiked fist over a black sunset) and his helmet is crested and gorgeous. His armour is extremely well-crafted. You know this to be the Archbishop of the Faith, Jace Dalanar.
  
  As the bodies go up on the twelve crucifixes around the square and the screams of the wounded fill the air, Jace raises his fist. "Aldhaven, hear me! Today, we execute a traitor!"
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven watches, slightly bored with the proceedings. It's not like they  don't  execute traitors on a daily basis.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron abhors the spectacle before him, but forces himself to watch, to remember, to remind himself why he must return to Conviction.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  The Archbishop signals, and the cart is opened. Within it is a heavily shackled and chained goliath, who is shoved out at spearpoint by five men. He looks at them with disdain, but goes up onto the steps. You can see his body is highly modified with warforged components.
  
  "Perry diCarto! On the charge of high treason, how do you plead?" The Archbishop asks.
  
  "Screw you, Jace."
  
  "Guilty! On six hundred and thirty-seven counts of first degree murder, how do you plead?"
  
  diCarto raises an eyebrow and chuckles.
  
  "Guilty! On the charge of attempted regicide, how do you plead?"
  
  Perry falls over laughing. "You seriously think these people fear you? What are you going to do, Dalanar? One day they will rise up and destroy you, just as I did."
  
  "Guilty! The sentence for all of this is six hundred and thirty nine deaths! We will carry out the sentence on every Resistance fighter in the city!"
  
  DiCarto is shoved forward and stabbed by several spears, and he grunts with pain as he is slammed neck first onto the headsman's block.
  
  "Do you have any last words?" the Archbishop asks, taking a headsman's axe out and sharpening it with a whetstone.
  
  Perry yells, "FOR ALDHAVEN!" and the Archbishop raises his axe...
  
  Then suddenly, as he swings down, the lights go out and a set of fireballs goes off on the dias. Darkness covers the entire dias and you can hear the sounds of screaming and fighting. Through little flickers you can hear the sound of chains breaking, and there are spells going off all around.
  
  "Kill them! Kill them all!" you can hear the Archbishop yell, and guardsmen throughout the square draw weapons. "No Resistance survivors!"
  
  An Inquisitor near you draws his greatsword and cuts a woman in half before turning his eyes on Sven. Miniron is twenty feet from him in the crowd, and another guard has drawn his weapon and is ready to fight.
  
  Please roll initiative. You both notice that the only exit that isn't heavily covered is an alleyway a hundred feet to the southwest.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven briefly considers firing at this "diCarto" fellow to show his "loyalty" and escape death.
  
    Initiative  - (1d20+3)[ 8 ] 
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will eye that exit and try to make his way to it, planning how to get there with minimum fuss. He flashes a quick spell first.
  
   
   Spoiler 
    init  - (d20+11)[ 19 ] 
  
  using nerveskitter for a +5 on initiative.
   
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron acts first. Then Sven. Your go.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will rush for the exit, ignoring the guards attacking people in the crowd.
  
  Should someone try to attack him while he's rushing past them, he'll use his  wings of cover  spell as an immediate action to block the attempt.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven, losing sight of the DMPC runs toward the exit as quick as he can.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  You both make it halfway there before Inquisitors interfere with you, two men wielding large greatswords. They make their way to you, blocking your path. That's the extent of their movement before it's your turn.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will run past them, taking all appropriate squeezing penalties and provoking any applicable AoO's. the first AoO against him will be  wings of cover ed and fail.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven will shove past one of the other fleeing people, allow them to run towards the sword wielding guards and go around outside of their reach as they deal with the others.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  As you run through the crowd, Miniron finds that he provokes once and covers it successfully. Sven goes around the outside and watches two people get butchered.
  
  You see on the dais that the rescuers have failed. The darkness is gone and while many guards lay dead and burning from the fireballs, the Archbishop stands triumphant. Perry diCarto's body lies slumped and headless, the axe firmly buried into the headstone.
  
  The Archbishop raises his shield and deflects an arrow, then points at a man in the crowd, who suddenly implodes. Multiple fireballs go off around him and more guards die, but you can see a red shield has formed around his body and he seems to take no damage. You can see a battle line is forming -- the attackers are on the rooftops, but they have ground troops covering the alleyways. The Inquisitors are forming up, and the Archbishop jumps down off the dias, his massive morningstar in one hand as he heads for the Noble's Quarter.
  
  Miniron:  
   Spoiler 
  You are 50 feet from the alleyway and an Inquisitor comes at you, swinging at your head with a mighty blow.
  
  Attack:  (1d20+10)[ 15 ]  Damage  (2d6+6)[ 10 ]  if hit or not blocked with an ability.
   
  
  
  Sven:  
   Spoiler 
  You are 40 feet from the alley way when an Inquisitor points at you and says, "Get down on the ground!" You feel a compulsion to do exactly that. Make a will save.
   
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Spoiler 
    Spellcraft  - (1d20+4)[ 16 ] 
    Will  - (1d20+3)[ 16 ] +4 if it's mind-affecting
   
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven resists the inquisitor's command spell.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Spoiler 
  already used my immediate action for the turn, so... that hits my ac 14
   
  
  
  Miniron takes the hit and keeps on running, advancing 60 feet to take him into the alleyway.
  
  Should the man who attacked him take a swing as he hustles past,  wings of cover  will protect him.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  Sven follows into the alleyway.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  You make it to the alleyway. The cleric that Commanded Sven gets suddenly blasted in the head by a powerful scorching ray that kills him from a rooftop. You both are running alongside one another down the alleyway, but at the end of the alley is a troop of Inquisitors. There is an open alleyway to the right, and a fire escape on the left leading to the rooftops.
  
  Two others head down to the right at a run.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Up."
  
  Sven moves towards the fire escape and heads for the roof.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will cast  caltrops  to spike the three squares beyond him to slow down the advancing inquisitors and follow Sven up.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  The inquisitors are too far away to get close enough to you to fight their way through the throng to stop you, especially with the caltrops. You end up on the roof and can see a resistance fighter taking aim, sniping Inquisitors with rays. Explosions are going off in the area as the Inquisition pushes the resistance fighters back.
  
  You can proceed in most any direction along the rooves, making DC 10 jump checks between them. You also can do most anything you wish. Inquisitors are beginning to climb up after you, though their heavy armour makes this difficult for them.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Miniron will head  off due east, not particularly caring about the jump, his draconic heritage making the physical challenge simple.
  
  He'll turn to Sven and say, " Well, hello there. Name's Miniron. What's yours? "
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  "Sven."
  
  He leans close and whispers.
  
  " I think I know how to get us out of this, but you won't like it. Subdue that resistance fighter, turn him in to the Inquisitors here, and they might let us leave unharmed. I've got a bit of rope to bind him. After we're free, we can do whatever. "
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  " Sounds fine by me. The Resistance makes noise and causes more terror than actual good for the city. "
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  You make your devilish scheme. The resistance fighter looks over at you, then points down at the ground with a hand shaped like a gun. He ***** his finger, goes, "BANG!" and a ray shoots forth, frying an Inquisitor climbing up.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Assuming it's Sven's turn, he moves over towards the resistance fighter.
  
  "Stupid Inquisitors turning on the crowd like that. Ugh! So barbaric!"
  
  He slips his pistol out of his concealed holster and points it towards the Inquisitors as he moves, then suddenly turns it on the resistance fighter.
  
  "Bang."
  
  Fell Drain Scorching Ray
    Touch Attack  - (1d20+12)[ 30 ] 
   (4d6+3)[ 5 ][ 3 ][ 2 ][ 2 ](15)  + 1 negative level, no save.
  
  Automatically divests 2 Essentia previously stored in the spell upon casting, placing one each in my Bluesteel Bracers and Incarnate Avatar as a swift action.
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  Your shot hits the resistance fighter, who looks surprised. Roll initiative.
conversations: Lokio:
conversations: human
conversations:  Initiative  - (1d20+3)[ 16 ]           .
conversations: Rizban:
conversations: human
conversations:  (d20+6)[ 13 ] 
  
  Miniron will ready to act when he can.
conversations: planswalker:
conversations: human
conversations:  The resistance fighter goes first, snapping about and sneering at Sven. He defensively casts a spell, then leaps off the building.
conversations: Lokio: