<blockquote><div><cite>Allie wrote:</cite>With her preparations complete, Alyssa follows Theron across the deck, dodging whatever fleeing passengers remain topside. "I take it you have a plan in mind?"</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"It would be suicide without one, one can't go blindly into a fight and expect to win. I'm going to try to pin some of them down, make this fight a hell of a lot easier. Quick suggestion: neutralize any mages or priestly types you see. They will cause us some serious trouble elsewise. Anyone with a firearm is a similar target. Anyone who looks weak would be a good target as well. A lightly armored fighter can wound us all the same but he's a glass canon if attention is draw to him. Take them down quickly and we lessen their numbers."<br/><br/>He turned his attention back to the present, holding the Alchemist's fire in hand tightly. He could use it light up one of the raiders if he was lucky, caltrops would be useful if he could deploy them in the right area and his tanglefoot bag would all but put one raider out of the fight. They'd be an easy meal, too.<br/><br/>These people weren't an organization like Silent Light - they were pirates. They wanted loot and maybe a full belly. There was no real ideological drive and motivation. They had no cause to die for. They were all ultimately selfish, and that would be an aid to him here. If they could kill or maim enough, the rest would flee.<br/><br/>One of the things Theron had learned from History was that the majority of causalities occurred when morale - and the enemy ranks - broke and soldiers tried to save their hides.  He intended to make history repeat itself.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>“Aww, what do we have here?” </div></blockquote><br/><br/>Theron stayed calm and passive as the Raiders appeared out of the mists, his face an unmoving, emotionless mask. It was a poker face Theron had learned long ago - it kept from revealing too much information and he'd found it made effective psychological warfare. People simply did not expect an opponent who simply did not react emotionally.<br/><br/>He scrutinized each pirate as they appeared. The first, unarmed and lightly armored, as well as heavily muscled. Theron surmised he was a martial artist - or, at least, a really good brawler. He had the look of someone who had survived many a raid and was definately not one that would go down easily. Theron quickly listed him high on his priority list for "people to light on fire."<br/><br/>The human that followed him was unimpressive and Theron quickly realized that the Human would definately be among the first to break rank and flee if his superiors were to become overwhelmed. Theron marked him low on the threat-priority list, though knew to keep away - he would still be dangerous until his morale was broke.<br/><br/>The Tigress seemed similar to the wolf - another warrior, though she seemed far more traditionally armored and equipped. Definitely dangerous up close. Her gnoll compatriot was significantly less so attired, but no less dangerous. Theron recognized the crazed, barely restrained fury of a Berserker when he saw it. Both were high priority threats, though Theron figured immobolizing the gnoll would be best. He looked crazy enough to simply<span style="font-style: italic">ignore it</span>if Theron ignited him.<br/><br/>The last two, a weasel and ratling, seemed far less a threat that the rest of the party. Lightly armored, lightly armed. They had the look of flankers and ambushers - dangerous only with their friends. Typically they would not be a worry, but with their friends still alive they were a threat. They were a high priority threat.<br/><br/>It was them, Theron decided, who should die first. They would not have the sturdy constitutions of their friends, nor did they have the armor to compensate. Theron knew that the quicker they died, the quicker the human might break and run, leaving the Gnoll, Wolf and Tiger.<br/><br/>It was then that his eye caught a glint of metal once more...<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>His long tan jacket shuffled again, and this time a crossbow appeared in his hand. This was going to be one hell of a fight. He only hoped the kid would have the presence of mind to run if things turned bad…</div></blockquote><br/><br/>That rotten Cougar! He'd had the balls to return to the scene of his crime to try to fight. He had a ranged weapon it seemed and would assuredly attempt to rain hell down upon the entire group throughout the fight. Simply unacceptable, though Theron<span style="font-style: italic">knew</span>he wasn't the best climber and as he glanced around he realized both the tigress and wolf would be close enough to stop him if he tried. He was far too close to those attackers to risk a shoot out with the cougar, even if he was unarmored and would drop easily.<br/><br/>He did, however, have a handful of fire he'd yet to find a home for. The cougar was<span style="font-style: italic">just</span>out of easy range so the throw would be a bit difficult, but his choice of location meant he'd have little room to move - the fire would splash and ignite the surrounding area.<br/><br/><div style="padding: 3px; background-color: #FFFFFF; border: 1px solid #d8d8d8; font-size: 1em;"><div style="text-transform: uppercase; border-bottom: 1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-bottom: 3px; font-size: 0.8em; font-weight: bold; display: block;"><span onclick="if (this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display != '') {  this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = ''; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;hide&lt;/a&gt;'; } else { this.parentNode.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[1].getElementsByTagName('div')[0].style.display = 'none'; this.innerHTML = '&lt;b&gt;Spoiler: &lt;/b&gt;&lt;a href=\'#\' onClick=\'return false;\'&gt;show&lt;/a&gt;'; }"><b>Spoiler: </b><a href="#" onclick="return false;">show</a></span></div><div class="quotecontent"><div style="display: none;">Aaaaaand Initiative roll:<br/>Initiative Roll (1d20 + 3): 17 + 3 = 20<br/><br/>Sweet.  <img alt=":silly:" src="./images/smilies/silly.gif" title="Silly"/></div></div></div><br/><br/>"You are<span style="font-style: italic">all </span>already dead. You just don't know it yet."