Dropping to his knees and crawling the the fallen slave's position on the rooftop, to avoid incoming arrows, Thiferl drags the fallen slave back to a more safe position.
Muttering a prayer Thiferl channels energy into everyone within 30 ft of himself. He figured all the slaves might have slight injuries that he could help out with.
((OOC: If this doesn't bring the man gasping back to life, he'll use his heal check to try to save the man))

Realizing that the current distraction was no longer a viable option Echario once again began chanting, moving his hands in the fluid way only one trained in the Arcane knew how. Once the spell was finished a blood curdling scream rang from the direction of the alley on the opposite side of the building that they were bringing the slaves down on. His hope was to draw at least some of the guards over to investigate the new scream, giving those below time to get somewhere before the entire troop was upon them.

((Ghost Sound again, we'll stick with your assumption of casting from inside, hiding within the window to avoid detection while we try to pull this off))

The commotion from the soldiers set the halfling in motion. It sounded as though there were at least two of them running towards them. He quickly made it to the side of the office area. Pressing his body up against the wall he drew his sword and positioned himself a few feet away from the corner edge. His hopes were that with the dwarf standing ready for a fight, and an immediate target for the soldiers he could easily get behind them and attack. So, he slowed his breathing and waited for them to breach the corner....

(OOC: To minimize confusion I am placing you all outside except Echo who is casting through the upper floor window.)

Several men charge around the corner into the alley behind the warehouse, swords raised and ready for a fight. Not a single one of them seemed to notice the halfling pressing himself quietly against the building. They did not seem to expect an unarmed dwarf to be in their way however. Two of them continued their charge towards the dwarf.

One swung his longsword high and was easily dodged. The next sent a powerful thrust of his blade diving towards Argent's heart. With incredible speed (for a dwarf) the monk sidestepped the second attack, smacking his forearm against the inside of the soldier's elbow and sending the attack high. He followed it up by stepping in under the man's guard and pummeling the man twice in the chest with his powerful fists. (Two hits for a total of 12 hp damage) The guard still stands but seems a bit the worse for wear.

After seeing their two comrades so skillfully avoided the remaining four approach more cautiously. Shortly after the last of them passes the halfling silently steps out from hiding and slides his blade into the side of the last guard, piercing his lung. He falls to the ground bleeding. Two of the guards spin around at the sound of the man crashing to the ground. They raise their swords and approach the halfling menacingly.

The slaves continue moving towards the alley way as a bloodcurdling scream echos from somewhere in the street. Half of the archers turn to look, but not seeing anyone or anything unusual they return their attention to the rooftop of the warehouse (they did lose their action this round however).

The other three archers loose their arrows at the rooftop, seemingly aiming specifically at the group and trying to avoid the slaves (they are property after all). Thiferl is hit by one of the arrows as he crouches down to tend to the fallen slave (5 points of damage) and the others embed themselves harmlessly in the roof.

Gritting his teeth from the pain the cleric focuses his mind and calls forth the divine energy with which he has been entrusted by his deity. He grips his holy symbol tightly as a soothing light begins to radiate from it, closing the wounds of those nearby. The whip lashes evident on the slaves begin to heal as do Thiferl's own wounds. In a matter of seconds everyone is refreshed and fully healed... though the downed slave still lies motionless on the rooftop. The dwarf checks him for signs of life and finds none. He is dead, it seems.

Throughout the commotion the half-orc is getting a solid feel for the area. The roof stands just over ten feet from the ground. On the street side there is nothing that could offer you cover from the killing rain of arrows fired by the seemingly well-trained soldiers.

The slaves are progressing well, the more fit among them have already jumped down from the rooftop on the side of the warehouse opposite the soldiers. Though without a ladder, many of them will not safely make the decent.

(OOC: Correct me if I am incorrect, but I believe the ladder is still inside the warehouse and has not yet been pulled out and set against the rooftop for an easy way down. Also, not counting those who are trapped on the roof without the ladder, you estimate it will take another 4 rounds before the slaves are all on the ground and moving... without direction unless one of you can break away from the battle to give them some...)

The half-orc runs to the east wall where the slaves were being dropped. Again he estimated a 10 ft. drop, but what was more was the group of armed men facing off against the shorter folk.

The half-orc gives one of his rare smiles as he looks with his one good eye ate the oppertunity that has presented itself before him. Like a raptor diving for the rabbit, he would fall from the sky and attack surprise these creatures.

Sheathing one of his swords, Uthgar took the other and readied it to plunge it into one of the targets below. He decided that one behind the initial ranks would do, so that there was no chance of accidentally landing on the Dwarf or Halfling instead. With that, the half-orc let gravity take its course, the point of his sword pointing stright down towards the head of his victim.

Daleel was glad that he was able to hide and quickly dispatch the trailing guard. Now he stood off against two others. Perhaps a fight they expected to win. Daleel was hoping the fates were on his side. He raised his sword preparing for the two to close. His eyes calmly watched them both waiting for a tell that would give away their first move. Ou tof the corner of his eye he noticed something large dropping from the roof.

A small grin crept across his face as the guards closed in.

Silently pouting that the spell had not had the intended effect Echo gave into the obvious course of action. He again pulled his crossbow forward, and with the stock of the weapon tried to break the window he had been casting through, getting ready to roll to the side in case the shattering glass brought a volley of arrows toward his head.

((Trying to break the window, hoping not to get turned into a half-elf pin cushion. If I survive this course of action I intend to fire from cover at the archers, hoping to either keep this distracted or scatter them at the very least.))

"Echo, grab the Anu-Celes cursed ladder!!" Thiferl yells back to the half-elf. Hoping to get one more spell off before the next volley of arrows, Thiferl mutters a prayer to cast shield of faith on himself. He will then pick up the dead slave, and sling him over his shoulder. The note did say all the property should be taken to the warehouse, and his corpse may catch an arrow or two along the way. He will then stand between the archers and the slaves until Echo can get the ladder into place.

Echo, hearing the pleas of his Dwarven comrade, abandons his plan of breaking the window and rushes to grab the ladder as requested. Once he manages to get a good handle on it he passes it to the Dwarves and hopes that things work out with this course of action.

(OOC: I just want to say, great posts done by all. Thanks.)

The guard that had been hit so powerfully by Argent stagges back a few steps before regaining his balance and coming back in, sword whistling across his body. Try as he might the dwarf's momentum would not allow him to avoid the blow. He threw his weight back, turning a mortal blow into a flsh wound (Argent is hit for 4 hp damage). The other guard saw his opening and came in from the side, trying to flank the unarmed fighter. His attack was somewhat less successful than his comrade's. The sword thrust was neatly battered aside by the quick hands of the monk.

After the quick block Argent steps forward to finish off his first opponent. A lightning fast roundkick barely misses. Using the momentum built up from the spinning kick he continued the circle, coming around with a backhand just as the guard was moving back in for another attack. The back of his fist connected solidly with the side of the man's head, stooped as he was. There was a sickening crunch and the guard collapsed in a heap, his sword spinning off to the side and clattering off of the wall of the building opposite the warehouse.

As the rooftop is slowly clearing of slaves, the members of the group become clearer targets for the archers down below. Six arrows slice through the air, seeking the death of those who would dare to steal from their master. Two embd themselves in the dead slave being caried by Thiferl. He can almost feel the point of one of them against his back. Another buries itself in a ladder wrung only inches away from Echo's hand. Two of the others find targets. One slices the leg of a slave, causing her to stumble and fall from the roof. Luckily another slave, one a bit hardier than her, broke her fall. She is limping, but very much alive.

As the half-orc sprints across the rooftop two of the archers take aim. The arrow of one soars through his running legs as he hops up a bit mid-stride. The second slices through his right arm leaving a long gash in his bicep. (hit for 3 hp damage) With the rugged determination he does not stagger or misstep, even as the blood begins to flow down his woundd arm. Three steps later he soars off of the rooftop, sword in hand for a vicious downward chop.

Below him the two guards facing the halfling and the one who has not yet engaged the group remain unaware of the death soaring down on them from above. Skit raises his sword and grins slyly as the sword of his newly freed ally slices downward. The unengaged guard looks up just in time to see his doom. He is caught completely by surprise as Uthgar's sword bites deep into his body, given further momentum by the half-orc's descent. His arm (and much or his torso) is cloven from his body. He glances at it briefly with a look of shock on his face before collapsing to the ground dead. uthgar turns to the two guards threatening the halfling and smiles.

While they are distracted Skit rushes in, sticking one of the guards in the ribs (for 3 points of damage) before retreating among a series of powerful blows from both of his adversaries. One attack manages to slip through his guard grazing his scalp a bit. (hit for 2 hp damage)

Through much effort Echo manages to move the ladder out and get it onto the roof. Several of the slaves take it from him and put it in place on the side of the building before beginning to help the injured and more frail among them to the ground.

(OOC: As I said, great posting by all. I can only hope this keeps up. As it stands now, the 6 archers remain on the side of the building opposite the alley. They have not yet moved. Of the 6 that went behind the alley, 3 have now been slain. There is one remaining that battles Argent and two that are between Uthgar and Daleel. It will take 3 more rounds for the slaves to all be clear and off of the building.)

The battle was thickening, and taking longer than Argent had hoped for. These guards were tough.

The monk tried to focus his attention on his enemies rather than the throbbing wound he had received. He regretted having to take a man's life in order to save several. In the end, he told himself, it seemed these guards didn't have much respect for life themselves, firing away at the unarmed slaves. He pictured the command they had been given: Stop the escape at all cost. It could not have sounded any other way, or maybe these men enjoyed strewing death around them.

He realized he was making excuses for himself, and found a calmness again in knowing that he cared.

"You can stop now and live." He called to the guards. "You don't have to die today."

If they react, he'll do his best to get everybody out safely. If they don't react, he'll be sure to kick the next guy before his action runs out.

Unable to control his natural reflexes, the Half-elf flinched as the arrow from the archer's volley just barely missed his hand. However he steeled his resolve and managed to get the ladder passed over to several of the slaves they were freeing and they managed to get it set up, making the evacuation that much smoother.

Now it seemed however that these archers needed to be dealt with before they turned this "property retrieval" mission into a massacre. But what could he do, what use was he against a small battalion of archers when his skills were best suited for avoiding direct conflicts, not putting a stop to them.

Realizing he was ill-suited for combat Echo decided it best to help the slaves, freeing the others to focus more of their own attention on the conflict at hand. He quickly helped the remaining slaves to the ladder, hoping to avoid any more casualties in the process. Once the slaves are clear of the roof, whether with help or on their own, he will make his own way down into the alley and attempt to lead the mob of scared people toward the designated drop point mentioned in their orders.

The half-orc glares with his one good eye as he takes his sword out of the cadaver he landed on. He then unsheathes his other sword and makes a great growling sound from his throat. Taking an offensive posture, he crouches down and brings one sword before his face while the other is pointed to the ground at his side. With a low grumble, the half-orc makes for an intimidating site: crouched on a fresh and ferocious kill as well as being in an alien posture.

-Draw sword: move action
-Intimidate - Demoralize: standard action

Shifting the weight of the dead slave to one shoulder Thiferl stretches his other hand out towards the archers. With a mumbled prayer shards of ice freeze in front of his outstretched fingers and hurl towards the archers below. He prayed that his shield of faith would hold out until the others could make their way down the ladder. He could hear the fighting down below on the other side, and prayed his brother would come out none the worse.

The remaining guard faces off with the monk, sword at the ready. He watches the dwarf's movements, taking better measure of his opponent. In a slow circle he moves around, backing away from the monk towards where the other soldier's sword had landed.

(The soldier is moving slowly (5' step), full defensive)

Recognizing the man's intent to gain another weapon Argent quickly closes the gap between them. He steps under the man's guard and sweeps the man's fron't leg from beneath him. The soldier's weight fully in under the dwarf's control, he quickly grabs the man's helmet and pulls to the side, bringing the man's head into easy reach before slamming his first squarely between his eyes. This man too collapses silently to the ground. (Congrats on the critical hit by the way.)

As Echo moves across the rooftop, ushering slaves down the ladder he glances back one last time towards the archers. Three of them are moving off to the side back the way they originally came. The three that remain send another volley of arrows soaring at the rooftop, seeming to whistle as they come in biting for flesh. Fortunately for all those ont he rooftop, it seems the skilled archers are th ones who just left, since not a single arrow found its target. One, however, was close enough to Echo that he was forced off the roof in his attempt to dodge. Luckily, the half-elf was more nimble than he seemed. What was first looking to be a painful fall was turned into a graceful landing... as if he meant to do it. As the arrows flew so did sharp shards of ice from the fingertips of Thiferl. They slashed into one of the archers (for 5 hp damage) wounding him, but trained as they were he gritted his teeth and placed yet another arrow on his bowstring.

Now, only two guards remained in the melee behind the warehouse. At the arrival of the large half-orc they both spun around to face him. For several seconds they watched as he pulled his blade from their cloven comrade and slowly slid his other blade free from the scabbard. When the low snarl escaped his lips, the pair could not help but move back a step, where the halfling stood waiting...


(OOC: Alright, in an effort to ease the responsibility this holiday season, we will take a break from the game until January 2nd. Feel free to post and converse as much as you wish between now and then but please have at least one post completed by the 2nd. The game will be updated again at that point. I will still monitor the game and answer questions and such as I am able to over the break. Happy Yule (or whatever haliday you may be celebrating) to all. For those who didn't post this last time... your loss.