March 15th, The Encounter by the Warehouses

New thread for the immediacy of the situation.

With Zeiss on point, Higaide and Rory taking up the rear and checking for traps, people, or anything of note, Zeiss stops rather suddenly and slips into a shadow where the corridor is poorly lit. The others follow suit, for Zeiss believes he's heard something up ahead. A couple of successful Stealth rolls gets him a few dozen feet closer, to realize that up ahead the corridor is brightly lit and has a Dwarf in steel armor is leaning on a steel axe, looking somewhat bored.

Are we still in the Veil? And by observing him, what else can I determine about this dwarf? He might have the mannerisms of a particular Clan or is dressed in a particular way.

The trio is still within the Veil, by your offhand estimates over a mile from the nearest exit (the exit you were heading towards). You can tell he's a bored looking Dwarf, and he's dressed in steel armor.

Oh well, I tell the rest of the party through Advoc that I'm going to sneak up on him and kill him. If Advoc can get in range without being detected, he will cast Pillar of Light on the dwarf before I do so. If he can't, he will do it after I made my attack.

My weapons:

• Jagged Granite Hookblade of the Assassin: 3d4, +4 Material. Does double damage to targets at full health.  Successful attacks leave a DOT.
  

• Jagged Granite Hookblade of Wounding: 3d4, +4 Material. Does double damage to targets below half health. Successful attacks leave a DOT.
  

My Martial-to-Hit: 9 with both weapons.
I also have 3d6 of damage on sneak attack.
For the spell, Advoc WIS modifier is 3.

Rory shakes his head disapprovingly, reaching out for Zeiss' blades with refuting grasp if he already has one or two out, wearing the unique gauntlets Kolson had woven for him. He reaches under his collar and pulls out an amulet, and taps his nose.

amulet:

Zeiss, being sixty feet ahead of the rest of the party, already have his weapons ready. He sneaks towards the dwarf.

Zeiss is stealthily sneaking up on the Dwarf when there is a loud CRASH behind him as Advoc inadvertently slips and stumbles into some boxes. The Dwarf in question immediately raises his weapon in alarm, shouting a warning that there are no trespassers tolerated here and that if the creature advances further he will take it as a hostile action.

Initiatives for when it becomes necessary:

OOC:

Zeiss holds his action.

Advoc casts Pillar of Light and moves towards the dwarf.

Zeiss attacks the dwarf.

The Dwarf holds his action, as he's only given a warning and will not attack unprovoked.
Zeiss also holds his action.
Advoc casts Pillar of Light, dealing 38 damage to the Dwarf and making him yell rather loudly in alarm. Sadly he fails his Willpower check and loses his next 2 turns (counting the 1 stored turn).
As soon as Advoc finishes his attack, the hidden Elf in the shadows attacks Advoc twice as a Sneak Attack, hitting twice, for 30 damage total.
It is Higaide's turn.

Higaide dashes out of cover, straight for the dwarf, and going for his weapon.

action:

Higaide barely covers the distance with his Charge expended and lunges over the small array of boxes and crates to successfully get hands on the Dwarf's axe, though the Dwarf does not relinquish his grip, leaving the two grappled.

It is Rory's turn.

Rory mutters an obscenity and charges out of stealth to strike the elf with the flat of his blade, both hands gripping the hilt.

Rory manages to reach and smack the Elf once, barely, dealing 13 damage to the Elf's midside and causing him to also yelp in alarm.

The Elf successfully Acrobatics his way out of melee range of Rory and begins bolting full tilt up the corridor, yelling at the top of his lungs that they have intruders, leaving the Dwarf to his fate. The Dwarf loses his turn, as mentioned before.

It is Zeiss' turn.

Zeiss attacks the elf.

Advoc casts Pillar of Light on the elf.

Zeiss realizes rather suddenly that the Elf is well out of melee range and, since he is going full tilt, would require all of Zeiss' actions to catch up to him without ranged attacks of some kind.

Zeiss will go full speed after the elf and, if possible, tackle him.

Advoc casts Pillar of Light on the elf.

Rory, feeling confident that he can reach the elf in a sprint, charges down the corridor to take another swing to knock him to the ground. He grits his teeth in desperation, drawing upon the day's frustrations.

Rory is Enraged

ooc:

Hm:

Zeiss lunges and just barely manages to tackle the Elf, forcing him down, mere seconds before Rory comes crashing in and slashes wildly, hitting Zeiss and the Elf both for 24 damage.
Meanwhile Advoc dutifully obeys and casts Pillar of Light on the Elf, dealing an additional 25 damage.

It is Higaide's turn.

Higaide presses his grapple for all it's worth, trying to wrestle the axe from the Dwarf's hand.

Action:

It takes considerable effort but K manages to disarm the Dwarf, sending his axe clattering to the ground and exhausting Higaide's turn.

The Elf, who at the moment is bleeding pretty badly, scrambles up and gets away from Zeiss, hollering bloody murder for reinforcements.
The Dwarf, sadly, still loses this turn.

It is, once again, Zeiss' turn.

Zeiss uses his Orator ability Stall on the elf: "Run away and your friend is dead." If that didn't count as an action, Zeiss will then attack the elf. If it did, he will simply move towards him and try to block his path.

Advoc casts Light Storm on the elf.

Rory will seize the elf's hesitation if applicable, and charge to strike him with the flat of his sword with intent to knock him unconscious or put him in Downed, whichever comes first.

Before i forget, i'm setting the Dwarf as my dodge target.

Zeiss actually fails the Charisma opposed but between Light Storm and Rory's onslaught the Elf is split in two, with one half hitting one side of the hallway and the other smashing into the ground. Zeiss heals for 19 from Light Storm.

It is Higaide's turn.

Wanting to keep the body count as low as possible, Higaide pummels at the Dwarf.

Action: