Thursday 12 July 1280, Evening (Red Runes, Red Serpent)

Varros staggers from his wound and the effects of the poison. With a feeble gasp he urges the others to finish with Mackey as quickly as possible and secure the evidence against Alanna. If she arrives and sees Mackey's insurance policy it will mean the death of them all.

Mackey himself is badly wounded and losing a great deal of blood, but his adrenaline seems to keep him moving quickly as he draws another two darts from his bandolier.

Gaven yells to the others, "Take him down! Oloc, help me with Varros." Gaven uses the remainder of his cloak to tie above the wound to slow blood flow throughout the fighter's body. Oloc scrambles over to Varros and help Gaven with the wound as best he can.

In a frail voice, Varros tells Gaven that while he appreciates the cleric's dedication to the light, sometimes those the Lord of Light values most are those who have walked in the shadows and find a way to return from the darkness.

As the cleric removes the dart from Varros' wound he replies: "Heh, hindsight is 20/20 in this case. My attack had nothing to do with my devotion to the Light. Remember both Duran and I warned Mackey that he would be struck down if he did not comply. Now rest a moment."

With Oloc keeping a tight grip on the makeshift tourniquet, Gaven sucks the venom from the wound. Under Gaven and Oloc's ministrations, the burning sensation Varros experiences from the venom seems to ease and cool somewhat. Though Varros still feels weakened by the poison, the effect appears to have leveled out.

Meanwhile, Duran leads the hirelings in continuing the combat. The stout archer and the hired help fire again at Mackey. Though he is quick enough to dodge most of the arrows, a single shaft pierces the bandit leader's chest, ensuring his death. Mackey falls to the floor, and then there is silence.

Seeing the others tending to Varros and knowing he cannot help his brother in arms any more than the others, Duran moves to the chest. The chest itself is a large, heavy, iron box with an integral lock. On the plate of the lock are engraved a set of "R.S." runes, and the image of a serpent. The engraving lines are filled with a red coloring.

Duran checks the box for traps or triggers and finds no suspicious devices of any sort. Even the red coloring in the engraving marks appears just to be red paint, nothing more. The lock itself is closed, and the box does not open when Duran attempts to lift the lid.

Meanwhile, Gaven and Oloc finish properly bandaging Varros' leg.* The bleeding has stopped, and the fighter feels much better, except for the lingering effects of the venom, which, you suspect, will simply pass with time.

Now that things have finally quieted, Oloc finishes penning the note for Belloc, as Varros had suggested and makes ready to send Karnak off with it.**

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OOC: Actions?

*I took this liberty, assuming you would intend to do it. Varros regains 4 lost hp from the bandaging, so he's back up to 6 hp (out of his original 7). He still has the (-1 to initiative, -1 to hit, -1 to AC, -25% to move) until it wears off. You don't know how long that will take.

**This was the original plan, but I've held off on the actual sending in case you thought of anything to add to the note. It's been several posts since the idea of sending the note came up – originally back on January 21 real time – so I didn't know if you wanted to say anything other than simply telling Belloc your suspicions about Alanna. If there's nothing more, and you don't change your minds about sending, the next post will open with Karnak flying off to Belloc with the note.

Current time is 6:00 p.m. This was the expected approximate arrival time of the reinforcements.

Just as a reminder, the specifics of the "Wanted" poster can be found here:

http://westkingdom.blogspot.com/2012/08/tuesday-10-july-1280-morningearly.html

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Combat (and Bandaging) Details

Initiative: Party = 4, Varros = 3, Mackey = 1; Party acts first

Varros' save against poison: d20 = 15 + 4 (Gaven's aid) +2 (Fighter Bonus vs. Poison) = 21 (pass; poison effects cease to increase – duration as yet unknown to the PCs).

Duran shoots at Mackey

Shot 1: d20 = 2 + 2 (short range) = 4 (miss)

Shot 2: d20 = 10 + 2 (short range) = 12 (miss)

Gweneth shoots at Mackey

Shot 1: d20 = 4 + 2 (short range) = 6 (miss)

Shot 2: d20 = 10 + 2 (short range) = 12 (miss)

Stan shoots at Mackey

Shot 1: d20 = 10 +2 (short range) = 12 (miss)

Shot 2: d20 = 3 + 2 (short range) = 5 (miss)

Jack shoots at Mackey

Shot 1: d20 = 2 + 2 (short range) = 4 (miss)

Shot 2: d20 = 15 + 2 (short range) = 17 (hit); d6 = 2 (Mackey killed)

Bandaging Varros' wounds: 1d4 = 4; Varros' hit points back up to 6 (out of original 7).