Hekazu

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

So it will be. A climactic use of the ability, if I've ever seen one.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The eyes of the axe wielding warrior upon whom four combatants were clumping upon flitted between each target despite the seeming blindness of one, visualising angles of attack and retaliating strikes and their possible opportunities. This man was by no means inexperienced. Yet despite the ability to know something was coming, all good it served him was being able to mitigate some of the force behind the strikes rather than block them in their entirety. There were simply too many to work with for the battling to proceed favourably for the hide wearing cultist who bit his teeth together as weapons struck together and some strikes even drew blood. He grunted as the first bleeding cut was cut and spat out a curse as the insults of the halfling sunk into his mind. He turned his good side towards Parum for a moment, shooting her a quick glare before baring his teeth and picking an actual target for his attack. That would be the one who had just opened himself for one.

The axe was swung at Orchid, it cutting through the air towards the barbarian's naked chest. The lack of confidence inspired by the bard's interrupting magic did not manage to quell the sheer destructive power of the large weapon, the sharpened edge of the axe sinking into the skin and hitting bone, the tassel attached to the weapon's tip slapping the berserker in the face before the force of the impact would truly register through the man's rage, one pouring forth from primal instinct. "You wait for your turn halfling, and we'll see about that!" the warrior fired back with his successful attack, his stare stuck on the target he'd just hit, just waiting for the male's eyes to roll back in his head.

Mechanics&Rolls

The remaining axe-wielder fails his saving throw against Parum's Vicious Mockery by being one entire digit off with his roll of 12. He picks Orchid as his target, again neglecting to be reckless in his own strike, the disadvantage of the mockery and the advantage granted by Orchid's use of Reckless Attack cancelling each other out. His attack roll comes up as a natural 20. The damage of the critical strike equals 14 slashing before reductions, which I believe will be knocking Orchid out. Be advised @Lucius Cypher.

Next up we have Brannor, locked in duel with Cyanwrath. The stage is yours @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

With the removal of ability modifier from the damage of Kyra's off-hand attack (given she does not have the fighting style that would let her apply it), your number of hits on the axeman comes to three with Kyra missing one, and the damage total to 17 @Norschtalen@Lucius Cypher. Your target has some less than superficial cuts on him, but he is hardly incapacitated yet.

Parum remains next @Ryonara.

EDIT:My mistake. Favoured enemy boost. Should recall the ranger levels. Total is 19. Effects otherwise identical.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Sparks flitted through Cyanwrath's mouth as he opened it once more, the edges of his maw spreading in a grin while the fight beyond him went as ignored as before. His soldier wrenched the tiger off of his person with the long handle of his axe, and even that feat went unseen. His eyes were locked on the champion of Greenest, his tongue flicking across his teeth sharp as razors, the greatsword readied for another assault on the paladin's person. He had misjudged his intent of action, no retaliation following just yet as instead the weretiger spent the time to patch the fresh wounds. Something that Cyanwrath could easily punish.

"You had a good start! Do not squander it! I know you can fight!" the half-dragon bellowed out his demands, the sparks vanishing from between his teeth. That was enough. His blade sang as it cut the air and crashed against Brannor's armour, bringing forth a great uncomfortable dent to its surface. The fierce assault had crashed right on to Brannor's side, the hit threatening his inner organs even past the unnaturally tough hide, but his splint mail managed to still keep most of the attack at bay. Disappointment at the strike's results flashed visibly in Cyanwrath's eyes, and as he yanked his sword free he drove it further downwards, taking a good slice out of Brannor's shin with the tip of it, and soon the half-dragon had adopted a more defensive posture once more. The weapon was ready to intercept strikes, and the posture left few spots vulnerable. But he was no impenetrable fortress. And he knew this just as well.

Mechanics&Rolls

The immobile duel between Cyanwrath and Brannor resumes. Cyanwrath makes two attacks with his greatsword, and that is all he does on his turn. The attacks went as follows:

#1
To Hit: Nat 20
Damage (critical): 12

#2
To Hit: 22
Damage: 16

All damage presented before reductions as per usual.

We move on to the turn of Kyra @Norschtalen. The number of enemies on the field has been reduced to two, them being Cyanwrath and the scar-eyed axeman.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

More of the bard's magic was flung into the air, only to be noted by the two axemen stuck in their own combat where they were greatly outnumbered while to their side Cyanwrath was swinging his blade in the unrelenting assault against the champion that he had so feverishly sought to fight. The men had to try and keep on fighting, but something crashed against the will of the lantern wielding one, and he soon turned tail. Not a move unpunished by the adventurers intruding into this cult hideout, the bard pushing her rapier through the man's armour and dangerously close to a kidney, and in the brief moment he froze another sword swung in from the side, nicking his throat in a very close call. But on just the right spot, blood starting to pump to the man's skin, leaving him not long for this world. He collapsed down before the half-orc even had the chance to make his strike properly, thus leaving him ready to address another threat if it came to it.

And another threat he would have, or if not him specifically at least he was locked in combat with the scar eyed man that still remained standing of the goons this half-dragon seemed to employ for himself. The axe was lifted once more, and a quick assessment of the situation was taken, observable through the one properly functioning eye of his darting around. He spun around, taking aim at the next priority, the woman that had proven capable of picking up the pieces of the fallen and making them fight once more. A combatant that wielded a blade without hesitation was already dangerous enough, and now they came with the skill to raise up others of the same vein? Certainly this would not stand!

With her wounds not amounting to much quite yet, the man seemed to put self-preservation once more onto a higher pedestal, likely the smart thing to do when outnumbered to as unforgiving a degree as he was. Yet the care put to preparing the axe and footwork to defend from multiple directions left the strike lacking, its arc too telegraphed in the movements of the wielder of the weapon and the strike would not come even close to landing, despite its terrifying speed. The opening had been missed. Now he could only wait for the next.

Mechanics&Rolls

Axe Wielder #2 fails his save against Parum's Dissonant Whispers and is thus sent moving away from the halfling. She and Kyra spend their reactions to land Opportunity Attacks on him in the process, felling him before Orchid ends up using his reaction on the same.

#3 resumes fighting, standing his ground and making a single attack with his weapon on Kyra at 8 to hit, not having much success. I might mention your max HP is not quite up to date on your sheet @Norschtalen. Some of you are also completely lacking the statistic. You probably should fix that.

Either way, with the turn of the additional muscle down, we move on to Ashkar Brannor and his duel with Langderosa Cyanwrath @The Harbinger of Ferocity.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Their turn has not begun yet, so that would be correct @Lucius Cypher.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The axe-wielder fales his save at 9. Parum lands her follow-up attack, but does not quite kill him off. Next to activate would be Kyra @Norschtalen, followed by Orchid @Lucius Cypher if you are looking to pull reactions on that. Please provide attack rolls or state you wish not to activate. Preferably in the given order, given how the enemy has to move. He does look rather bad though. Not much power to fight on left in him.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Right, sorry about taking a little longer than planned. Your attacks manage to nick the combatant's skin, coming extremely close to drawing blood. As another piece of his armour ends up hacked further apart, coming strikes are now more likely to cause serious damage.

We move on to Parum's turn, prone on the ground next to the larger mêlée taking place. If she decides to take no other action or movement, she may take the Hide action under these circumstances despite not being exactly hidden from sight. Not saying that she necessarily should, but pointing out the out of the usual option feels right. So go forth @Ryonara, Parum is very much alive.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Thank you, I'll handle the damage to the appropriate target soon! There are flickering flames from makeshift torches set to the walls of this room and its barracks expansion, but the lantern on your target's belt is definitely the brightest around.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

I still don't know who Kyra, and now by extension Orchid, is attacking. Just to make sure my bookkeeping does not get all sorts of messed up by piling on damage to be applied upon damage to be applied, we can't move on in the initiative order quite yet. @Norschtalen, if you would be so kind as to clarify your target.

As for you @Lucius Cypher, Orchid hits his first attack but misses on the off-hand.