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The mercenary looks over at Coil, cocking his head in an unspoken question.

"He's not a Brother, so the Statutes don't apply. And he asked you to do it, in front of everyone. As long as you don't kill him, you're in the clear," says Coil. Not an ounce of mercy in the man, apparently.

"You heard the Man." Eldon comments as he prepares himself mentally, "Bear in mind the idea is for me to catch them, not to kill me." He adds with an attempt at a smile, had he bitten off more than he could chew here?

Papa takes a moment to look around to see if things will be coming to ahead, and wonders if healing will have to be needed, on all sides....

"Just don't throw them at his head, Happy!" one of the drunken mercs calls out to his friend. At the table, coins begin to appear in small piles. The men are betting on the outcome of the encounter.

Happy takes up Eldon's four knives, weighs them in his hand, and throws one at the juggler without warning.

[OOC] Best way to do this, I think, is with opposed checks.
Happy is throwing knives with intent to harm. Eldon is attempting to catch them.

PHb wrote:Juggling: The character can juggle, a talent useful for entertainments, diversions, and certain rare emergencies. When juggling normally (to entertain or distract), no proficiency check is required. A check is made when trying spectacular tricks ("Watch me eat this apple in mid-air!"). However, juggling also enables the character to attempt desperate moves. On a successful attack roll vs. AC 0 (not a proficiency check), the character can catch small items thrown to harm him (as opposed to items thrown for him to catch). Thus, the character could catch a dagger or a dart before it hits. If this attack roll fails, however, the character automatically suffers damage (sticking your hand in the path of a dagger is likely to hurt).

So, Happy throws, Eldon attempts to catch. Happy is a bit drunk, and not really intent on killing Eldon, so I'll apply a +3 bonus to Eldon's attempts.

Jerrard - please roll d20 four times.[/OOC]

Eldon looks the Merc right in the eye, shifting quickly he reaches out his hands ready to catch or defect the daggers if he can.

1d20+6=17, 1d20+6=7, 1d20+6=10, 1d20+6=17

OUCH!

(OCC: From the Bards Handbook:

Juggling:
· The Jongleur adds his level to the attack roll when trying to catch small items.
· Missile or hurled weapons too large to catch can be deflected by using the
juggling proficiency.

So he gets another +3 for his level, as I was planning to use!)

[OOC]Pondering how to adjudicate this one...[/OOC]

Eldon wasn't born yesterday. He anticipates the first knife being thrown without warning and deftly catches it, folding it into his pattern.

Happy throws the second knife left-handed, catching Eldon off-guard, and follows with the third, right-handed, before Eldon has realized a second one coming at him. The merc's left-handed throw breaks Eldon's rhythm, causing him to catch the second knife, and the third, by their blades, cutting his hands in the process [total dmg = 4hp]. The fourth knife comes in fast, but Eldon by this point has given up any pretext of juggling and manages to catch it before it hits his face.

Happy and his friends laugh raucously and money begins changingg hands at their table.

Dagger resting in his palms, Eldon throws it in the air and rolls backwards, letting the blade land in front of him, his hands hurt somewhat, but he shrugs it off.

"And for my next trick." He motions to Coil for the mugs, when the man throws them his way he catches them and throws them high in the air.

(No dice of Invis castle.)

Having seen Eldon fail to catch the thrown knives, the audience, such as it is, is somewhat less than excited to see him juggle cups. They are not exactly throwing rotten fruit, but they aren't really giving him much attention. Eldon like any good entertainer, can tell he's losing them.

He was loosing them, damn this was not going as planned, replacing the knives he decides today is not his night, besides he had a new employer now. Slipping off the stage he moves to the back of the bar.

Coil, for a change, is not unsympathetic - he tosses Eldon a reasonably clean rag while muttering something about Eldon having picked the wrong voluneteers.

Happy rejoins the other mercenaries at his table, laughing and occasionally glancing Eldon's way. Although the Merc's Guild peace-bond will prevent a fight from breaking out in here, it's clear he and his friends want to go in for another round of bullying.

(Happy to move on if no one else has anything to add.)

Bastian silently tips his head toward the door, hoping that Eldon gets the hint.

Eldon does indeed take the hint. avoiding Happy and his Crew he leaves silently, passing Coil the cloth as he does so. "Some nights, its not your night." he says quietly and leaves.

It's dark now, on the street. Some of the buildings have lamps burning ouside their doors, and a few of the merchants have lamps burning on posts outside their stalls, but the town is mostly quiet. It's as if they roll up the sidewalks early, so to speak, although there might be a drinking establishment or two open, other than the Blue Bolt.

[OOC] Does anyone have any plans for the evening that need to be played out, or should we just do a quick montage and pick up in the morning?[/OOC]

(Nothing here)