Chapter 2: South Wind

[Sherwood]

Wren does her best to let the larger members of the team stand between her and Lord Fatass, hoping that they will block his view of her and keep him from identifying her. That would open up a whole can of worms that she just does not want to deal with. When the paladin begins to talk to the Lord and makes an argument to get some more men to join them, she bites her lip. Renna, just shut up already. Let them go on their way while we deal with the orcs in the cave ourselves. Just let them go before someone recognizes me!

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Baird breaths a sigh of relief as he notices Wren climbing her way down the cliffside having found an alternative exit. Of course this also brings to his attention the alarming fact that the lord and Wren are now within proximity of each other. Compounding things even more, Renna begins to implore the lord to send some men their way to clear out the caves. I don't think that's the best path to take, we don't know how these men react in stealth and combat situations. Baird then looks over at Lenorei and then sees an opportunity that would help both the party and Wren. It was a gamble that he was willing to take. Walking over next to Renna, Baird then speaks. "Your Lordship, Renna here proposes an interesting idea, although I can see why you are a bit hesitant to acquiesce to her request, but I would like to propose an amendment to that request. Why not send us in with Lenorei and one or two men like Bjarni suggests?
Silanon Sherwood Psychie

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Checks

Renna Diplomacy: 11+11, Baird Diplomacy: 18+8, Wren Stealth:8+12

Lord Petaccio thoroughly considers the requests, carefully looking over your assembled group to estimate your strength. Maybe it's just Wren's perception, but it seems as if he'd eye her longer than the others; perhaps, it is simply hard to size up someone who tries to stay out of sight for the most part, but it might have other reasons as well... the rogue resists the urge to look over her belongings to see if there's anything visible that might give away her background, at least - and at last, the old Lord's eyes move on, mustering those who took the lead in this conversation. "We could likely spare another bow or two - though every man might matter in the end. Bjarni, I will give you three of my archers, make sure that your friends here finish their work. As for the half-elf - she is not part of my own troops, so it is not on me to decide. There will be many wounded and dead ahead of us; but if one of Whitehairs friends is truly in danger, you might need an educated healer as well. I wiill lead the others towards the main gate - if you are finished quickly, do your best to catch up to us." "Aye, will do that - thanks, mylord." Bjarni offers a dwarven salute, and then quickly grabs his crossbow tighter.

With that, Lord Petaccio turns around his horse - poor animal, to carry this kind of man into battle - and leads most of his forces out of the valley. Only four of his men stay behind: Bjarni, as well as Garry and Lya Swansea, two siblings who carry longbows with them. The last one to stay is Fox, the young, brown-haired ranger who seemed to eye Wren earlier, after exchanging a couple of words with the Lord. Zvolov is gone as well - you didn't see him leave with the others, but he likely just did his best to stay out of Veskassdaks sight.

"So, ya found an entry point, didn't ya? No time to waste, there's a battle ahead." The dwarf is headed towards the main corridor, but gets stopped by Io. "This one is blocked - rocks rained down on us, almost got Wren. But as it seems, she found another way out. Anything of notice in there, as far as you saw it?"

 

[Silanon]

With the help of some rope and a few helping hands, you all manage to reach the top of the cliff - as you gather in front of the rather small entry, the Lord's group downstairs already leaves northwards, ready to join the battle ahead. You prepare yourself for the inavoidable fight, take a last look at the wide sky around you - then you enter the passageway. For some of you, the way downstairs is not too hard - while noone but Bjarni can actually walk tall, the lighting of the stones as well as Garry's torch let you avoid any painful encounters with the low ceiling. Renna and Veskassdak likely have the hardest time: The former because of her heavier armor, the latter simply because of his size.

It takes a few moments until you reach the very same place were Wren passed through. As the rogue can certainly tell you, the path to your left is a dead end - that leaves a smaller path on the opposite side of the main corridor, large enough to let an orc walk through, as well as the right end of the corridor itself. As described earlier, there is a trail of blood leading towards the smaller path, while the ogre can only really have followed the main corridor further down. There are multiple dead bodies on the floor, and as there seems to be no immediate danger, you certainly have time to take a closer look. Most of them seem to have been undead - some were smashed by brutal strength, others show signs of magical fire. All of them are either orcs or goblins, as well as a handful of ratling mercenaries. Perhaps the remnants of the foes that the scouts killed when entering the caves earlier...

Do you wish to look for anything in particular? And if not, how do you wish to proceed? The siblings follow Bjarni's example for now, and keep an eye on the main corridor, while Io and Fox carefully examine the darkness where the blood trail leads.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren takes point as she leads everyone through the tunnels that she used to leave. Pointing over in one direction, she says, "That way leads off to the cave in. Nothing to see down that way. Over there is where the ogre has had to go. Needless to say, I didn't go exploring down there; I didn't want to run into the big guy."

 

[Dicer]

Veskassdak thought to himself that none of his people would believe that he would be helping mammals defeat mammals. Those ones, he knew, were the short-sighted ones who saw all mammals as threats to their kind. Still, even in this narrow passage, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them. His companions were of good blood. Knocking his head on the low ceiling brought his attention back from his musings.
"At leassst, Wren," he said after Wren noted she didn't want to run into the ogre, "now not alone."

 

[Psychie]

Renna seems somewhat disgruntled at having to let others take the lead into the tunnels, but with her massive sword, it would just be near impossible for her to fight if an opponent came up. Now that they are in the larger tunnel, she readies her sword for a fight once more. Looking down the tunnel, she briefly focuses her senses into the divine and tries to detect evil to see if their opponents are within range.

 

[Sherwood]

Wren gives the lizard man a grin. "Thanks, you big lug. Its good to have you guys here with me. Kinda like having you guys around. After all, we make a pretty good team, don't you agree?" At this point, she stealthily moves her way forward, putting herself at the front of the group. "I'll take point, to keep an eye out for more traps. Hopefully I can spot them before I trigger them this time." Wren then glances over at the rest of the team to see if there are any objections to her taking the lead. If there are none, she'll slowly move forward down the main tunnel. The paladin seems to want to introduce her form of justice to the ogre, and it would just be rude not to help Renna make that introduction.

 

[Silanon]

At least for now, Renna's divine abilities cannot feel the foes ahead - likely, they are out of reach. From your point of view, the corridor seems to go on for another while, mostly straight before it vanishes in darkness. If you wish to advance this way, you can certainly check for evil beings from time to time so that no evil creature will surprise you. Of course, Wren's eyes might do the trick already, at least if you let her take the lead. There is no evil to be found along the other path - so it should be rather safe there as well.

 

[Silanon]

Deciding that taking out the foes has priority over searching the other small path, the group slowly follows behind the rogue - apart from Io and Fox, that is, as the elf and the ranger decide to carefully investigate the other option instead. You follow the tunnel for a few moments - it's not a long distance, but you'd rather be careful than run into another trap - before it makes another turn to the left. Wren is the first one to notice the upcoming danger; clearly, your ears can pick up both the grunting of the ogre, as well as multiple voices that sound like orcs and their allies. The next one to notice something is Renna: Ahead of you, you can feel great evil - not only the presence of multiple foes, but something else that is hard to explain; perhaps some kind of fool, unholy magic. Both Baird and Lenorei can feel it as well - maybe not quite as easily as the paladin, but you both will recognize the presence of unfamiliar magic. Veskassdak can likely already smell the foes ahead - and, perhaps to your surprise, you seem to not be the only one. Right next to you, the female archer, Lya Swansea, seems to put her back head and pick up the scent. Quite an unusual behaviour for a human, but the yellow gleaming in her eyes might indicate that she is more than that.

Sneaking just a few steps further forward, you can get a look into a rather large cave - perhaps about two-hundred feet in each direction, though most of it is filled with the kind of garbage that is left behind when soldiers pass through: some empty tents, a few old crates, a couple of weapons and supplies here and there. The space in the middle is unoccupied - apart from a strange stone arch right in the center. The goblin shaman stands in front of it, the few remaining troops are gathered around him. Just now, he raises his ceremonial dagger, covered with blood, and a crackling sound can be heard - red, tentacle-like streams of lights can be seen as they twine around the arch before meeting at its top. Only then does the air in-between begin to shine, in the same bloody red color. It looks like a giant, magical mirror, , only that it does not show those assembled, but a mountainous landscape instead.

"Can ya believe it - a bloody gate, right in da middle of nowhere!", is Bjarni's immediate reaction. "About a dozen, plus the ogre", is Garry's first, more helpful estimation, and his sister adds: "Fresh blood on his dagger, and not his own", before grabbing her bow with surprising strength.

You have a few split seconds to react - enough to exchange a few words or two to coordinate your approach, and to pick up more details if you need any; if so, let me know what you'd like to focus your attention on.

 

[Psychie]

Renna smiles in grim satisfaction. "Good. They are all in one place. That means I don't have to hunt them down one by one. Now, I know little about magic, but I have to guess that the portal is bad news for all of us. That shaman is a real threat, and he needs to be taken out of the action quickly. I suggest that Veskassdak and I focus on that ogre, and the rest of you gang up on that shaman until he has met his gods in person. After that, the rest of the orcs and goblins will be easy enough to take out. Too bad we don't have a Fireball scroll; that would come in handy. Baird, I don't suppose you have one hiding up your robes anywhere?"

 

[Silanon]

As Renna formulates a general plan, your foes do react to your sudden presence. A deep growl tells you that soemwhere between the rubbish, the remaining beasts smell potential prey, and the ogre turns around to you, raising both shield and hammer in anticipation of your attack. Behind his giant cover and with his thick skin, it will be hard to take him down with bows; but being close to him is not too great, either. The ratlings gather around the shaman, pulling out their bows and knives; meanwhile, the shaman seems to be focused on the portal for now. Before the ratlings block the sight, you can see a humanoid body lying to his feet - covered in a dark, black cloak that does not reveal more details. However, by the puddle around the unlucky person, it is likely that his or her blood was used to open the portal.

Sherwood is the first one to act with Wren.

Initiative Order:
20 Wren
16 Garry
11 Lenorei
10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2
8 Veskassdak
6 Beasts 3-4
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre
4 Renna
1 Lya

 

[Sherwood]

Wren readies her twin short swords and moves forward, aiming to take on the ratlings around the shaman. If she can get close enough to engage without getting the ogre in her way, she will use her double strike to hit the little monsters protecting the shaman. +8 to hit, damage is 1d6+1 per blade.

 

[Silanon]

The portal is about a hundred feet away - so the distance between you and the goblin and ratlings is about 90 feet, and th ogre is a bit closer to you (likely about eighty feet away from you). Moreover, if you want to avoid the ogre, which sounds like a rather smart idea, you'd have to run in a curved line, so to speak - so you certainly would not make it this round. Do you wish to run into position for next round, or would you prefer to do something else?

 

[Sherwood]

I'll close in at an angle to avoid encountering the Ogre, making a double move to cover the distance.

 

[Silanon]

As Wren manages to get herself into position, Garry already grabs an arrow from his quiver and takes a shot at the ogre - however, the projectile simply bounces off of the shield.

With that, Danchou Tsubomi is up with Lenorei.

 

[Silanon]

Since I'd like to move things forward, we'll delay the half-elfs action - feel free to act whenever you find the time to respond. That means that Clockwork Syringe is the next one to act with Baird.

Initiative Order:
20 Wren
16 Garry
11 Lenorei [delayed]
--> 10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2
8 Veskassdak
6 Beasts 3-4
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre
4 Renna
1 Lya

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

((Just realized that I've got a scroll of fire breath, good thing to use against the small fry. Page 11-12 of this thread))

Baird, following Wren's example, decides to move like she does in an attempt to avoid the ogre and focus on the ratlings.

 

[Silanon]

Staying close to the rogue, Baird gets himself into a better position as well - preparing to get closer to the shaman and his companions. As you move forward, you notice that the growling sounds of two beasts that seem to hide in the direction you chose. Indeed, you can see them close to the cave wall, only now moving to get in your flank. If you choose to ignore them, they might become a problem as soon as you engage the ratlings; or decide to attack those further behind. On the other hand, dealing with them might mean that the shaman causes havoc...

Dicer is up with Veskassdak - what is your course of action?

Initiative Order:
20 Wren
16 Garry
11 Lenorei [delayed]
10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2 (flanking on Bairds/Wrens side)
--> 8 Veskassdak
6 Beasts 3-4
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre
4 Renna
1 Lya

 

[Dicer]

Preparing for his attack on the ogre, Veskassdak decides that he should get the attention of all of the foes focused on him to make sure the others have a better chance of getting to their targets. He might even distract the shaman from completing whatever it was the shaman was doing. He bellowed, "Shurigrem heem korlas kles!" thus beginning his rage. His yellow eyes turned to a scary blood red while his breathing increased. His muscles flooded with blood to bulge massively. The coloration of his back frill deepened in shade to the dark green his rage always took them. His dorsal spike tips elongated half an inch and darkened to the same blood red color as his eyes. His combat rage fully on, he readied to strike those who would oppose him. Before the ogre and other foes stood a menacing, nightmarish creature that looked like it hungered to consume their very souls. Claws curled in front of him, he charged the ogre without concern for those between them to slash as hard as he could at the large creature.

Spoiler

Rage adjustments: AC 15, HP 53, DR 2/-, Fort save +9, Speed 45 ft., Attack bonus +10, bite damage 1d3+6, 2 claws damage 1d4+6, 5 of 13 rage rounds used. Ves will move up to 90 ft in a straight line, if possible, towards the ogre. If he provokes Attacks of Opportunity along the way, oh well. Charge grants +2 to attack and reduces AC to 13.

Total adjustments this round: AC 13, HP 53, DR 2/-, Fort save +9, Speed 45 ft., Attack bonus +12, bite damage 1d3+6, 2 claws damage 1d4+6, 5 of 13 rage rounds used.

Side note: Ves needs to get mithral breastplate as soon as can be affordable. Enlarge Person potions would be good too.

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Rolls

Fortitude: 17+9, attack: 13+12=25, damage 3+6=9

The ogre is the closest foe, so you will not have to fear the others for now - in fact, as the nightmarish lizard man charges in their direction, the ratlings certainly do not look as if they'd want to be anywhere close to you. The two closest to you stumble a few steps backwards, screaming words in panic; and even the shaman looks up for a moment before hastily bending down to his victim, dagger at the ready for whatever he plans.

The one who is the least impressed is certainly the ogre - watching how you get closer and closer, the creature slightly adjusts the positioning of its shield, and raises its hammer in anticipation. Right as you get into his range, the giant hammerhead swings down with brutal strength, hitting you like a battering ram. Somehow, your rage still carries you further forward, to strike with your claws against his exposed arm - but in this battle of monstrosities, the big fatty certainly comes out ahead for now.

The other two beast can be seen further back, somewhere behind the portal - while they slowly get closer to you, they are no threat for now. The ratlings send a few arrows flying, with almost no effect - Garry takes a little scratch, but that's all there is for now. The shaman seems to try to pull up the figure to his feet - as he does so, you can get a glimpse at the person. Underneath the dark hood, you can see a silvermask that covers the upper half of her face, and dark, almost black skin underneath. She seems to wear armor underneath her robe, although it seems not to have helped too much against the brutal strength of the ogre - it's dented to the inside, as if she got stuck between hammer and anvil. There are multiple deep cuts, perhaps from the goblin's dagger, and while she seems to move slightly as she gets moved, it does not look as if she'd hold on to life for much longer.

The ogre follows its first hit up with another mighty blow - and while it does not quite have the same impact as the first one, it's still almost enough to send Veskassdak flying through the room.

Spoiler: HP loss

Veskassdak loses 41 hp in total, after reduction.

Psychie is up with Renna - time to safe the day!

Initiative Order:
20 Wren
16 Garry [-2]
11 Lenorei [delayed]
10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2 (flanking on Bairds/Wrens side)
8 Veskassdak [-41]
6 Beasts 3-4 (further back)
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre [-9]
--> 4 Renna
1 Lya

 

[Psychie]

Renna sees the ogre level a massive blow against her companion, and she snarls. That beast needs to face Iomeade's justice! She charges forward, trying to get to the ogre. If she is within range, she will perform a strike. "Ogre! Time to die!"

Spoiler

+13 to hit vs the Ogre thanks to her Smite Evil
damage is 2d6+16
AC is 23 vs the Ogre
Lay on Hands x4

 

[Silanon]

Your shorter legs don't quite carry you as quickly forward as your companion - thus, Renna won't reach the ogre this round. If you wish to make another action to then charge in next round, let me know - other than that, Sherwood is up with Wren.

Next to you, you can see how Lya runs a few steps forward to get closer - she then fires off two arrows in quick succession, but both of them simply hit the ogre's shield. The yellow gleaming in her eyes gets stronger, and she releases what almost sounds like a growl.

Initiative Order:
--> 20 Wren
16 Garry [-2]
11 Lenorei [delayed]
10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2 (flanking on Bairds/Wrens side)
8 Veskassdak [-41]
6 Beasts 3-4 (further back)
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre [-9]
4 Renna
1 Lya

 

[Sherwood]

Wren is torn between fighting her way to the shaman and facing off against the beasts that are trying to get behind them. She calls out, "Baird! Double team these beasts with me!" With that in mind, she will try to maneuver herself around the creatures to be in a flanking position to get her Sneak Attack damage bonus in. Either way, she will engage with her dual swords to try and do as much damage as possible to the first beast.

Spoiler

Two weapon strike, +8 to hit, doing a d6+1 per sword unless I can get the flanking bonus in, then its 3d6+1 each sword.
AC 20, 32 hit points

 

[Silanon]

Spoiler: Rolls

Wren: to hit 18+8, 8+8, damage 4+1, 3+1. No bonus, as Baird hasn't moved over yet. Lemorei: casts cure moderate wounds twice, for 22 hp restoration total.

Decinding that she is better off without these two beasts in her back, Wren changes her direction towards them - both her swords manage to draw blood, but as you've seen before, these creatures are rather tough to kill. At least, the one you've hit jumps backwards, howling in pain before baring its teeth.

Further back, Garry switches his targets - his arrow manages to hit the second beast, piercing through its skin. Lenorei, on the other hand, ends her silent observation to cast two healing spells in quick succession. Veskassdak can feel the restoring powers rush through his veins, closing up some of the wounds caused by the ogre's attacks.

Clockwork Syringe is up with Baird.

Initiative Order:
20 Wren
16 Garry [-2]
11 Lenorei [delayed]
--> 10 Baird
10 Beasts 1-2 (flanking on Bairds/Wrens side) [-9,-6]
8 Veskassdak [-19]
6 Beasts 3-4 (further back)
6 Ratlings 1-6
6 Goblin Shaman
5 Armored Ogre [-9]
4 Renna
1 Lya