Hearing and seeing the rats keep taking to the water Suny starts her comment with an expletive.
"Fek this! Okeys, are we holdin' 'em here?" She asks, even as she kneels and takes a closer look at the water in the channel...
Kill them.
Oneshot speaks in olde elvish:
"Tactically, this situation is bilge. There are better spots for archery, but I'll be *(*$ if I tell you to ever draw the rapier."
The rats surface for only a second to take a peek from 50' behind and resume swimming in the channel. Spider does not wish to risk a shot from the heavy crossbow yet. Setlyn is sure he can nail one with a force bolt due to its incredible accuracy.
The additional two rats in the channel once again zoom past Wil like large swimming beavers.
"Right then!" Suny calls. "Time t'give these todgers somat t'be rilly scared of !" So saying she simply slips into the water and disappears.
Suny will sheath her sword and simply 'Take Tem' to grapple the things front legs and drag it under....wait the required number of rounds for it to drown and then she'll swim onto the next target/victim...
How does that sound as a plan? (^_^)
Talon wasted no opportunities as he let loose two shots at the swimming rats, if he could wound one it would make things easier down the road. Arrows can be replaced.... Oneshots comment made him chuckle. "Couldn't agree with you more, this situation isn't the best...
I'll save the rapier for later though, so rest your strings."
He nodded to Seltyn as the man's suggestion was simple and self explanatory. "Alright everyone lets head back the way we came, lets not let them cut off our retreat. Ready yourselves and lets take them down. Flam keep an eye on the water and lets make sure we don't outpace Suny, we can't afford to get separated and those of us in the center of the group should use our bows and spears if we have them. Lets keep these dogs off our backs." As he finished speaking he notched another arrow to Oneshots bowstring.
The two giant rats the flew past the group do a U-turn and pop up. Talon snaps off a single shot and misses - Seltyn fires a force bolt and damages one of the giant rats. The giant rats line up for their attack and come shooting back along the channel as the two new ones rush past Wil and leap out of the water. Suny prepares to leap on the rats back, but it leaps out of the water.
Talon's first arrow rips into the rat appearing in his face at point blank range; he quickly fires again.
As the wolf sized rat leapt from the water, spraying talon and wil down with foul sewage as it shrieked with animal ferocity at the pair. That was until Talon put an arrow between its eyes. The arrow struck the thing so hard that it literally drove the foul rat to the bottom of the waterway with another nasty, sewage filled splash. "At least they're saving us the trouble of hunting them down... To arms my friends, lets take them down."
Wil had recovered his blade but cursed his luck as the creatures avoided him entirely. How annoying, these things act far too intelligent for their own good...
Will brandished his blade and assisted in protecting Talon as he lashed out at nearby foes.
Suny prepares to leap on the rats back, but it leaps out of the water.
Hopefully that roll means there's a 'Splash' and one less ratty fer folks t'deal with! (^_^)
Seltyn fires off a Color spray targeting the two rats from the rear.
Saves vs Will Rat1/Suny's mount
As both rats fall dumbly unconscious, Suny throttles the rat she jumps on to the bottom drowning it. Seeing the other rat floating on the top of the surface, she can easily do the same to it next round.
Perception Spider
Spider targets one of the ratmen from his new hiding place barely missing him. The ratman fires a hurried shot at Seltyn hitting him and withdraws.
From the tunnel where the rats came from a crossbow targets Wil hitting him in a vital juncture of his torso and shoulder. The wound could have been much worse but still stings
The last surviving giant rat goes for the lightest armored (Seltyn), but misses him.
Spider readies a hand crossbow.
The last rat which is still scrabbling at the party hopefully does little more than splash as it suddenly disappears back beneath the water.
Talon smiles as the rat returns to floating on the surface of the water. "You have qualms finishing it Suny, I can if you do. Good Work everyo..." He paused as will gave a gasp of pain. "Seriously! These guys are persistent! Wil, lets advance and overtake their position, I will take point again."
He notches an arrow and pushes past Wil, raising his bow and readying to strike back if the enemy revealed themselves.
With my 20 AC was it the rat men attack 18 or 19 that struck me? Or was there something I missed? Just wondering as I don't want to use a Lay on hands just yet. XD Call me greedy! even flat footed I have AC 19.
Just wondering. :)
Wil nods to Talon and lets him brush by as he assess the damage from the arrow in his side. Not too bad, sneaky b#$%@#$s... He ignored the crossbow bolt for now and moved forward, laying his healing hand on Talon's back. As the healing magic took hold he felt the crossbow painfully push out of his side and clatter to the floor, his wound was puffy but Talons wounds were gone.
"Lets do this." Hopefully we get rid of these archers soon, my strength is beginning to flag...
Seltyn's at -1.
>.<;
Spider moves to Seltyn and reads a scroll, Seltyn feels healed for
"Whoa, that was a vicious shot."
UMD
Talon Perception vs concealment
Talon Reflex save
Talon moves ahead and triggers a gas trap. He deftly jumps back as a cloud of gas covers the passageway. Talon manages to stay completely out of its area.
The floating rat disappears below not be seen again -- in its place appears Suny's grinning face.
Seltyn sees the nearby rat and reconsiders standing up as it may provoke the rat. The bannermaiden stays in place.
Another crossbow flies through the mist at Talon and hits--it is quite the lucky shot.
Wil feels a little strange . Talon begins to feel strange too .
Suny slips again beneath the waters and...
She simply seems to disappear, possibly distracted by something...
Talon thought he had been safe from the gas but soon he felt something was wrong. Very Wrong. "Wil... I'mntflligwl."
Wil was just behind talon before his elven brother suddenly jumped back, followed by a plump of gas. As Talon slurred his speech, Wil too felt. Strange.
Damn should have thughtftat...
Rat at Suny
Talon yells 'rats', seems to go crazy and turns around preparing to shoot Wil at point blank range. Suny takes a vicious rat bit and struggles with the rat in the water.
As he pulls the bow string back, the bow speaks "No you don't."
Talon seems to struggle to bring back the string, but loses his battle of wills to the brightly glowing bow.
Spider sets down two large vials with a glowing viscous liquid from his pack and dives into the water with Suny. He yells, "To get past the gas cloud, swim under."
Suny grits her teeth and simply lets her weight drag the rat down.
While she is confident in keeping a hold of said furry vermin, the choice of whether it wants to breath or keep chewing on her is what's foremost in her mind.
She's hoping breathing wins out over chewing....
Wil Defends himself from Talon, he had thankfully shaked off whatever it was that had been weakening him and now had to face his new ally as Talon lost his mind before his eyes.
"Get a hold of yourself! The Enemy is behind you."
Seltyn and Spider team up on the last rat. Seltyn firing and force bolt and Spider coming up behind with a dagger. Between them it is finished, but its teeth still hold to Suny in the bloody water.
Spider examines Suny, "Are you all right, how much of this blood is yours?"
Talon comes to his senses, resisting the strange hallucinations and urge for blood. He seems complely exhausted and fatigued.
From behind the passageway, two humanoids appear. One seems your perfect idea of an elf, the other, not so much.
"Fight looks over." the taller of the two says to his companion in a low, smooth voice that cracks and gurgles a bit, as though there were flegm or blood in his throat.
Moving forward slowly, the figure revealed himself. He was an elf, but he looked haggard. His dark hair had a shock of white at the scalp from a scar that ran from his hairline into his eye, clouding it and continuing on to disappear beneath a cloth mask. If he had a nose at all, it was very small. He carried a large curved blade of ancient design which was drawn on the group in case of trouble. His armor was similarly old, the leather cracked and the metal tarnished and rusted. beneath his armor he was covered in fresh bandages that were soaking through with blood. He kept his shoulders high and his neck pulled in, crouched as though his back were malformed. The cloak he wore was worn and tattered.
He stood before them at the edge of the light, cautious, unsure of what to say.
Suny winces and floats quietly allowing Spider to examine the rat and its tooth work,
"T'is a good sized scratch, an' that's fer sure. Glad I am t'not be in'a open waters though." She moves so that Spider can help extricate her from the ex-rat's jaws.
"I be thinkin' there's more'n a few wrigglies attached t'meself, t'boot." She sighs...
Talon completely shakes off the effects of the mind toxin and is left feeling he ran for hours at top speed.
Spider turns around to pry the teeth off of Suny and sees the newcomers and speaks to Seltyn from the channel, "Boss, are these more of yours?"
Suny slowly pulls herself out of the water and lays on the path, she waves weakly to the new comers,
"Hey-YA there! Sorry fer not gettin' up..." (^_^)
Seeing that talon was back to himself, Wil was quite unconcerned about the newcomers as he went about trying to take care of the wounds among the band. Seeing spider trying to pry open the teeth of the dead rat he moves forward and draws out one of his surgeons tools. "Please allow me to do it Spider, best we make this quick and avoid further injury to Suny. Never know if its teeth came close to an artery..." Wil took a light hold of the rats jaw and with startling ease severed its supporting muscles, causing the death grip to go slack. "That should do it, help me pull her out of the water please Spider."
He quickly cleaned the bloodied blade off on his clothing as he helped Suny out of the water. He looked at her wounds more thoroughly, he had been woefully i'll prepared for such an ambush. He wouldn't be such a full net time.
As his hands glow softly, Suny's injuries started to knit together. Almost stitching themselves up just before the clatter of the broken crossbow bolt in Wil's side fell from his armor. Alas though Suny's injuries were far from healed and the leeches were going to be a pain. He pulled off his gauntlet and used his finger nail to slide under the suckers and break the seal, then he used his other hand to grasp the fatter part and remove the rear sucker. It was a long process without a proper tindertwig or something to shock the leeches into letting go.
"Perhaps we should fall back and try again tomorrow, perhaps in the morning when there is light... I am unable to heal any of you now these creatures were quite vicious and utilizing potions will only weaken us further. The choice is yours as I have three potions left yet. But another attack like this and we will be hard pressed to make it out of this sewer without losses." His voice never wavered as he removed leech after leech. It was the voice of a warrior-healer who had been in such a situation more then once and was sure of what the future held.
It was then that he noticed the Newcomer's, his eyes never strayed from his current task but it wasn't hard to hear them in the sudden quite after the rats shrieks had died on the wind. "Wilaml of House Fmelvam, if you are injured please say so and I will do what I can... There are crossbowman about so I suggest you stay on your toes and shield out."
Suny waves Wilaml's deferential treatment and comments away.
"P-shaw! A few wrigglies here an' there in't no need fer concern. Not like it's the first time." She sits up, closes her eyes and softly hums some tune while her hand stays pressed over the worst of the wound.
Between Wilaml's curative spells and her own she is soon right as rain. She stands and offers a still dripping hand towards the two newcomers,
"Hey agin!" (^_^) "Ye c'n call me 'Suny' in'a people's speakin'." She grins as she more formally introduces herself.
"Um...neither of ye'd have any salt, perchance?" She asks absently...
Wil smiles faintly at Suny's energy, he was finding her bubbly attitude reassuring despite himself. He remained tense though as his shoulders felt heavy, especially when the last of his healing power went into changing her injuries into a much less serious affair. The path of the healer is never easy Brother... He stands slowly, the weight of his burdens dragging at him like chains, he absently cleaned off the surgeon tool he'd used and placed it back in its case before regarding the newcomers quietly.
Standing at six feet and eight inches tall, Wilaml Fmelvam is a very tall thin elf. He's wearing a clean, well maintained set of cleric vestments underneath his armored duster and sports a heavy steel shield depicting his gods symbol. He has lightly tanned skin with short cropped blond hair, akin to what Human soldiers are seen to have most of the time, his left eye is a cloudy grey while his right is covered by a eye patch. Which appears to be covering a cruel looking scar.
Lienilda hears the vermin's screeches before Azlain does. They sound like they're several hundred feet away, and the stone sewer walls have been overgrown in places with plants and fungi. She's surprised to hear them at all. Mixed in with the animal cries, however, are the purposeful exclamations and exertions of what sounds like brother and sister elves. She takes Azlains hand and pulls him down the line where the noise sounds loudest.
After a few moments, he hears it too, and they begin running side by side. Azlain has to pace himself to let the more heavily-armored Lienilda keep up, but she pushes herself to make sure she doesn't slow them down too much. The sounds of battle quiet, however, before they can come on the scene, and it takes a few seconds of consultation and a lucky guess before they're on the track again.
Lienilda does not have much time to take in the tableau she finds when they do come on the scene. There were elves, alright. At least one was hurt, and another was tending her wounds. Lienilda's first instinct was to go to his side, ask what was wrong, and offer to help, but all of a sudden there is an arrow pointed between her eyes. She brings her own bow up a fraction of a second later. She looks as the other archer with a smile and a twinkle in her eye, and lowers her bow in unison with his.
"There's so many of you," she says softly. Her heart, which had begun to slow from its exertions, begins to pitter-pat again at the prospect of introductions. She prefered to be alone, and Azlain she could count on to respect that. What would these new people be like? "My name's Lienilda. Are you hurt? We heard fighting." She leaves answering the others' questions to Azlain.
"Salt? the masked man asks lowering his blade. "No."
Seltyn agrees that we should get out, regroup, and try again later. He's overjoyed at the sight of more elves.
Let's get acquainted in a less stinky environment, shall we?
Spider points to the smoke.
"We swim or wade under and we can take the battle to those stinking rats."
To the new guys, "Name's Spider, footpad of legend and thief of hearts."