Knowing that there is a gnoll spellcaster, and possibly even more hidden gnolls, Lavender tries to stay near to Bahram and Zaina, moving as they do. She recasts the same spell, aiming at the other two gnolls.
Sleep (DC 16)
"Maybe you should turn yourself invisible too?" Bahram suggests to Zaina, concern evident on his voice, before launching into a spell of his own. Gesturing and muttering he casts mage armor on himself before moving part-ways toward the action. "Let our fighters draw the attention and let us support them when needed." he mutters.
Lavender casts again, her arcane words and gestures weaving magical enegy through the mind of her target, and sending another of the gnolls into a deep slumber, as Rashid dashes towards the action at full pelt, and Bahram approaches with a little more caution - calling forth protective magics to invisibly encase his form before setting forth...
"Maybe you should turn yourself invisible too?"
'I'm not easy to see at the best of times,' Zaina replies with a grin, 'and if I stay behind a big thing like you, my Master, I'll be invisible anyway!'
Despite one of the gnolls on each of the nets now being fast alseep, both the remaining gnolls manage to keep their respective griffons captive as the majestic creatures try their best to rip free of the nets, but in their panic and rage manage only to ensnare themselves further - the cruel metal barbs of the nets ripping at their feathers and flesh...
As Rashid runs up, the uninjured and awake gnoll turns the rope fastened to the net round his left forearm a few times, for a better grip, drawing his scimitar with his right hand and spinning into an attack which opens a slash across the dwarf's face!
Looking from Rashid to where Keldar and Lavender (and Zaina) can be seen advancing, the burnt gnoll also draws his scimitar, managing to keep a tight grip on his rope as he moves across to Rashid to join his fellow in taking a swipe at the dwarven priest... thankfully, Rashid skillfully deflects the blow with his shield...
Two more gnolls flicker into view atop the large boulder next to the action - both with drawn back longbows, which they let fly... One of the two arrows sails over Keldar's head, the other thuds into the ground at his feet...
You shall be takin no more slaves, you filthy, scurvy, son of a camel
... Keldar yells, as he hurls more fire towards the melee... but this time the flames miss their target, impacting the side of the big boulder in a small explosion of sparks and soot...
Meanwhile, Yousef reaches his target rope, severing it in one blow! It appears that Haleen has managed the same, as the other rope also breaks at nearly the same time. Both gnolls who were straining to hold the ropes (and the griffons) as they battled Rashid stagger as the tension is suddenly relieved, and the burnt gnoll even falls sprawling to the dirt at the dwarven priest's feet!
"That is such a long time to wait. Have you ever thought of, well, uhm... a fling? You know, a little bit of temporary compassion or uhh... well, r-release?"
Almah laughs,
'Maybe I should pop down to the market and buy myself a nice, strong, concubine while Father Rashid and his disappoving looks are away visiting Pale Mountain, hmmm?' she jests, 'One of those big black Mawangi fellows maybe? Or an Osirion? No, no,' she continues, laughing as she speaks, 'I've got it - I'll special order a Vudrani mystic from the city: they say some of the erotic techniques they teach in Jalmeray are mindblowing!'
After some more heartfelt laughter, Lady Almah places her hand warmly upon yours,
'Thankyou,' she says, 'it's been too long since I've had a good laugh. As for a lover...' she keeps smiling, '... I think I'd best stick to work for now, and worry about other things later. I'm sure the Pactmasters would prefer it that way, in any case...'
Bahram sucks in a breath at the sight of two more gnolls appearing. 'More! Of course, I should have known. The sphere can hold any number within a 10 foot radius spread! Stupid, stupid, stupid...' he thinks to himself as he continues cautiously forward. Chanting as he goes he reaches a clenched fist toward the gnoll archers, unfurling his finger with a muttered he causes a burst of glittering particles to burst over the gnolls on the rock.
Glittering particles do indeed burst atop the boulder, coating and highlighting the two gnoll archers... and one other! As the two archers yelp and rub at their eyes, the third figure - another gnoll, it appears from the outline, although this one not only has a bow slung across his back, and a scimitar at his waist, but also seems to be wearing a pack with several scrolls poking out of it - blinks off the effects and stares towards Bahram...
Lavender once again uses her sleep spell, aiming at the new group of Gnolls As she continues to move another thirty feet closer to the encounter.
When Bahram reveals the hidden gnoll, Lavender smiles. "There you are..." Lavender mutters in a malicious feigned sweetness.
Lavender feels her hope dashed as Almah laughs at the idea. Still, Lavender laughs wither her.
Then Almah places her hand on hers and she felt that jolt again, a sensation she was quickly starting to regret as much as she loved. Still with Almah's hand on hers, she though that maybe she ought to confess her feelings. Lavender places her free hand on top of Almah's hand covering her own, caressing it lovingly. But as Almah keep speaking, this time serious of not wanting a lover, Lavender bites down on her bottom lip, to prevent her from saying anything she will regret.
Lavender swallows, finally finding her composure. It was probably best to end the visit before Almah did something irresistible and Lavender did something she would regret. Still absentmindedly caressing Almah's hand, Lavender looks into Almah's eyes and says, "Thank you Almah, that was a fun talk. Sorry, I probably shouldn't have kept you from your work like this... I-I'll miss you while I'm away..." Lavender blushes from the raw emotion in her tone as she lets that last sentence fall away.
As the ropes are cut and the gnolls stumble, the burnt one falling, Rashid seizes the opportunity to return the favour to the gnoll who cut him, slicing his own blade across the hyena-man's snout and opening a nasty looking gash. Regaining his footing, and spitting curses from Rovagug with his every breath, the gnoll parries Rashid's attempt at a follow-up attack...
Moving forwards, Lavender again tries to send the gnolls to sleep... this time the magic failing to have its desired effect...
The burnt gnoll scrambles back to his feet, avoiding Rashid's opportunistic sword-blow as he does so and slashing wildly at the dwarf with his own blade. Rashid easily manages to deflect both the scimitar of the burnt gnoll, and that of his wounded fellow, with some deft shield-work...
Atop the boulder the two blinded gnoll archers rub uselessly at their eyes... but their scroll-toting friend calmly unslings his bow, nocking an arrow, drawing, and firing at Bahram! The arrow, glittering in the twilight, streaks through the air to embed itself deeply in the sorcerer's shoulder... moments later, Bahram feels a numbness begin to spread from the location of the wound...
'Master! Zaina exclaims in fear as he's shot, then quickly casts an invisibility spell on Bahram...
Meanwhile, one of the griffons manages to fight and rip its way free of the net ensnaring it, and quikly moves to help free its partner also...
Keldar decides to remove the kidd gloves...
A small, bright, orb of fire - like a tiny star - shoots out across the riverbank... only to blossom into an explosion of firey death as it reaches the top of the boulder! In a brief moment, the three gnolls are turned into so many lumps of smoking charcoal... although charcoal that still glitters like gold, thanks to Bahram's previous spell...
With a quick word in the direction he assumes Haleen lies in, Yousef sheaths his sword and quickly scrambles to the top of the boulder... barely avoiding the blast as Keldar unleashes flaming retribution upon the gnolls ! Reaching to top of the boulder, Yousef finds it charred, warm to the touch... and still glittering... much like the blasted remains of the three gnolls which were once perched there...
'Holy...' Haleen's voice comes from nearby, '... remind me not to piss that dwarf off!'
Nearly knocked down by the impact of the arrow Bahram grimaces as he feels a tickling sensation start out from the puncture made by the arrow. Ripping it out he frowns as the tickling turns to an itch, but as nothing else happens he sighs in relief.
Feeling the heat of the blossoming fireball he looks up in time to see the fire recede to leave behind the blackened boulder. he manages, slack jawed.
His attention turns back to the gnolls by the net by a *scawk* from the griffons, focusing on the burnt one he sends three magic missiles streaking toward him.
Lavender winces as sees Bahram hit by the arrow. Although worried as he vanishes from site she decided to leave him to Zania for the moment as she makes her way a bit close to the battlefield.
Surprised by the fireball, Lavender has mixed feelings at seeing the aftermath... She wanted to take out that magic gnoll. Oh well.
Lavender then points to the injured Gnoll's scimitar, (or the burnt one's if it drops) and lets lose a tirad of arcane words... Hopefully coating the damned beast's weapon in a slippery grease.
Grease! (DC 16)
Lavender knocks her forehead against the desk. "What... Am... I... Thinking!" Lavender says to herself between hits.
By the time Lavender has made it home and prepared everything for the morning, she had convinced herself that she was just lonely and that this adventure away from everything was just what she needed to curb these strange feeling towards Almah. At least she hoped that was the case. As Lavender went to bed, she had a hard time falling asleep, reliving the afternoon in her mind. Reaching out of her covers for her Handy Haversack Lavender pulls the wand out that Almah gave her. As much as Almah stole her attention earlier, mysterious items like this was exactly what she liked. If it wasn't for the fact that Almah gave it to her, she would be trying to force the thing to work, despite the lack of Lava. She was good at that. But the chance of damaging it was too high, and she did not want to damage Almah's gift. As she stared at the wand, she gave it a quick kiss, hating herself for wishing it was Almah. Eventually she falls asleep with the wand still tightly clenched in her hand...
Only a few seconds after vanishing from sight, Bahram reappears - the arrow which had struck him lying in the dirt beside him - as he calls forth magical energies which coallesce into a trio of glowing bolts which whirl and spiral through the air, before converging on the burnt gnoll... and blowing a hole in its chest!
Even as the burnt gnoll is blasted from his feet (and from his life), Rashid steps into the gap in his opponent's defenses caused by his last parry and draws a long, deep, bloody slash diagonally up the gnoll's body, from waist to shoulder, opening him up... the gnoll collapses, extremely dead...
As the dust from the brief battle begins to settle, the loose griffon manages to free its mate. Screeching, they nuzzle each other for a moment... before turning and stepping towards the two slumbering gnolls. They both eye Rashid (who's closest to them) with caution, but seem intent on their prey...
"You know, we have a few minutes left of this invisibility spell. We might be able to fool around a little bit. Now where are you?"
Haleen's light laugh drifts from the ether,
'Tell you what,' she teases, 'if you find me, you can have me!'
Meanwhile...
The two griffons watch as Rashid backs away and begins to heal Bahram then, seemingly satisfied (for the moment) that he and his companions aren't a threat, set themselves to chowing down on the two living, but sleeping (or, at least, living and sleeping until the beaks and talons sink in...) gnolls...
'Oh, my Master!' Zaina says, her tone a mixture of pride and worry, 'You were magnificent - as always - but you need to be more careful. That nasty hyena-man could have really hurt you!'
As Rashid heals the sorcerer's wound, Zaina flits across to plant a tiny kiss on the dwarf's cheek,
'My thanks, Father Rashid,' she declares, bowing in the air before him, 'for healing my Master.'
"No trouble at all. Someone has to look after him..."
Zaina looks at the ground and bows lower,
'A thousand pardons,' she replies quietly, sounding somewhat aggrieved, 'this humble servant shall endeavour to do better in the future.'
Meanwhile, up on the gnoll-corpse-strewn boulder, Yousef wanders around invisibly, with Haleen's light laugh teasing him...
"Did anything survive the fiery blast up there on the rock?"
For the most part, the gnolls appear to have been carrying mundane gear...
... with only a few valuables...
... but the lead gnoll (who shot Bahram) had numerous scrolls stuffed into his pack - all poorly treated, spattered here and there in dried blood, ripped, torn, and cut in places, and now a little singed as well . The scrolls appear to be scribed in a single hand and some are the mundane business records and travel journal of a spice merchant travelling from Osirion to Katapesh. A few, however, appear to be magical writings...
Feeling the healing energies flow through him Bahram breathes easier, bee it from the wound or worry, Bahram's heart and breath had grown quicker. Frowning as he looks up from poking at the hole in his robes left by the arrow he looks at Zaina prostrating herself for Rashid. "Zaina. Can you fix this?" he asks, fingering the hole.
Seeing the scrolls Bahram gestures and mutters making his eyes glow blue. "These are arcane scrolls of phantom steed, tiny hut, gaseous form, shrink item, resist energy, and share language respectively. A frightening thought, these gnolls cattying such powerfull magics."
"I did not mean to suggest that you had, even in the slightest way, been derelict in your duty to Bahram; I was simply referring to the fact that we all do our duties - and mine is to shepherd, guide, and heal the members of this little band."
Zaina can be seen pouting a little, under her gossamer veil, but says nothing...
"Zaina. Can you fix this?"
'Yes, my Master!' the tiny genie's pout turns to a smile as she quickly floats over to mystically cause the threads of Bahram's robes to stitch back together again, as good as new.
"Umm... I don't know.." Bahram replies to Lavander as they head out of the griffon territory to find a suitable campsite. "The resist energy and share language ones are communal, wich means they'r effects can be shared amongst many. How about you hold the phantom steed, tiny hut, and gaseous form scrolls. I'm sure they'll all come in handy before long."
"Thank's Bahram!" Lavender says as she takes the three scrolls. She opens one and gives it a good look...
Spellcraft
...upside down. Lavender breaks into a cold sweat as she looks at the confusing scroll. "Umm... I can't read it..."
Spellcraft
Spellcraft
...Lavender quickly gives the other two a good look, and feels very discouraged as she looks at the 2nd one, staring at it like it is an alien language. She is however relieved that she can make sense of the third. "Aha... Gaseous form... I guess I'm not totally stupid..."
Bahram frowns as he watches Lavender worry through the scrolls. "Umm.. You should let me teach you read magic sometime soon Lav. Here, try these." he says, handing over the scrolls of shrink item, resist energy (communal), and share language (communal), taking back the scrolls Lavander couldn't decipher.