Hearing the action on the other side, Tal'ariel opens the door and sees the enemy. She takes a step through the door and then attempts to slice the goblin and the wolf mount in one lethal stroke.
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Tal'ariel takes the goblin's leg clean off at the thigh, and buries her sword deep in the guts of the wolf. It falls off its feet, shuddering on the ground.
She also catches the party's first glipse of their next foe - sitting next to the hole in the roof of the south-eastern building is the manticore - body of a lion, wings of a bat, tail of a scorpion, and the head of a man - loosely speaking. When it smiles, it's clear that its teeth are more like those of an orc or goblin.
The elf seems to have earned the ire of the other wolf - it closes in and bites at her, its stunned rider flopping about in the saddle.
, plus
Meanwhile, the manticore lazily takes to the air, flapping its wings once or twice before landing on the roof of the stables. It sends a volley of spikes towards the elf with a flick of its tail.
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She avoids the worst of it, and the rest impacts harmlessly against her magical barriers.
"It moved didn't it? I'll try to get up to it."
He starts to move and runs past the wolf, hoping that the beast is too fixed on the elf.
Double Move to get to the Stable Roof and Climb
, +
The wolf snaps ineffectively at his heels as he passes.
From where he is, Isawa five-foot-steps and uses his Slumber against one of the wolves.
Yulai steps out the door, taking aim at the manticore.
"Ha! I think I got him. Yuki! I got him!"
She ducks as the manticore shifts.
"Ok maybe not!"
Sadly, while Yulai's arrow is finely aimed, it does not do more than annoy the manticore.
Seeing them incapacitated, Tal'ariel elects to try and finish the second wolf-goblin pair in one fell swoop, much as she did with the first.
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Regrettably, due to a misunderstanding of goblin anatomy, she seems to finish neither, dealing little damage to the goblin and, in the process, finding her sword deflected away from the sleeping wolf with the followthrough!
Iris hustles back the way she came, wending her way around the tower walls and through the rubble. She slashes at a wolf if any are alive. If not, then she slashes at a goblinoid.
(move through rubble unhindered)
Zelligar will move up behind Iris and cast Murderous Command on the manticore.
DC 14 Will save or it moves and makes a melee attack on its nearest ally.
He'll go to the spot adjacent to the wolf and risk the AOO.
The wolf, distracted by Isawa's hex and Bran's passing, has little time to capitalize on the opportunity.
The manticore lifts off, and soars into the courtyard in a half-spiral, landing to chomp down on the prone wolf.
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In a last ditch attempt, the wolf tries to rise to its feet and fight back, but the combined efforts of Iris, Tal'ariel and Zelligar handily put it down.
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Isawa speaks a word, trying to put the manticore to sleep.
"ספריי צבע"
It easily shakes off the effect.
"Oh come on now! I just..."
Letting go, he circles around for a flank with Yulai, his additional speed giving him the boost he needs.
The arrow sticking out of his shoulder causes him wince a little, and the attempt suffers due to it.
Yulai steps back as Bran grabs the beast, and lets an arrow fly straight into it's exposed chest.
"Quickly, give it all you've got. Bran has it!"
She seems way too excited by this.
This arrow seems to do more damage than the last.
The goblin is blinking like mad, clearing the dust from its eyes.
"We've got you now, beast!" Tal'ariel doesn't mind the enthusiasm from Yulai at all. In fact, she finds it encouraging her own bravado. Stepping toward the manticore, she once more tries a deadly strike that will deal with the soon-to-recover goblin and do some damage to the manticore.
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Even stunned, the goblin is still protected by chainmail. It catches a bruising blow to the chest, but glides off against his armor.
Zelligar needs to know what language the manticore speaks to use Command on it. So he will try to get it to talk. Trying Goblin first.
"Well done, beast. The wolf is dead. Fly off and we'll pay you later."
Ready to cast Command(Fall) if it responds in Goblin.
There's no response.
Iris attempts to finish off the goblin so as to free herself to attack the monster.
The goblin remains standing, if barely. Certainly, it will need magical attendance if he is ever to properly recover from that wound.
If he can, Zelligar will cast Command on the manticore, DC 14, speaking in Common.
"Fall."
Fall: On its turn, the subject falls to the ground and remains prone for 1 round. It may act normally while prone but takes any appropriate penalties.
The goblin is getting desperate - he's on his last leg, and the manticore seems to have dropped onto the ground for no apparent reason. He whips out a shield and a small, curved sword, and circles around Tal'ariel to team up with the manticore.
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The manticore, meanwhile, drops to the ground under the compulsion of Zelligar's spell. For whatever reason, the beast seems to understand common well enough to be affected. It's obviously not very happy with this state of affairs, being bossed around by some puny mageling's magic. There's a lot of roaring involved.
Sadly, it can't quite get at the mageling in question, so the manticore settles for savaging the weakest looking nearby ally.
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Alright, lets try this again. Its no bigger than the ogres.
He focuses and attempts another grapple, giving a small tug at his golden chain necklace for luck and slips into the zone.
"Got the damn thing this time! There's no way out beastie!"
He hopes the manticore doesn't slip out of his arms as he wraps both around the torso, wedging himself under the wing.
Grappled
Cannot move, -4 Dexterity, -2 Attack Rolls (except to break Grapples).
Though sword and claw seem close to striking Tal'ariel, her natural dexterity and magical barriers (and the fact that the manticore was prone) keep the attacks at bay. This time, unable to easily strike both enemies, she focuses her energies on just the manticore on the ground.
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Yulai fires another shot into the beast, although the angle is bad.
"You had to flatten it out didn't you?"
Yulai and Tal'ariel take the opportunity to score bleeding wounds on the manticore.
Pleased with his success against the manticore, Zelligar tries to finish off the goblin with his staff.
Iris tries to finish off the goblin if he still lives. If not, she strikes the manticore.
(if applicable)
Zelligar downs the goblin, while Iris stabs her rapier deep into the soft belly of the manticore.
The beast does everything it can to get to its feet and dislodge the annying human pressing it towards the ground.
Sadly, Bran's grip on it is too good.
Tal'ariel almost feels bad for the manticore being held down and surrounded as she strikes at it once more with her sword.
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Iris slices at the manticore.
(if applicable)
Between all of you, the manticore stands little chance of getting up again. You stab and slice it to death by multiple cuts.
At least for the moment, the courtyard is clear of opponents.
Zelligar and Tal'Ariel hear low voices barking orders from inside the main keep and tower. When it's clear that there's a lull in the sound of battle outside, the sound quiets. Tal'ariel can make out faint clinking of metal and footfalls, but to the rest of you it's completely silent.
"Can't get out huh beastie?!" The wrestler attempts to pin the creature down to ensure it doesn't take flight.
"Time for some fun!"
He roars out and moves to pin, the arm crunching the vitals of the manticore.
He eyes the creature and Tal's blade. "That explains why it was so easy." He grins and lets go.
Zelligar smiles at Bran's enthusiasm.
The martial approach can indeed be entertaining to watch.
"Where to now? I believe I heard more voices, likely more goblins. Should we prepare to meet them here, or take the fight to them?"
Tal'ariel grins back at the mighty warrior, withdrawing her sword from the dead manticore. "Not so easy, yet. As Zelligar says, more goblins from the keep and tower trying to sneak up on us. I say we enter the tower so they can't rain arrows on us from above."
"This way, this way. Get inside."
Yulai moves south, into the side room then if clear she motions at the door to let one of her partymates peek at the tower.
You all cram into the squat building. What it's original purpose was is unclear. All the furniture has been crushed into rubble, and a large nestlike mound of tree branches, bones, bits and pieces of foulsmelling animal parts littered with long, thin black spikes fill the northeast corner of the room. A gaping hole in the roof of the same corner lets in light, but does not provide a view of the keep's tower.
Interestingly, the manticore's lair is dotted with coins and gemstones - there's probably a good amount there, if you take the time to look through the nest.
"What did you hear?" He keeps an eye on the door and wonders what could be bigger (and possibly more dangerous) than the manticore. He closes the the northern door once everyone gets inside . "Think one of us should keep a lookout?" He nods his head up toward the hole on the wall.
Zelligar follows Yulai and Bran inside. He looks around briefly.
"We'll have time to search for gems when we've defeated these cretins."
He looks to the main keep.
"Do we avoid the front door and attack from an unexpected direction? Or feint one way, then attack the other? I don't think we need a lookout unless we tarry here. They will be gathering their minotaur, I would guess."
He draws his wand and heals Bran.
"Up for another test of strength?"