Anasth fires another arrow, maintaining a short distance.
but the shot flies wide, over the large creature and Jaxon.
Alder smiles grimly as the creature drops his weapon; he looses another arrow and then begins to sing to encourage his companions.
Noticing the green flash and the disappearance of the caravan , Alder racks his brain for any stories or lore he's heard of in the North about such magics.
Knowledge (Local - The North):
Alder:
The great beast is in fact an ogre of the Nether Mountains. Such beasts rarely travel alone.
Knowing that they could use whatever advantages they can get against such a brute of a creature, Ariael somersaults around the beast, setting up a more advantageous positioning with Jaxon, then strikes out with his rapier.
Ariael rolls under the ogre's swing and stabs it weakly in the arm before coming back on the defensive. The ogre swings wildly at Ariael again striking a solid shot.
Start Round 3. Everyone is up Wolf appears 40' to the north of the ogre
Cal continues making his way around the Ogre's flank, trying to line up with the rapier-wielding soldier. "Thanks mate."
With a snarled command that makes little sense to those speaking full languages, followed by the sound "Desfra", Anasth releases another arrow at the ogre.
for
The arrow again goes wide, missing its mark as Anasth bends his wrist at the right moment to keep from hitting his ally.
A large wolf bounds out of the dark rain nearby, charging and leaping at the ogre's throat with an open-mouthed howl.
for
It slips in the mud at the last moment, narrowly avoiding running into the ogre's legs.
Closing the last few feet to the huge monstrosity, Ariael strikes out again at it with his rapier
Alder continues to sing, weaving in the tales of the Grandfather Tree, the unfailing strength of the ancient forest, and the courage of true heroes.
Frowning at the poor aim of his last shot, he tries again, loosing an arrow at the monster.
P.S. If you want to know what Alder's Inspire Courage song does not sound like, I give you a bizarre ethno-sploitation performance organized by the Russian Olympic Committee for Vancouver:
Jaxon spears the ogre which opens up Ariael to stab the ogre in the heart. With a whimper, the ogre falls and continues to bleed out.
Another green flash occurs and the caravan reappears. The gnomes are standing on top of the wagons with crossbows loaded and pointing in all directions. After a quick glance around, Glimly smiles and waves "Oh, I guess you handled the ogre. Well, much thanks! You should tend to your wounds and we'll keep a lookout for anymore biggens about."
Desfra narrowly avoids the ogre falling on her, then looks up to Anasth with a whimper.
He makes a growling, purring noise in the back of his throat, thrusting his chin back towards the wilderness the wolf came from. The wolf's ears perk up in response and it darts back into the darkness.
"I'll see what arrows I can recover. This cursed weather improved my aim none at all."
"Ow." Cal said, sitting down hard on the ground. "Ow. Ow. Ow. I feel kinda sick. Also, ow."
Arrow 1
Arrow 2
Anasth returns from his hunt to still find the others injured, and he silently berates himself for not seeing to their wounds first.
"This druid business is sometimes more complex than I am used to."
Alder also hunts for the two arrows of his that went wide.
Turning to Glimly, Alder asks: Any idea what happened to you?
He checks his bowstring and keeps an arrow at the ready, scanning the trees and the road ahead for any more signs of danger
Glimly looks to Alder, "Umm yah, well, it's just a little trick I can do from time to time. Nothing special. We should probably find a place to rest for the night?" The other gnomes look to eachother and get busy checking straps and harnesses as Glimly talks.
Kythorn 3, Year of Wild Magic
The night goes by without much worry. The rain slows to a drizzle a little before midnight. After a quick breakfast, you set off down the road again.
The gnomes seem to keep more to themselves. They become evasive if anyone mentions the events of the past day. Even Jaxon merely gets an apoligetic shrug.
While the rain has stopped the wind continues to howl for the remainder of the day. By noon, you reach the branch to the south with a sign that reads "Khels" but the caravan continues to march to the east toward your ultimate goal. By nightfall, you begin to march into the hills of Silverymoon Pass.
Alder tries to draw the gnomes out a bit, not touching on the disappearing act per se, but trying to learn more about who they are and what they're doing.
Diplomacy check:
If there's nothing to be gained from that quarter, he just keeps his ears open and his arrow ready.
Ariael avoids talking to the gnomes, such trickery in combat like that bothers him and strikes him as almost cowardly. Instead, he spends the hours before nightfall polishing and sharpening his weapons, paying extra care and attention to his rapier. Since he only needs four hours of rest, he'll offer to take the middle shift for watch.
Jaxon says most of the night nursing a stiff neck from the Ogre's club, which he complains about periodically even after receiving care and healing.
Anasth occasionally looks down from his somewhat comfortable perch in a nearby tree.
"It will heal with time, friend. Just because the healing magic of nature does not absolve your pains, it does not mean that nature will abandon treating them completely."
His eyes take on a far away look, as though his attention were diverted elsewhere. He readjusts his stance on the branch and continues his watch or his meditation.
Alder does his best to get some information out of Glimly to no avail. During the afternoon break, one of the drivers, Gresh, comes up to Alder. With a whisper, "Alder, Glimly is a little too close to the Cloakshadow to divulge anything. I'm not sure how he does it but I don't think he can control it very well. Sometimes he mutters something about Jeriah's toy." With that, Gresh moves back to his post.
The day closes as you set camp in the foothills of Silverymoon Pass. The wind finally starts to die down as the night grows cold. As it nears sunrise, a fog begins to roll in.
Kythron 4, Year of Wild Magic
The caravan begins before the sun melts the fog. A startling sound of a high pitched wine is heard to the north.
Perception
Initiative
Alder:
Anasth sees multiple forms running toward the caravan with a motley assortment of weapons. All of them are about six to seven feet tall with green skin and tusks.
Ariael draws forth one of his daggers, and prepares himself for whatever it is that is incoming.
Anasth picks out one of the charging creatures with his bow and releases an arrow.
"Eh? What's... Oh hell, again?"
Drawing a strange looking bent tube, like a thick wand, Cal takes aim...
And with a sound like thunder, it erupts with smoke and fire.
Alder begins to chant the old songs of the Uthgardt, aiming to steel his allies for battle. He then lets loose an arrow at one of the creatures who has not yet been struck.
Longbow attack:
Longbow damage:
Round 1
Anasth fires again, releasing another primal howl. It's answered again from the nearby wilderness.
The green brutes charge with their swords, axes and spiked maces held high into your left flank. Three charge into Ariael whom twists out of the way of one strike but the other two land solidly Two more come at the flanks attacking Jaxon and Alder. Jaxon is able to side step the attack but Alder takes a hit to his forearm
Status:
Start Round 2
As one of creatures closes in on him, Ari flings his dagger at it, hoping to weaken the brute before it gets close.
After the things strike him, he cries out in pain as their attacks bring him close to being dead.
Anasth draws his blade, shouldering his bow swiftly. (If any enemies are within 5 feet, he takes a 5 foot step and attacks.)
Desfra the Wolf bounds into battle again, charging and leaping at the throat of one of the green humanoids attacking Ariael.
and trip.
Wincing at the pain, but never faltering in his song, Alder takes a step back and shoots at the creature that attacked him.
Attack:
Damage:
The green brutes charge with their swords, axes and spiked maces held high into your left flank. Three charge at Ariael but he takes one of them down with a dagger throw to the throat. Ariael twists out of the way from one of the attacks but is hit solidly with another (11 damage). Two more come at the flanks attacking Jaxon and Alder. With a loud bang, Jaxon drops the orce charging him with a well placed shot. Alder takes a hit to his forearm (5 damage).
Anasth swings his blade but misses the orc. With a howl, a wolf leeps out of the fog and takes one of the greenskins attacking Ariael down by the throat. Alder swings his blade as he sings but fails to land a blow.
Status:
Wincing in pain the Elf slashes the green creature attacking him with his rapier
Jaxon drops his pistol back into it's holster and grips his spear in both hands, stepping closer to his companions and attempting to aid the closest with their attacker.
Ariael stabs the greenskin infront of him while Jaxon tries to assist but misses with his spear. The greenskin roars in rage while swinging his axe but misses. The other greenskin swings his spiked mace at Alder landing a powerful blow against his head.
Status:
Round 3: everyone is up.
Anasth attacks again, his longsword slices through the air.
Desfra looks for another humanoid to attack from behind.
and trip
"Stand still ya ugly bastards!"
Alder steps back another few feet, attempts to lose himself in his song, and fires another arrow at the creature before him.
Anasth takes down the green skin on Ariael while the wolf chews on the creature. Jaxon stabs at the last one on Alder but misses. Alder jumps back and fires an arrow right into the chest of the greenskin which stuns the beast but does not drop it.
Status:
Ariael is up.
Ariael attempts to deliver a killing blow against whatever it is that's attacking Alder. [ooc] for
DC: 14 Nature
With a final blow, Ariael stabs teh beast through the heart. Now that the immediate threat is over, you look to the caravan which is cloaked in deep fog but there are no sounds of violence coming from that direction.
Status:
Alder softly continues his song, and moves cautiously toward the caravan.
Perception:
Anasth holds up a hand, warning Desfra to hold her attack.
His hands glow with green energy as he moves forward to heal Alder.
And Ariael
Alder looks around without seeing anything while Anasth heals his wounds. There is a swirl of mist and another large orc appears wearing a breastplate with a painted pattern on his chest and a great sword. Seeing you, the orc drops into a defensive guard and moves toward your party. The orc growls at you in its language but none of you seem to understand.
Round 4 starts (everyone is up, Ariael and Jaxon can take a round to prep[round 3 actions] but don't see the new threat until round 4. Orc is currently 20' southeast of your group).
Status:
Retrieving the dagger that felled one of the green brutes, Ari is surprised when another appears from the mists.
He hurls his dagger at the creature, then moves to close into striking range