"Tis true, good man. The abomination can be removed by use of a rare ritual. We performed it successfully in Izmir on Belsarious. I, myself, was part of said ritual. If it is bonded to you, your presence is indeed necessary to make the artifact inert. Our aim is to destroy them all. We have leads on others but our first priority will be to get these back for safekeeping or destruction." offers the gnome.
"Tis true an likely yah ken still see tha taint o tha abomination upon mah soul, tha waves o energy coming off tha abominations washes over me an nearly causes me pain to be so close again to so many o them."
"Let us away to destroy these an free now two men who suffer tha plyt I once did!"
Bardas hands over a small Bag of Holding. "Keep the bag," he says, "we've got more. Good luck to you! We will be in Izmir ourselves, but first we are to Manaus, to aid in the struggle there."
Princess Elethwin raises her hand in farewell. "Take great care, Skyknights. Remember the threats that are following us, that we warned you about, lest they catch you unawares when you camp for the night."
The druid says nothing, just nods in gratitude, as does her tiny draconic companion.
Min rises, keeping his head bows his head respectfully to Princess Elethwin once more as he speaks and gestures farewell to the Princess. "If ever there is something you need, my word still stands. Hopefully though we can distract your enemies for a time and many thanks for your warning. Aa' menle nauva calen ar' ta hwesta e' ale'quenle, Arwen en amin, tenna' ento lye omenta"
"May thy paths be green and the breeze on thy back, my lady, until next we meet."
As the Princess and her party begin to move on he admires the wyverling, the scales on it were dazzling to behold and he wished he knew more of these 'great ones' as Lin had called it. But before he could think more about the the subject he started to feel a heavy emotion on the bond and he chuckled as he realized what it was.
{I am not Jealous, you best watch your tongue or else you walk to Izmir.}
{So sorry master dragon~ I shall watch my tongue and shine thy scales.}
{HA! You are incorrigible! Master dragon indeed, FEH! You were better when you were gloomy!}
Min quietly laughs as Lin literally spits ice at her rider, and then whips her head away as he continues laughing. "So what is next comrades? Or was there another group we were to meet while we were here Sir Damian?"
Damian calls back the other group before they leave. "Please wait a moment! I believe that we are heading the same direction. We need to go to Manaus, both to retrieve the man who is bonded to the Snowglobe and to speak to the leader of the Lionhearts. Rather than to travel to the same locations separately, we can follow you to Manaus then travel as a group into Izmir. Traveling by air, we can grant you vital cover and perhaps ambush your pursuers." He turns to Luckbender, asking him for information. "This is the best course unless we can seize the others quickly. It is better to move conservatively, to destroy half of them now and seek the other half later, than to seize them all and risk their capture as a set."
"Sir Damian, in reality tis best we outpace both their persuers an our own, now we have several abominations an two people who must be unbonded, removal takes time, an destruction takes time, likely we shall be besieged tha whole time, any abomination not destroyed becomes our enemies at our death. We must get back faster tha we ken."
The three warriors look at each other. Nurianna shrugs, as does Bardas. It is Minaethiel who addresses you: "We cannot abandon our horses, I am afraid, but if you would travel to Manaus with us, we would not say no to such mighty company." She smiles, and it is like pure sunlight in a woodland clearing. "However I also understand what Belsarious is saying, and that you may be better served by putting as much distance between us and yourselves as possible, moving forward with all haste. In the end I cannot say what is better; the abominations are being tracked and will bring trouble no matter what. If we are together then that is more to fight whatever enemies seek to take them. If we separate then you four can certainly cover more ground more quickly than if you were to wait for us. But it is your decision. It is your fate to be under direct command of the great Captain Merit, after all."
Damian points up to the thick canopy. "Once we are out of this, we can cover your journey from the air. I appreciate Belsarious's suggestion, but if even one of the Abominations falls into the hands of the Black Dragonflight for any meaningful period of time, the consequences would be far more dire than any other outcome. We are stronger as a single group than we would be as two separate ones, and arrive in Manaus together."
Min nods in approval to Sir Damian's words. "Even though we are sworn to our mission I still refuse to sacrifice or use others just to accomplish our goals..."
"Tha best course of action an tha right course of action doth oft divide though Sir Damian can be counted to take tha right course regardless, tis a compliment to his faith. Oft did I take tha best course an did so without regret for I had none tah be responsible for save myself."
"I do however feel better with tha abominations being with both groups both in tha sky and upon tha ground."
"Just throwing this out there. Wouldn't it be better to bring the artifacts to Izmir for safekeeping first? It would be easier to return for those bonded than to further risk the abominations." offers Dolo in a logical fashion. The risk must be considered, beyond the weighting of extraneous influences.
Damian nods at Dolo's input. "It would be safer for us, but not for our overall goals. We have to get the bonded individuals into Izmir to sever their ties with the Abominations. With the army encircling the city when we left, that will be no easy task for them to do on their own, much less with our help. No, I'm afraid they're stuck with us. Do we even have any idea what might happen if one of the bonded victims are killed prior to severing the link?"
"Yah ave tah realize yah have just given him cause tah speculate an pontificate, which is fine as long as tis done on tha road!"
Agreeing with Belsarious and Damian's desire to get moving, the five on horseback begin picking their way through the jungle again, with Nurianna occasionally dismounting to move ahead, her innate connection with nature allowing her to coast gently through the jungle without leaving any trace of her passing, unlike the horses, who are all clearly uncomfortable in the thick woods. At night, Minathiel and her group cast a spell that allows them to further hide the Abominations, creating a small extradimensional space in the air into which they place the bag of holding, giving everyone a bit of extra piece of mind.
It is on the fourth day of travel that the jungle has completely reverted back to forest, signalling the group is well within the borders of Hallas again. As the Skyknights coast easily in the air above the dense forest canopy, there is a sudden scream from below, the whinnying of terrified horses, and shouts from Nurianna and Bardas.
Perception
"Wha is tha matter?"
Damian swoops down when he hears the sounds of alarm from the other group, ready to assist them. As he clears the canopy, Keythan suddenly rears up as they hit nets strung up in the canopy. "It's an ambush!" Damian shouts as they get caught in the web.
As both the knight and his steed wriggle to free themselves, Damian calls upon Iomedae's aid with a silent prayer to the warrior goddess. His prayers are answered when one section of the rope begins to fray, but he is far from able to free himself.
Glorfindal and Dolo easily spot the netting among the trees and relays the information to Dolo.
"Nets in the trees! It's an ambush! Watch yourselves!" shouts the scholar as Glor maneuvers quickly to avoid being caught.
The pair make a barrel roll and twist deftly through the trap to aid those on the forest floor.
Watching as Dolo deftly avoided the traps, Lin's eyes narrowed as she followed Damians warning and searched the tree's before rapidly descending towards the opening that Damian had caused. She uncermoniously crashed trough the over head of branches and came slamming to earth roughly with a grunt as she looked quickly about to see if there were any enemies close by.
She flares her nostrils as she looks about, Min quickly dismounts and moves to the tree nearby Damian and starts climbing upward to assist there netted leader. "Lin go see what you can do to help, we will catch upto you shortly. Belsarious watch yourself out there!"
Lin bared her shining white teeth as her claws began to hum with arcane energy. "Watch yourself as well Min, Belsarious get ready this isn't going to be an easy ride!" She gave a roar as she charged towards the sound of the fray.
Cas, the tiny crimson-and-gold wyverling companion of Nurianna, the acerbic sun druid, comes jetting up on skillful wings to assist Sir Damian as well, using his viciously sharp teeth and claws to bite and slash at the netting.
All of you see a scene of chaos on the ground. You are in (or above, in Sir Damian's case) a clearing, roughly 80ft. in diameter. In the center are Nurianna and Bardas, both with Enhathladi backbarb arrows sticking out of them. Minathiel, crown princess of Tuatha, has fallen into a pit trap 40 feet away, 20 feet in diameter, and some 30 feet deep along with her two guards and all their horses. Arrows continue to rain down on the three from various places in the bushes, though at the moment you cannot see the archers firing them. Bardas, the monk, takes an enormous swig of beer from an aleskin on his belt and drops his backpack to the ground. He is immediately bathed in pure, glorious ki energy and begins a complicated kata. Similarly, Nurianna is starting to cast a spell of some sort. There is an explosion in the pit where Mina is as a cardinal-fletched arrow lands and detonates. Her scream is as much in anger as pain.
Nurianna sees Dolo and Belsarious and Lin. "Help Mina! We can handle these fools!"
The scream of the princess causes Min to redoubles his efforts, he unconsciously grumbles at the ropes as he cuts them with the blade of his sword. "Come on, Come on and break damn you!"
Lin on the other hand moves to provide cover over one side of the pit, spreading her wings wide and giving a roar of challenge to the attackers in the bushes. As she holds her ground and uses her wings to ward off direct hits, although her wing membranes are sure to get torn up before this battles end.
She grunts to Belsarious as she stands her ground, her tail smacking rocks and kicking up dirt as it swings with her mood. "There is rope in the saddle bags, hopefully we can get them out of that death trap quickly..."
DM
Can I tell generally enough where the archers are to put a sleet storm between the archers and the others?
Perception
DM Downright:
Belsarious' sharp elven eyes spot the enemy archers. "Wolfguards! In tha bushes yonder!" he yells, and carefully points out their positions.
Sleet storm upon there heads!
Which stops archers rather quickly I believe!
"I have them right where I want them!"
"Get yourselves free!"
DM
Which ever archers I spotted targeting those on the ground....
I assumed that was D4 through E6 area....
Not planning on giving it to everyone!
Belsarious' sleet storm comes crashing down on the archer nearest Min and Sir Damian, rendering him incapable, for the moment, of coming after his companions.
The other archers, meanwhile, all draw their bows and fire again, aiming mostly for Nurianna and Bardas, but also now for the new interlopers. All of you take hits, arrows striking home and wounding, but Lin is harmed the worst. An arrow strikes too close to a vital organ, one of the vicious archers clearly knows a thing or two about draconic anatomy...
Dolo seeks to aid the princess trapped in the well. Dolo and Glor fly swiftly to the edge of the pit to offer assistance.
At the same time, Dolo will do one of the following, based on what he sees:
If a large group of enemies can be seen, he will cast a swarming mass of black tentacles into their midst to stop them in their tracks.
If not, he will cast Glitterdust on the nearest group of archers, trying to catch as many as possible in the spell.
With the help of both the dragon and the dragonling, Damian frees himself with a wrench. His ring of feather fall still on Brook, Damian falls to the ground with a fairly undignified crunch. He stands, sword and shield at the ready, shaking the dust off himself and preparing to deliver the judgment of Iomedae upon the ambushers. "Stand firm! We will strike down these cowards!"
In the trees, Keythan and Brook still struggle to free themselves. Damian looks at Brook, shaking his head. The boy understands that the net is the safest place for him and starts trying to help the griffon out of the net.
Archers Will save:
As Glor extends his elongated arms down in an effort to help the Tuathan, Professor Luckbender catches one of the archers in a cloud of glitterdust, blinding him and coating him in a layer of shimmering particles as the man curses loudly and then yells; "They caught up too fast! The nets aren't working! Fall back, fall back!"
Bardas, the monk, charges across the ground and unleashes a brutal flurry of strikes at one of the other archers, nearly beating the man senseless. The powerful monk's fists move too fast for anyone to follow, landing several blows in the space of one or two. While this happens, Nurianna begins chanting to Sarenrae, and the skies grow dark and rumbly, with flashes of lightning appearing. The sun druid is electric, holding the storm at bay with her hand, and unleashing a massive bolt of lightning that crashes down out of the sky, badly frying another archer. The man screams in agony as nature's fury ignites his body. He lives, but is severely hurt.
With Brook pulling the net away from Keythan's wings, the griffon swops out of the trees and lands next to Damian with a screech. The knight climbs atop the loyal steed and points his sword at his enemies. "Not one escapes! Surrender now or be cut down, cowards!"
There is a groan of frustration from the hooded archers hiding in the bushes as Sir Damian's clarion command rings out.
The diminutive academic and his extraplanar companion begin lowering ropes in for Minaethiel and her retinue, the elven princess proving to be a most adept climber.
Meanwhile, the archers appear to sense that a tide has turned. Those that can, fire arrows into the ground that burst and fill the air with thick, acrid, choking black smoke that blocks all vision. Belsarious and Lin are caught in a huge cloud of the stuff. The archer caught in Belsarious' sleet storm can be heard bumbling about, then he pops out the south side and takes off away from battle.
The two archers that Dolo blinded are thrashing around, trying to stagger to cover. Bardas' opponent turns and flees.
Going after the blinded archers!
Longbow attack
roll to confirm critical
Damage
Flamestrike Arrow/cardinal fletching: do normal damage plus 3d6 fire damage to a 20ft. radius
Belsarious crushes one of the blinded archers with an Enhathladi Flamestrike arrow, igniting the man in greenish otherworldly flames and eliciting a roar of pain from him as he bats at himself in an effort to extinguish himself.
Min continues his battle with the nets up above and roars in rage as Lin's immense pain seared across the bond. As much as he wanted to go to assist her, he couldn't leave Brook bound in the nets. Not when their enemies were so many, he couldn't risk the boys safety by leaving him on his own.
Lin stumbled momentarily as the arrow tore into her, she stifled her screamed with a pained grunt before turning to regard the foolish archer that shot her. As Belsarious cardinal arrow caused the man to burn Lin took a deep breath and bathed the poor archer in her icy breath.
As the ice mist rolls over the archer, Lin moves forward and comes face to face with the man before unleashing a powerful roar.
Lin, intending to strike out at her enemy, thrashes her way out of the smoke and by either luck or superior draconic instincts comes out right next to one of the enemy archers and is surprised at what she sees under his hood.
The man executes a neat tuck-and-roll as Lin lunges at him and unleashes her breath weapon. His superior reflexes and training allow him to avoid the worst of the damage, but he grunts in pain as the magical cold washes over him.
Nurianna shouts "Bardas! South! I'll tenderize him for you!" and unloads another lightning bolt, the terrible blast crashing down out of the clouds and crushing the wolfguard running to the south. Even as the lightning cooks the northman alive, Bardas uses his otherworldly footspeed to rush over to him and deliver a single lethal punch to a specific spot on his neck. Apparently his luck has run out because the full force of Nurianna's lightning courses through his body, and then Bardas' punch drops him to the ground like a sack of stones.
Damian looks around for their leader. If he can identify and kill the leader, their command structure will topple and their morale will crumble. From his vantage point, even atop the griffon's back, he cannot make out which of the Wolfguards is the leader through the smoke and hail and sleet. "Skyknights, these cheap mercenaries are no match for us! Strike them down, for the only they fight for is coin! We fight for a purpose, this we will win!"
With Keythan's powerful wings flapping, Damian swoops forward towards the nearest of the wolfguards. He points his lance at the mercenary as the knight comes close, striking him square in the chest. The lance goes straight through his armor as if it were not even there, driven by Damian's powerful arm and Keythan's momentum. The Wolfguard falls to the ground as Damian flies past, looking for the leader of the enemy troops.
Dolo continues to offer assistance tho those in the pit with the aid of his faithful companion.
Dolo continues to offer assistance tho those in the pit with the aid of his faithful companion.
The only remaining enemy is the one facing off with Lin, and he wants no part of this. Using trees for cover and moving as quickly as he possibly can, the man bolts for safety, dashing off to the east and disappearing into the thick woods.
There is a single unconscious enemy at Bardas' feet. He pulls back the man's hood to reveal one of Baron Ormir's wolfguards. Not any of the ones you spoke to a few days earlier, but definitely of their ilk. The brewmaster monk raises an eyebrow at Nurianna, though it is unclear why. She sort of snorts and shakes her head at him.
Suddenly, the two Aellar drop out of the trees a ways off from where the battle just occurred. Both are bruised and cut and covered in singed rope bits, but otherwise seem fine.