Nike will touch her horn to Tychi and cast Cure Light Wounds.
Tychi then dismounts and moves up to Ogre 2. He does a forward rolling flip as he moves in.
Once in place, he fights defensively against the ogre.
Tychi’s attack, following up from Major Luke Rand’s assault, is enough to drop the Ogre, it topples backwards, a spray of acid misting in the air as it falls…
As the second Ogre falls, a third appears around the corner from Carran and Figwidget’s position. It’s eyes glaze over as it moves into attack, it’s club swinging wildly…
Major Luke Rand and Tychi: the source of the whimpering becomes clear as you look around the cave, a heavily injured Halfling is trapped beneath a rock, his legs twisted at an obscene angle. He looks at you imploringly….
Tychi casually ducks under the spray of acid, as if it were an after thought. Then he calls out over his shoulder. "Nike, halfling gortaithe agus faoi charraig, aire a thabhairt dó a ghlacadh le do thoil."
The unicorn shakes her head, flinging blood off her horn. "Ogre eile chun tú a mharú."
Nike, injured halfling and under a rock, take care of him please.
Another Ogre for you to kill.
Tychi then turns and charges at the third Ogre.
Nike squeezes through the narrow area, pushing Rand to the side to get to the halfling. She then wedges her horn under the rock and gives a great heave to lever the stone off the halfling's leg.
Luke will continue smashing the ogre with his shield, dodging around the acid that sprays up and hoping to end it quickly lest he get hit too much.
Carran takes a 5-foot step back to get out of reach of the ogre and shoots another volley at it.
"Ouch!" Figwidget squeaks as he's suddenly attacked by an unexpected Ogre. He waits to see if Tychi, Caran and Major Luke Rand are able to take it down. If not, he will take a step back, hoping that he's getting out of reach of the Ogre, and will throw another bomb. After that, he closes his eyes for a second, invoking some bodily processes he's learned how to trigger from his alchemical studies, and a few of his wounds close.
Acid burning through his clothing, Major Luke Rand hears the cries for help and returns to the main cavern. Moving into a position where he can assist Tychi, his defences are lowered but the Ogre's club is poorly swung and misses.
A series of blows land on the Ogre yet, miraculously it still stands - but, off balance, all of it's attacks are ineffective.
Tychi goes into flurry mode, the whip sword swirling around and around him like a metal hurricane as he spins in place landing one blow after another on the Ogre.
As the remains of the ogre fall to the ground in multiple pieces, and the blood patters over the area, Tychi looks down at his now red feathers. "Oh dear, it appears that torturing helpless creatures is rather bad for ones health..."
Tychi meanwhile touches her horn to the halfling, after moving the stone, and heals him.
The Ogre slumps to the ground, utterly lifeless...all is quiet...apart from the noise of Nike digging out the halfling, the whirring of machinery to the north and...the crackling and fizzing of a fuse...
Nike - the rocks are relatively easy to move from where they are crushing the halfling, a small, filthy creature, his breathing is shallow as he flits in and out of consciousness...unintelligible words come from him until, with smallest of healing infusions, he whispers "Thankyou...have you come from the stars to save us?"
Tychi idly brushes a tiny bit of acid off his feathers, before reaching own to pluck the fuse from the bomb.
-------------
Nike looks at the halfling and snorts. "No, I've come from the stable of the Drunken Pig Inn to move rocks and haul an annoying bird brain around."
"No, young one, we are from the great city of Alkenstar. Can you tell us what is happening here?"
Carran approaches where the halfling is and looks at the bad condition he is in.
"Seems to me he has been used as a slave worker or something. He's battered, bruised and mocked at by those ogres. Seems slavery to me."
Figwidget will remind the others, "Stay away from that fuse grenade until it blows! Any second now!"
Giving it a wide berth, he'll also head to where the halfling is. "How bad off are you, lad?" he'll ask the halfling. "How long have you been down here?"
Stepping boldly forward, as if there is no danger at all, Tychi snuffs the fuse of the grenade...mere moments before it would have detonated...if there are any other ogres, or anything else, here in the lower levels of the mine, it would appear that they didn't hear the fight over the noise of the machinery.
As Nike continues to heal the Halfling, he starts to focus a little bit more and talks in the common tongue..."Thankyou...oh, Thankyou...I thought I was done for then...although it would have been a release from this hell", looking hopefully at you, "Are you sure you haven't been sent from the stars to save us....to whisk us off to a better world...oh, do say you have, we have prayed for so long..."
He tries to regain his footing but crumples in a heap, "Could you, could you fetch me those? I fear I cannot walk back to your vessel without them", he points at a metal contraption half buried beneath a boulder.
Quickly taking stock of your surroundings, it appears that this part of the mine is a lot more open than the upper levels. The small cavern in which you discovered / rescued the Halfling is directly adjacent to a much larger cavern that, too the north, houses some heavy machinery. There are, at least, three ogres working on the heavy machinery to the north...they appear far to engrossed in their toils (lifting rock out of mine carts and placing it into some kind of crusher) to have noticed you.
Off to the north west, a set of steps leads to a smaller cave. This is less well lit, but you can just about see that there is a set of bars installed across one of the tunnels.
To the south west comes the noise of picks, shovels and other tools against rock; accompanied by shouting and orders being barked.
Tychi picks up the bomb, and then hands it to Figwidget. "Mr. Not Figwidget, this appears to be something you would be best disposed of disposing of." He says, his beak clacking in amusement.
Then he continues on to the halfling, calmly digging into the rubble for whatever the halfling asked for. "We have no ship to go to stars, however, if you are being held against your will, we will be happy to kill those enslaving you, and then lead you back to town, where you may have a better life. Or a worse one. But it will at the least be up to you which it is, rather than being imposed on you."
Nike snorts, but doesn't argue.
"We should probably go have us a discussion with those Ogres."
Figwidget takes a look at the fuse grenade. Does it look like he could still use it? How long might the fuse last? He'll toss it into his haversack in any event. If nothing else, he can take it apart in his laboratory later.
When the halfling points at the leg brace, Figwidget walks over and retrieves it. "Hmm, this doesn't look like it's in very good repair," he says. "I fear we're not from the stars, but let me see if I can do something about this. But who's 'we'? You said that 'we' prayed. Are there others down here? How long have you been down here?"
As he's asking the question, he pulls his Engineer's Workgloves out of his haversack and puts them on, and also puts on his Goggles of Minute Seeing. He will see what he can do to diagnose the state of the device and figure out if there's anything he can do to fix it.
Figwidget - you are able to do enough to the contraption, bending metal and tightening bolts, to return them to a certain level of usefulness.
"Thankyou, thankyou...my captors have always had 'fun' with those...as soon as they realised I can't walk without them...well, you saw...", strapping his legs back in, he stands up tentatively and attempts to formally introduce himself. "The name's Edwid...and yes, there's more of us down here...I don't know how long since we were taken...time stands still here...measured in deaths rather than days..."
Ignoring your non-celestial origins, "Will you take us all back to the stars? It has been so long since I saw the night sky...what must it be like, whizzing past the planets..."
Carran frowns and looks at the halfling with curious interest.
"Whizzing past the planets? You make it sound like you're not from this world lad. I've always lived here and never once left this planet. We're here to get you out and safe to a city, nothing more."
Standing, and with stiff legs, starting to totter towards the tunnel from which the sound of excavation is emanating...Edwid urges you to come along...
"Come on, Come on. It's this way...all of us from the Multhok are down this way...we must tell them the good news...come on, come on"
As he struggles past Figwidget, he leans in and conspiratorially whispers, "You do have a big enough Spaceship, don't you?"
Brushing dust from his ragged jacket, he gives Carran a quizzical look...
"Yes, you should take us to your leaders" says Luke unironically.
Figwidget whispers back. "This whole planet is a spaceship. Whirling around the Sun. You can see the other planets, just specks of light, moving past the stars in the night sky. It's really quite fascinating."
Tychi watches the halfling, and listens to his instance that they must have come on a ship.
He looks at Nike, and taps the side of his head when the halfling is not looking.
Nike snorts, but her horn bobs up and down.
Tychi then climbs on Nike's back, following along behind the halfling, looking for ambushes.
Marching stiffly down the side tunnel, Edwid witters on and on to Figwidget about the stars, the planets and their moons...
The side tunnel itself is relatively short and, before very long, the sound of digging fills your ears...drowning out Edwids' pronouncements...
"Ah....here we are, hey everybody!!!!! These guys are from the stars and we're all going home..."
The tunnel opens up into an active excavation zone...some ten or so halflings, filthy and dressed in rags, are working the face...smashing rock with small pickaxes and dragging it to a mine cart...
Standing guard over them are four ogres...one of whom holds, on a chained leash, a six legged dragon-like creature...turning to face the voice from the tunnel, they shout and grab their clubs...
A sheepish voice mutters, "Oh yes, the guards....sorry..."
Carran looks iritated as the little halfling continues to blabber on about them coming from the stars. The irritation only worsens as he alerts the ogre guards as the group comes into view.
"You've ever heard about knowing when to shut up and be silent?" He sharply asks the halfling as he grabs the bow tightly in his hand.
He walks up closely to Luke and hugs the wall.
He aims at the ogre right in front of him. (Ogre 2)
Tychi sighs, and Nike snorts. "Major Luke Rand, Retired! Block the entrance, force them to come at you one at a time, beware the dragon!" Then Nike rears up and moves back past Figwidget, and around the other passage to come at the #1 ogre from a different direction.
The Major will use martial maneuvers to give himself point blank shot, precise shot, and improved precise shot then throw his shield at ogre #2 and use a swift action to recall it.
Figwidget moves forward until he's standing just behind Major Luke Rand. "Uh oh!" he says, seeing the ogres. He drinks one of his Shield extracts, raising his AC to 25 for the next several minutes.
Carran's arrow is quickly followed by Major Luke Rand's shield...the Ogre lurches backwards under the force of the two blows...and then it's mouth curls upwards in a violent grin...
Meanwhile, Nike carries Tychi to the opening of the tunnel...the Tengu slashing at the ogre stationed to control loading of the mine carts.
Swinging his club at Tychi and then bodily slams into Nike, in it's rage it fails to notice a fizzing object lobbed by one of it's compatriots landing at it's feet...
Bleeding, and with an arrow stuck in it's brow, one of the ogres charges Major Luke Rand, it's bulk filling the corridor...the blood drips in its eyes though, obscures it's vision and the club swing is wild...
Pulling a canister from its belt, an ogre throws a grenade towards Nike...it's aim is abysmal and it lands at the feet of its compatriot...the fuse burning quickly...
The final ogre, moves along the corridor towards you...removing the head cowl from the dragon-like creature as it approaches. With it's vision un obscured, the creature tears up and tries to fix Nike with it's gaze...but to no effect...
Tychi see's the slam coming, and nudges Nike at the last second.
Nike dances to the side of the ogre's slam, and the ogre misses her by a wide mark, causing the unicorn to laugh at it with a gleeful chuckle.
Tychi shakes off the stars, and then full attacks the ogre, spending a point of Ki to make an extra attack on his flurry.
Carran will keep his focus on the first ogre coming towards him, Luke and Figwidget. (Ogre 2)
He raises the bow with a grin. "Say Aa." Then lets loose a barrage of arrows.
Luke will take a 5' step towards the closest ogre and show him the fighting style that made The Major the most feared guardsman in all of Alkenstar.
The various slaves clustered around the walls of the tunnel gasp in amazement as the ogres are very quickly overpowered by the party...
Tychi's furious flurry attack cuts one of the ogres down...Nike backs up to prepare for the next attack...just in time to avoid the grenade detonating - a cloud of shrapnel bursting within the confines of the tunnel...
To the south east, Carran's quick fire arrows stick into the ogre like a pincushion...it falls backward, it's eyes glazing over as it dies... The Major runs forward and slams into the next target...
As Major Luke Rand runs in, the Ogre swings his club...
...missing
And then, regaining his footing, swings again...
....again, missing...
Laughing at the misfortunes of it's companions, the final ogre readies itself for the inevitable charge from the mounted Tengu...
...whilst handling the dragon-like creature to fix Major Luke Rand with its stare...
Nike let's out an ear-piercing battle challenge, and lowers her shaggy maned head, her long curved black horn glistening in the light. She charges forward, the ground shaking beneath her massive hooves as sparks fly where the magically enchanted steel hooves strike metal and stone.
Tychi meanwhile stands up in his stirrups as the charge bowls into the Ogre, the horn slamming through it's hide and piercing it front to back in a bloody spray. His own sword dips low and he goes for the lizard first, both arms brandishing the whip sword as he flurries first into the lizard, and then it's handler, intent on taking both down.
Waiting for one of the Ogres to a track, Major Luke Rand is well poised to attack even as it ineffectually swings at him...
Nike slams into the ogre, it screams in a mixture of agony and annoyance as the unicorn pulls it's horn from the wound...Tychi slays the tethered beast before turning his attention to its ogre master...
One of the ogres continues his attacks against Major Luke Rand, this time finding a gap in the brawler's defences...
Whilst the other, frustrated at not landing a blow against Nike, turns his attentions fully towards Tychi...
Nike dances sideways five feet, her hooves ringing on the floor of the cavern, sending sparks dancing around.
Tychi spends a ki point for an extra attack. Nike feels the ki surge over her as well, and whistles another challenge. She gores the ogre again, then whips around to mule kick him with both her rear legs, and then finally whips completely back around to slam her horn into him again.
Tychi goes into motion as well, swinging his whipsword as Nike spins and pivots, the shiny metal sword singing it's song of death as it reaches out over and over to slice into ogre flesh like a tornado of death.
The cowering slaves rise from their hiding places as Tychi's blade slays the last remaining captor...it's blood spreading in the rubble like a dark storm cloud rolling over a mountain...
Edwid strides forward proclaiming, "Friends...we are saved...as I foretold, our saviours have descended from the stars to free us...to return us to light...their spacecraft awaits us...and our new life in the Galaxy"
Several of the captives look sheepishly at you whilst some look plain embarrassed. Motioning towards their manacles, clearly indicating that they are captive, one of the older looking halflings steps forward, "Thank You, Thank You...Poor Edwid has become delusional over the past few months...his fragile mind looking for an escape I guess...", pausing and looking at you, "Unless you are truly from the stars? ...it is of little matter though, there are more of us imprisoned down here and we are not yet safe...Once Two Heads finds out about this...well, let's just say the monsters you just killed were his whipping boys..."
Extending a hand of friendship, "I'm Edwid's father by the by, Frederick Fickleberry...and you are?"
"We are not from the stars. I am Nike. The bird brain on my back is Tychi. The disgraced peace officer with the bloody shield is Luke Rand. The blessedly quiet feline with the bow is Carran. The small unhinged gnome with the explosives is NOT Figwidget. Now, if you want to be healed, all of you gather in close. Those who don't want to be healed, stay back." Nike says with some mild annoyance. Combat ending always makes her cranky.
She pauses on a five count between channels for the first three channels, to give people who were reluctant time to move in for the next one once they see it isn't dangerous. Then she touches Tychi with her horn, and uses her cure lights for the day.
Tychi meanwhile whistles. "My apologies, she's in a bad mood. We are happy you are safe..." He says while the channels burst over everyone. "We have cleared out the route to the entrance of the cave, including the beetles. Can you give us a map or idea of what all is down here? And then evacuate to the entrance to the cave? You should be safe there." He thinks. "Do be careful if you hear any rumblings under the ground though, and try not to make any loud noises, there was one creature we were unable to kill, but it has eaten it's fill for awhile."
Several minutes after Tychi is hit by the last ogre, he doubles over and retches...the look of concern on Frederick Fickleberry's face is palpable, "It's the fever...no one lasts long in the wastes before succumbing...be strong, fight it, we all did...although we are ALL changed".
"We couldn't possibly leave without the rest of our family...the Molthuk Colony always sticks together...you have to in the Wastes...you live alone, you die alone...", Frederick catches himself, "Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I? We really only lived and worked at this end of the mine...I can take you back to our living quarters? But there are probably a few guards still around...thinking about it, there were two just south of here fixing the excavator...it'll be tough to sneak past those pair"
As you are talking, the conveyor belt which runs the length of this tunnel, springs into life. The belt carries broken rock to the head of the tunnel (to the west) where it crashes to the floor...
Tychi shrugs. "Well, we'll just have to kill all the ogres then." He comments, not too troubled by the thought of killing slavers. Nike snorts and prances, looking forward to it.