Unhappy to have her hands free, but less willing to burden Thorgrim's sword-arm, Cereidh slips Bregghar over her shoulder and scoops Rodwen up in her arms.
"I'm all for the stables - but I don't think the Easterlings are losing, just moving Southward." With a casual, affected air that she doesn't remotely believe will stave off Thorgrim's interest in following the anvil of the fray.
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"Aye, Cereidh, you have the right of it. So too you, Fin, as there is not even good sport in slaying these soft-bellied dogs. Let us be away and find better ways to spend our time."
He didn't even bother looting the bodies--if what they say is right, there's only dream-gold to be had, and such riches are never so hardy when hit with daylight.
Fighting for neither glory nor profit was beginning to wear on Thorgrim's mood and he yearned again for a fight that might actually have an end to be won.
He looks to pick up Rodwen, but sees that task already done, and so follows after Findegil.
Seeing Rodwen secured, Findegil begins to move towards the alley, keeping his shield near Cereidh.
Seeing Rodwen helped by Cereidh, Amalina and Winter look to find Eothain and the stables, but the smoke and chaos of the battle make finding a clear path difficult.
"Focus, Folc. The Easterlings favor the high defense." Éothain encourages. The horses' screaming continues to slice straight through his armor.
Folc cannot focus at all.
Éothain slashes into the Easterling again, but his encouragement of Folc falls on deaf ears. Haleth, sensing the urgency of the moment, lunges into his foe, (), but again he flails.
Easterling 4 takes 8+6 damage!
Easterling 5 swings his great-axe down on Éothain, (), but misses again!
Easterling 4 picks up his axe and chops at the Red Rider, (), but misses by a hair!
Amalina winds the rest of the company through the alley, but in the thickening smoke she is having difficulty locating the spoke where the Red Rider and his squires battle.
Flame singes your skin and heats your armor, and smoke fills your lungs. You imagine this is what it feels like to be squeezed by a troll and unable to catch your breath.
Easterling 4 has taken 16 damage.
Easterling 5 has taken 2 damage.
Every PC and NPC has taken 1 or 2 damage.
Cereidh hangs back behind Findegil's shield - if her compatriots become unavoidably embroiled in the fight, or heed the call to either folly or bravery (depending on your perspective), she'll attempt to find a space clear of potential kindling or Easterlings to rest Rodwen as she frees Bregghar. Until then, she attempts to weave around the coiling shadow-serpents of smoke and ash.
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Winded from cleaving a brace of enemies in twain, Thorgrim is forced to continue to breath deeply of the hot, poisoned air. His indefatigable vitality works against the smoke, and he finds a way to press on, still following, his blade held in an easy two-handed grip, ready to clear a path should any more seek to test his mettle.
Findegil does his best to shield Cereidh and Rowdan from flame, but smoke is a wilier foe. He presses on through.
Surrounded by smoke and flames, Amalina stops for a moment to reorient herself and what she could remember when they first entered. As she does so the smoke clears just enough for her to get a glimpse of the main road and her relative location to the stables. More certain, she leads the party quickly and with confidence winding through the streets and eventually bringing their goal in sight.
Findegil follows Amalina's lead, trusting in her skill at pathfinding.
Éothain misses with his longsword and Folc is hopeless, but Haleth jabs the Easterling in the gut with his dagger.
Easterling 4 takes 16+3 damage!
Easterling 5 swings his great-axe down on Éothain, (), and the Red Rider feels cold steel crashing down on him!
Éothain takes 7+2=9 Damage
Easterling 4 attacks Éothain again, (), but misses wildly.
Through billowing smoke, Amalina spots Éothain and his squires engaged with a pair of burly Easterlings.
Easterling 4 has taken 21 damage.
Easterling 5 has taken 4 damage.
Every PC and NPC takes an additional 1 or 2 damage.
Findegil shouts as he slashes at the blocking Easterlings:
"We must aid Eothain! Taste Gondor steel, bandits!"
Captain of Gondor
Once per battle, you may have a nearby ally automatically
hit on what was a missed attack.
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Don't forget to roll Fortitude Save or take 2 HP damage.
Although eager to unleash Bregghar, Cereidh must first find some little shelter for Rodwen - ideally one that's not actively on fire.
"Here, I'll take him." Amalina says to Cereidh as the elf looks for a place to put Rodwen. "Let your bow fell the foul Easterling while I try and find us a way out of this trap." She adds gathering the fallen elf and whistling for Winter to help lead the way.
"Thank you. Not that I don't believe you will, but - I'll also hope to /make/ one here," she adds grimly, moving Bregghar off her shoulder to shoot at Easterling 5.
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Thprgrim bends almost double below a dark cloud of smoke and is spared the worst of its foul depredations.
"Ho there, Haleth, your are too important and too pretty to lose this day," Thorgrim says with a friendly yet powerful tug on the shoulder to remove them from combat. "I hope you have not slain them all ahead of me, eh?" That done, he prepares to enter the fray.
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Éothain, inspired by his brother from Gondor, stabs his longsword deep into the gut of the enemy before him, and the Easterling crumples to the ground.
Easterling 4 takes 21+11 damage and dies!
Folc, Findegil and then Cereidh are denied blood. The fresh Easterling sees Thorgrim step into the fray and his resolve seems shaken, but he continues to press his attack nonetheless, (), but his swing misses badly.
He has little time to regret his choice to stay in the battle, as Thorgrim cuts him in half. Nostiscide arcs through the dream-realm as if possessed of a spirit, hewing through the enemy with an almost divine purpose.
Easterling 5 takes 5+23 damage and dies!
The party quickly exits the alley into the wide thoroughfare at the north end of Haycombe. Smoke billows around you, but it is still barely breathable.
Before you is a terrible sight. While it seems most of the remaining Easterling warriors have regrouped at the south of town, a handful remain in this area near the stables. Corpses of women and young children are slewn about the thoroughfare. Glass windows explode and the sounds of screaming ring in your ears of the poor souls burning alive rather than be tortured and enslaved by these evil men.
A pack of eight Easterlings surrounds the path on the opposite side of the thoroughfare, which leads to the stables. The roof of the stables has collapsed, but now several of the great beasts have escaped their stalls and flee toward the men. The horses gallop, manes and tails aflame, screeching.
Seemingly for sport, the Easterlings wait on either side of the path, axes held aloft. When the first animal breaches into the thoroughfare, the black-hearted men hack at it. The stallion is hewn about its neck, ribs, and thighs, and it collapses in a heap, to die painfully only feet from where you stand.
As the Easterlings watch it flail they notice you for the first time, and suddenly their attention is fixed and they charge!
Initiative Rolls:
Updated Initiative Order:
Éothain (Folc)
Easterling 7
Cereidh
Findegil
Easterling 13
Anar
Easterling 6
Easterling 11
Amalina
Easterling 10
Thorgrim (Haleth)
Easterling 12
Easterling 8
Easterling 11
Cereidh lets loose at the quickest of the Easterlings, iron almost-smile betraying an eagerness to find a target.
Findegil is enraged at the barbarity of these men, and decides to show them a lesson.
"Slayer of a frightened beast! You shall now be cut down!"
He charges the Easterling who landed the killing blow on the unfortunate horse.
Seeing the oncoming wave of Easterlings charging toward her and the rest of the party, Amalina set Rodwen down behind the line and then swings her axe high at the first Easterling to reach her. Following his mistresses lead, Winter attacks the same man below his knees.
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I'm not sure how we're supposed to distinguish between the Easterlings. We have numbers but no positions. I'll try to single one out on criteria besides "the nearest".
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Thorgrim strides forward, covered from iron-crowned head to steel-toed boots with gore. Blood from the last Easterling still drips in bright, red drops from his hands and chest. Noctiscide rides easily in his grip, painted to the hilt in still-flowing red.
He holds aloft is STEEL high, and SHOUTS an unholy warcry, RUSHING into battle. He no longer sees the fire, the flame, the animal thrashing in its death throes.
His red-singed sight only sees the men that will soon be corpses before him.
= 14
Enraged by the depapravity of these men, Éothain lunges at the nearest Easterling which dealt a blow to the terrified steed. ()
Easterling 11 takes 13 damage!
Easterling 7 swings his great-axe at Amalina, (), but misses!
Cereidh lets loose at the quickest of the Easterlings, iron almost-smile betraying an eagerness to find a target.
Easterling 7 takes 8 damage!
Findegil charges the Easterling who landed the killing blow on the unfortunate horse. ()
Easterling 10 takes 5 damage!
Easterling 13 squares off against Thorgrim, (), but his attack is not close.
Anar blows the settled dust off his axe and heaves it at the nearest enemy. ()
Easterling 6 takes 4 damage!
Easterling 6 returns greataxe swings with Anar. ()
Anar is hit for 7+2 damage!
Easterling 9 tangles with () Anar, (), but misses.
Amalina swings her axe high at the first Easterling to reach her. Following his mistresses lead, Winter attacks the same man below his knees.
Easterling 7 takes 8+7 damage!
Easterling 10 returns Findegil's attack, (), but cannot find purchase against the Man from Gondor's steel armor.
Thorgrim's red-singed sight only sees the men that will soon be corpses before him.
Easterling 13 takes 14 damage!
Haleth defends Thorgrim against the attacker. ()
Easterling 12 flanks () Thorgrim, (), and his blade finds flesh.
Thorgrim is hit for 7+2 damage!
Easterling 8 rages against () Anar (), and the dwarf is struck.
Anar is hit for 9+9 damage!
Easterling 11 grapples steel with Éothain, (), but his attack is clumsy.
Easterling 6 has taken 4 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 7 has taken 15 damage (vs Amalina)
Easterling 8 has taken 0 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 9 has taken 0 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 10 has taken 5 damage (vs Findegil)
Easterling 11 has taken 13 damage (vs Éothain)
Easterling 12 has taken 0 damage (vs Thorgrim)
Easterling 13 has taken 14 damage (vs Thorgrim)
Amalina has taken 3 damage
Anar has taken 22 damage (18 from combat)
Cereidh has taken 2 damage
Éothain has taken 11 damage (9 from combat)
Findegil has taken 4 damage
Thorgrim has taken 13 damage (9 from combat)
Findegil continues to slash at the horse-butcher, seeking to put an end to their cruel ways in a most pointed manner.
Though I do believe that Findegil is at 39 HP, having passed his second CON save.
You are correct.
Cereidh shoots at Easterling 8 in Anar's defense.
Amalina continues to strike at the Easterlings with the able assistance of Winter.
Winter missed last round, but not this round.
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Grunting in pain at the palpable hit and Incensed that he has obviously ignored the greater threat, Thorgrim turns on Easterling 12 and strikes at him with a MIGHTY BLOW.
= 25 on the crit
Now blind with rage, he reaches down deep, drawing on his primordial vitality to continue his hectic fighting. Without a moment's pause he rounds on his old target of Easterling 13 and seeks to end him at last.
Inspired by Thorgrim's martial prowess, a Berserker Rage falls upon Haleth who CHARGES at Easterling 7 and attacks with STEEL.
Éothain and Folc clash with the twice wounded Easterling, but both men are confounded by the smoke and chaos, and more than one horse galloping in a frenzy through the battlefield that was Haycombe.
Easterling 7 swings again at the Wildwoman, (), but he cannot find her lithe form through the rain of ash.
Cereidh shoots at Easterling 8 in Anar's defense.
Easterling 8 takes 10 damage!
Findegil continues to slash at the horse-butcher, seeking to put an end to their cruel ways in a most pointed manner.
Easterling 10 takes 5+5 damage!
Easterling 13 regrips after taking a deep slash, (), and his axe tears into Thorgrim.
Thorgrim takes 13+9 damage!
Anar, nearly surrounded, commits himself to fight or die where he stands.
Easterling 6 takes 4+12 damage!
Easterling 6 staggers but swings again with his allies at his side. ()
Anar is hit for 22+9 damage!
Easterling 9 follows with another hack at Anar, (), but is again wild.
Amalina continues to strike at the Easterlings with the able assistance of Winter. ( )
Easterling 7 takes 15+5 damage!
Easterling 10 spars with Findegil, (), but cannot seem to land a blow.
Grunting in pain at the palpable hit and Incensed that he has obviously ignored the greater threat, Thorgrim turns on Easterling 12 and strikes at him with a MIGHTY BLOW. Nostiscide busts through the man's head like an overripe mellon.
Easterling 12 takes 25 damage and dies!
Now blind with rage, he reaches down deep, drawing on his primordial vitality to continue his hectic fighting. Without a moment's pause he rounds on his old target of Easterling 13 and seeks to end him at last.
Easterling 13 takes 14+14 damage and dies!
Inspired by Thorgrim's martial prowess, a Berserker Rage falls upon Haleth who CHARGES at Easterling 7 and attacks with STEEL.
Easterling 7 takes 20+() damage and dies!
Easterling 8 swings at Anar (), but his resolve is clearly shaken.
Easterling 11 resumes his attack against Éothain, (), but he fails to find his target.
Easterling 6 has taken 16 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 7 is dead
Easterling 8 has taken 10 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 9 has taken 0 damage (vs Anar)
Easterling 10 has taken 10 damage (vs Findegil)
Easterling 11 has taken 13 damage (vs Éothain)
Easterling 12 is dead
Easterling 13 is dead
Amalina has taken 3 damage
Anar has taken 31 damage (27 from combat)
Cereidh has taken 2 damage
Éothain has taken 11 damage (9 from combat)
Findegil has taken 3 damage
Thorgrim has taken 22 damage (18 from combat)
Findegil shouts as he strikes:
"We shall prevail!"
Seeing that his blow will not connect, he adds:
"Friends, bring all your might to bear!"
Captain of Gondor
Once per battle, you may have a nearby ally automatically hit on what was a missed attack.
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"YES!" roars Thorgrim, weaving about him a web of STEEL. Bodies lay all about him. Many were dead. There was much gore.
Hearing Findegil still engaged with the foemen, he raises HIGH his blade and runs to his ally, Noctiscide chopping down mercilessly.
Alas, the blood of the enemy that drips from his brow and eyes obscure his vision and threaten to give the Easterling some reprieve!
But then does Findegil call out a challenge for Thorgrim to REDOUBLE his efforts, and his blade LUNGES out, unerringly biting deep.
= 14
Haleth returns, grinning deeply at taking an evil life from an evil man. Slaked in bloodthirst, they now stalk about Findegil, hoping to bring GLORY AND HONOR to yet another staunch ally.
But then does Findegil call out a challenge for Thorgrim to REDOUBLE his efforts, and his blade LUNGES out, unerringly biting deep.
Haleth will now Help Fin, so all of his next attack rolls will have Advantage...including now, if he wants to roll again.
Cereidh continues to attempt to defend Anar, this time by firing at Easterling 9.
After the Easterling falls to Winter's attack, Amalina shifts her attentions to one of the foul warriors harassing Anar. Unfortunately, the warrior is able to avoid their initial attacks easily.