Round 5
Kaul pulls an angler fish grin as he hears the Great Tum Bo-Bo's words and feels the creature falter under his omnipotence...
"Hur... Monkey god eat raisin face! Hur!"
Pressing home his worship he hacks at the "thing" with Bess;
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Round 5:
Seeing the cultists close in Dibbets attempts to duck and weave out of their midst...
...which was clearly not a good idea, as he trips over a tree root - exposing himself to pain and anguish.
The faceless thing howls as it is pierced by blade and fangs. It manages to shrug off the venom pumping through its system and keeps throttling the snakey sorcerer. Downstairs, a woozy Jim finally completes his journey and reaches the backdoor.
Out in the barn Kaul bruises his wrinklepuss, but the tough hide resists Bess’s bite. A mutter from the bag and Kaul sprouts coconut hide that helps protect him from his opponents’ pounding.
Dibbets attempts to duck between the blades and opens himself up to a threshing. Fortunately, the cultists don’t appear to be particularly skilled combatants and no one hits. Two step back to apply more poison to their blades while the big one keeps slashing, but fails to hit. One shouts encouragement, ”Keep on him, Paw.”
"Try not to wriggle too much Dingus, you're making him hard to stab."
Round 5:
Outwardly gruff, but inwardly heart beating with a furious tempo, Dibbets snipes "Iffin ye're the da, did ye lay down with the pig we killded? Cos yer sons ugly" Dibbs takes a cautious slash to show some attempt to keep the fight going and stop the inbreds from ganging up on Kaul. Cmon Groomy, what the fecks keepin ye....
Attack (Fighting Defensively): for
Round 5/6?
Frustrated, Kaul switches tack - dropping Bess and drawing his sap, before laying about the teat-freak with a clubbing blow;
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Jim cautiously makes his way back into the house, listening carefully for any signs of movement.
Jim enters the kitchen and sees a battle at the top of the stairs. Some misshapen humanoid is throttling Dingus as the Groom tries his best to stab the creature and not murder Dingus. the Groom's rapier goes wide and Dingus bites feebly as he falls unconscious and is dropped to the floor. Dingus' serpent servant however sinks it fangs into the creature and it shudders as fer-de-lance venom burns in its veins.
Kaul tries a different tack and switches out falchion for sap. With the familiar weight in his hands he smacks the thing hard, unfortunately the tough leathery form doesn't seem to bruise easily The much less funbags smacks Kaul aside the head in return
Outside Dibbets puts more effort into his defense than his offense and manages to deflect another clumsy blow from the cultist as the other two finish carefully re-poisoning their sickles.
Round 7:
Seeing that the cultists remain focused on him, Dibbs prays that either Kaul has some success or the Groom finally shows up soonish...
Round 5:
Jim will move tentatively towards the melee. "Groom! She got me solid, an' I can't fight--there's three o' the townies on Dibbs, and Kaul's tryin' to give her what for. We gotta get out there!"
Round 7
Anger growing by the second Kaul, drops the ineffective sap and brings his boarding ax Mara to bear on "not so fun bags";
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"Hur. Nice bite Mara me luvly... hur-hur!"
Kaul senses he may have gained the upper paw as Mara bites into the thing's torso leaving a wide bleeding gash. It renews its efforts with a bit of desperation and strikes Kaul with a weakened blow.
Dibbets warily backs toward the barn as the three cultists close again. Their aim is awful however, not even gettign in his air space and one of the women even accidently hits her leg with the freshly poisoned blade. "Dammit Paw, I dun cut myself with that blue weenies!"
Round 8:
Dibbets stifles a chuckle at the inept lass and then continues his attempt to hold the focus of the inbred crew by slashing his metal poker at Paw...
Defensive Dagger Fend: for
the Groom yells back down, "Half-Hitch lost his face as he grew to a biggun' and he's throttling Dingus."
To emphasize his point, he stabs the Hitcher again.
Perception:
Round 8
Seeing he's having some success Kaul gets to chopping the flesh tree down;
Kaul and faceless Shel continue their dance with neither getting a telling blow. Outside, things go badly for the mask-itoes. Paw gets a cut on the thigh and another falls unconscious from the self inflicted poisoning. The remaining cultist stands over the fallen one and shouts, "Let him go, Paw. We already got the other little one. This'un is too much trouble!" Dibetts can hear the Groom shouting in the house.
Back at the house, the battle on the balcony continues. With Dingus lying at its feet, the faceless hulk turns on the Groom. the Groom scores a hit on a graceful lunge, but receives a hard cuff on the head in return.
The tiny viper coils on Dingus' chest and again strikes the creature's leg. The mighty morphing humanoid manages to resist any ill effects this time, however.
House Round 6:
Jim heads for his room to get his rapier. What I'd give for a healing draught about now....
"What exactly got into you Half-Hitch? as the Groom stabs him once again.
Barn Dance- Round 9:
Seeing an opportunity in the collapsed woman, Dibbs dives and scrambles across the turf to end up straddling the unconscious cultist...
Acrobatics:
...making a defensive swipe at Paw's son as he stands above the crumpled woman's form...
Attack (Defensively): for
Looking up at the two remaining standing cultists he barks "Two choices ye inbred pieces o' crap. Drop yer cutters or I'll give yer lady friend a second grin across her neck" although small and crippled, Dibbets is not lying and the look of intent in his eyes should prove that to the cultists.
Round 9
Tiring of the dance, Kaul grits his tusks and launches a wicked overhead swing at Jim's raisin faced hammock warmer;
"Hur-hur! Not tha kinda chopper ye were wishing tae wrap yer raisin round eh? Hur!"
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The world turns red around Dingus, and his view narrows to a small tunnel then nothing. His last thoughts are Whose going to take care of Richard now? .
Richard sits protectively on his masters chest, feeling his still beating heart beneath him, and lashes out at anyone who comes close.
With a final quip, Kaul drives his ax into done-bags and it dies with a shreik. Outside, Dibbets dives between the legs of the standing woman and trips her to take her place over the unconscious girl. The ungainly mosquito mask rolls off to reveal Anya, the daughter of the folks he just had dinner with and Dibbets surmises he is dealing with the Lupescu family. The father and mother drop their sickles mutely.
Jim climbs the stairs to find his way blocked by the Groom and a featureless wrinkled humanoid locked in combat. With a flash of steel, the Groom delivers another telling blow on the creature and it pummels him in return with a heavy fist.
Slowly and deliberately reaching down to grab the girl's head by the hair, Dibbets raises it a foot off the ground and goes down to one knee with his dagger at the girls throat. Seeing that Kaul's dropped Jimmer's date to the ground he calls out "Kauly, drag that thing out here to the light so I ken get a peepsie." before turning to the Lupescu's.
"Take off yer stupid feckin masks and start workin yer tongue. What in Gozreh's holy spit is goin on here... an what have ye done wi' Half-Hitch. I think yer tryin tae trick me or yer not forth comin I'll bathe me toes in yer daughter's blood." hocking up a bloody gobbet of spit he projects into the turf to the side. "Now start yappin..." pressing the point of his dagger deep enough to start a trickle of blood flowing down the girl's neck.
Sense Motive:
"No, stop!" the woman cries as she quickly pulls her twig and canvas bug mask off. "Please don't hurt her. We already lost one chil' today. The other little man is to be sacrificed tonight out in yon corn field." she gestured behind the barn. Paw removes his mask as well and nods grimly. Dibbets senses they haven't the wits to lie.
"Feckity fecking fecky feck... Kaul, run back an see what's keepin Groomy an Jimmer. Make sure they come fully dressed and ready fer it. As fer you, strip yer robes off and empty yer pockets while ye tell me who's doin the sacrificin an when it's goin down." Dibbets maintains a steady hand on the dagger threatening their daughter as he gauges when Kaul departs it'll be the only thing safeguarding their cooperation.
Kaul starts dragging the corpse of done-bags out, before nodding at Dibb's query regards the rest o' the crew.
The bloodied thug hefts the bloodier Mara and as he passes the cultists makes em a quick promise;
"Any o ye make trouble fer Dibb's here and I'll butcher in this here little communitee in the name o' me monkey demon! Savvy??"
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With a parting grin the scarred thug lumbers off towards the house and his missing crewmates.
The cultists drop their masks and robes in a moment anxiously watching the terrifying half-orc shamble off to the house and then nervously blinking at Dibbets. "The mayor is our high priest. We were trying to get a few more sacrifices ready for the Gossamer King tonight."
Glancing up at the dark sky they add, "Reckon the ceremony will already be starting."
Racking his brain for any fragment on the Gossamer King and the lump of mis-shapen... something that used to be funbags...
Knowledge (raisen-head - untrained):
Knowledge (Religion - untrained):
...Dibbs mulls it over grimly while he watches the Lupescus warily.
the Groom risks a quick look to see who is coming up the stairs and gets smacked hard for the effort. Through a cracked and swollen lip, "You look like shit Jim. Any chance you can help bring Half-hitch back down to size?"
The creature is distracted by the return of the sailor it was sure its companion could easily capture. In that moment, the Groom drives his rapier into its chest and it drops gurgling to the floor.
the Groom bends down carefully near Dingus, not sure how much trust in put in that snake of his recognizing a friend.
"Just going to wake him, Little Guy." and the Groom touches Dingus' foot (the hopefully furthest part of him from a coiled Richard).
"If you're giving out healing, I could use a bit...right now, any sudden moves an' I'll pass out. I think that b*tch broke a few ribs."
"Here you go. Any sign of Dibs or Kaul?"
"Last I saw, Kaul was fighting Shel, or whatever she turned into, and Dibbets was dodging three pretty incompetent-looking humans with sickles. You go on; all I have is a dagger, and I'll feel better with a sword in my hands."
"Bring Dingus with you. I'll check on the others." and the Groom sets out for the back forty.
Upon seeing Dibbets and Kaul, "Would have been here earlier but Half-Hitch got all big and faceless, and from the looks of Jim, so did his girl. The thing throttled Dingus pretty good, but he should be feeling better. I got one blessing left if there is need."
With the arrival of the Groom Dibbs lets the girl's head drop heavily into the turf, though he keeps his dagger ready. Spitting more blood to the side "Accordin tae these that weren't Halfer in there. The mayor's some High Doodah of the Gossamer King an there sayin Halfer's gonna be sacrificed oer yonder." gesturing to the corn field before continuing "That mean anythin to ye Groom? - or ye know what in the hells the raisin headed beasties are? I were never one tae pay much mind tae book learnin."
"Save yer Drowner's blessin fer another, I gots enough piss 'n vinegar tae keep movin." giving the Lupescu's a grim look "We gots tae get movin quick like - they're gonna be gettin tae the killin any time soon."
Kaul rumbles up after collecting Dibb's gear. He glares at the cultists as he passes the wee man his equipment before collecting his cleaver and sap from the barn;
"These pissants give ye any trouble Dibbs?"
At the groups words he chuckles and addresses his bloody axe;
"Oh there's goin ta be killing alright...hur-hur-hur... Ain't that right Mara girl?"
Thankfully accepting his weapons from Kaul before running a gnarled and tanned hand through his oily hair Dibbs replies "Nae matey, they been church mice... so far" An unusually grim expression on his small weathered features Dibbets is sporting four or five shallow cuts on his arms and trunk that still weep red blood over his black and blue tattoos. Paying no mind to his wounds, he moves to the Lupescus and recovers the sickles and poison.
Jim armors up and grabs his weapons before heading back out, pausing a moment to make sure that his chain shirt is on straight and his hair is neat. "Come on, Dingus. It's payback time."