Die Dog Die - Round 2 - continued
21 Alesta (-1 hp, bleeding)
23 Green Goblin
23 Blue Goblin (-2AC)
19 White Goblin
19 Baldek (at 0hp)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak (guidance)
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
Seeing the numbers of allies whittled down, but the number of goblins unchanged, Sarvo bursts into action. Studying his target, the bounty-hunter rips into the goblin with a mighty swing, that nearly decapitates him, killing him easily.
At the same instant, Darnak finally lands a combination of blows on the same target, obliterating it as a viable threat.
Yellow Commando turns his mount and from a safe distance fires a shot at Sarvo, which just wings the quick-moving slayer for 1 hp dmg.
Ahdak, seeing that his companions are falling under the goblin's vicious onslaught, rushes forward to their defense. He threatens the goblinoid standing above Alesta, shouting fiercely in Shoanti to distract him, "Kufa womvetsa chisoni mdierekezi!"
Die Dog Die - Round 3
21 Alesta (-2 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
23 Green Goblin
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak (+2 vs Green from Ahdak's aid another)
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
Ahdak's efforts to confound the (green) goblin seem to be bearing fruit as the little wretch tries to slash him with his dogslicer. He manages to nick the Shoanti shaman for 1 hp of damage.
Die Dog Die - Round 3 (continued)
21 Alesta (-2 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
23 Green Goblin
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak (+2 vs Green from Ahdak's aid another)
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
Nadine turns her attention from the previous recipient of her hex to the remaining goblin on foot (the green goblin) and subjects him to the same effect - for what is probably the rest of his ill-favored life.
The red commando decides not to waste another shot at Nadine, whom he missed with his previous attempt. Instead, he gangs up with his compatriot and shoots at the imposing Shoanti closer to him. The arrow strikes quite a bit harder than the dogslicer did - for 6 hp of damage.
Darnak steps next to the green goblin and tries to take it down under a barrage of fists.
The distance between himself and bow wielding goblin was a problem. Karl doubted he could reach him before another shot was fired...but what he could do was get a little closer and maybe rid the group of the annoying goblin that was in their midst.
Karl moved swiftly but carefully out of the range of the goblin's crude blade, he returned to the Frey when the goblin was between both him and Darnak Your choice runt...my axe or his fist The bounty hunter raised his weapon and brought it down in a diagonal motion.
Die Dog Die - Round 3 (continued)
21 Alesta (-2 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
23 Green Goblin
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
One of Darnak's blows strikes the goblin squarely. The goblins eyes cross but he remains standing - critically wounded but not yet dying. Karl's move may put the goblin into an even more precarious situation, but he proves unable to capitalize on it just yet.
The other mounted goblin takes the opportunity afforded by the swirling melee around the last goblin footman to rush at Aldern Foxglove. He fires his bow along the way. His arrow, fortunately, goes wide.
Alesta lays on the ground, her blood continuing to stain her body, clothes, and the ground. If one were to listen closely it would seem that the very dirt and plants were weeping at the sight of the aasimar's upcoming demise.
Ahdak grunts in pain as the arrow slams into him. Ignoring the shooting pain, he bashes the goblin standing in front of him with his hefty morningstar. He grunts at the jarring impact that resonates up his arm and says through gritted teeth, "The man who we sought to save is under attack and may soon fall."
Die Dog Die - Round 4
21 Alesta (-3 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
Ahdak's well-aimed blow flattens the goblin footman, leaving just the two mounted goblin commandos in the fight.
Alesta's wounds keep her down, deteriorating ever so slowly.
Nadine steadies herself in the middle of the battle, and her eyes fall on the unconscious and bleeding Alesta. Moving swiftly, she rushes over to her fallen friend to administer aid.
Die Dog Die - Round 4 continued
21 Alesta (-3 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
Nadine's quick work keeps Alesta from sliding any closer toward death. And over on the right flank of the battle, Alden Foxglove calls back to Baldek, "I shall try, if this goblin fellow lets me!"
The red commando, until now fairly cautious in his fighting, responds to the last goblin footman's fall with a war cry, "EEEEYAHHHH!" as he puts his heels to his goblin dog mount and rides after Karl (because, after Ahdak's braincrushing blow to the goblin, he's sure not going after him). Karl's defenses, however, prove up to the task and fend off the goblin's attack.
Before Karl could reply to Ahdak, the shout of the goblin commando filled the air, a charge followed, one that the bounty hunter easily took with his shield before shifting to the left and letting the momentum of the blow carry the goblin into a more unfavorable position.
For a few moments Karl examined the goblin, taking note of how he controlled his mount, where he favored the placement of his blade and any openings he had a midst his unpredictable and savage movements. Soon enough a pattern appeared to Karl, a map of where and when to deliver his below and he followed it with a horizontal swing of his axe, followed by a flick of the wrist and a change of his blade's position and another slice.
Darnak immediately moves next to Karl, "Don't know about you, Sarvo, but these buggers are startin' ta get on me nerves," he says, throwing a punch at the goblin.
"Aye, being annoying and slippery seems to be the only things they're good at"
Die Dog Die - Round 4 continued
21 Alesta (-3 hp, bleeding, unconscious)
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
The red goblin commando bobs and weaves too fast for either Darnak or Karl to tag - his life seems to be charmed.
The yellow commando presses his attack against Aldern Foxglove, this time getting close enough to use his horse chopper. Foxglove may benefit a bit from the cover arrayed in front of him, but not enough. He is struck by the goblin.
Aldern takes the better part of valor and moves as far away from the yellow goblin as he can via withdrawal.
Ahdak wastes no time in moving away from the broken remnants of the goblin that had been threatening them. He moves towards the townsman, dropping his morningstar in favor of his crossbow.
A lone figure comes trotting up the path, crying out "Desna bless you for protecting this town!" Father Zantus, who directed you toward this commotion, holds aloft his holy symbol of Desna and a warm feeling comes over most of the heroes (sorry, Bad-Luck Baldek, you are currently out of his channel range).
Die Dog Die - Round 5
21 Alesta (3 hp! conscious!)
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
"Thank Zohls you got here in time Father Zantus!"
Seeing the nobleman being attacked the aasimar archaeologist quickly cast a spell at the other mounted goblin.
With Alesta back in the fray, Nadine looks around at the other combatants. Sensing Sarvo on the verge of a break through, she moves behind him and channels her arcane energy into supporting him.
Die Dog Die - Round 5 continued
21 Alesta (3 hp! conscious!)
19 Baldek (at 0hp, staggered)
18 Nadine
15 Red Commando
8 Sarvo
5 Darnak
4 Yellow Commando
2 Ahdak
The yellow commando shrugs off Alesta's spell,
Meanwhile, his fellow goblin, the red one, tries to gain the upper hand by lashing out at Karl. Fortunately for Karl, he misses.
Without hesitation Karl stepped into the goblin's guard. The only thing on his mind besides caving in the goblin's skull with his axe, is why he felt a peculiar sensation run through him when Alesta's friend got close to him; it didn't feel bad though, just strange.
The edge of Karl's shield greeted the goblin first, next a quick swipe of the axe from right to left, and finally came a more brutal and powerful swing from left to right that returned Karl to his usual fighting stance.
Darnak continues his assault upon the goblins, hoping at some point they can put an end to the lot of them.
Karl's axe strikes hard, giving the goblin a grievous wound. Yet he clings to both life and consciousness. Darnak's attempts to land a blow fail to take him down.
The yellow commando tries to ride down Foxglove but misses... barely. The aristocrat then does his best to continue to put distance between himself and the commando.
Meanwhile, Father Zantus moves up to a somewhat protected position to heal Baldek (for 10 hp).
"Leave him alone!"
The aasimar was starting to get angry now as she cast another spell at the goblin.
Ahdak stops and raises his crossbow to shoot at the goblin menacing the fleeing noble. He pullis the trigger after taking the briefest moment to aim. He grunts as the bow sends a jolt through his body and the bolt is launched in a whirring streak at the goblin.
The commando's eyes glaze over as Alesta's spell takes effect. The goblin dog he is riding, noticing the goblin's change in behavior, stops moving and looks back at his rider, a bit confused.
None of this, however, has any effect on Ahdak's crossbow shot. It still flies wide.
Nadine nods with determination. "Well, it worked once..." she thinks to herself. "Might as well do it again."
Hurt by Karl's axe, the goblin commando reflexively attempts to strike back. He jabs out with his horsechopper and slips just past Karl's shield. The wound is, however, slight (only 2 hp of damage), but the goblin still chuckles knowing that he has caused Karl some pain.
The bounty hunter grit his teeth, if he had to admit anything about these goblins it was that they were damn tenacious...to a suicidal degree, but who was he to stop them from having a death wish? I should show him proper hospitality and help along his way...to a hole in the ground
In silence Karl strafed to the right of the goblin, kept his shield up and ready to respond to the pole arm that wounded him and closed in on the goblin's side. Within mere moments Karl's left boot rose to meet the goblin's head and once it touched the ground once more, the mercenary's axe followed with a quick diagonal swipe.
Darnak looks over at Karl and nods. "Well done." He then takes off after the other one.
The goblin falls under Karl's axe, but that still leaves a now-uncontrolled goblin dog that it was riding and it is quite content to snap out on its own. As Karl moves to deal with the other commando, the goblin dog chomps out but catches nothing but air.
As Darnak hustles across the battlefield, the sole remaining goblin blinks stupidly (still dazed) as the goblin dog he is riding snarls at the approaching dwarf.
Aldern Foxglove finally catches back up with the group, feeling a little safer that he is no longer the one being run down by the mounted goblin. Father Zantus intercepts him and starts to bandage Foxglove's injuries.
As the commando falls, Nadine almost lets out a cry of joy, but manages to keep herself focused on the task at hand. It's ugly looking mount was still up. She looked again to Karl. "Third time's the charm!"
Alesta quickly ask Foxglove in her melodic voice, "Are you alright sir? I'm sorry about your dog. I tried to lure the goblins away before they killed your pet. I wish I had done more to save him."
Turning back to the battle, Alesta cast another daze spell this time at the goblin dog Karl was fighting with.
With a grunt of effort, Ahdak heaves on the crossbow's reloading lever and slots in another bolt. Stepping to guard the priest and noble, he fires a shot at the hideous goblin dog, "Unnatural creature, flee now that your master is dead."
The fleetest dwarf around these parts, Baldek takes a loop out of the range of the goblin commando's horsechopper and puts the creature and his goblin dog mount into a tough position between himself and Darnak.
The red commando's goblin dog, really more of a rodent, ducks under Ahdak's crossbow shot, but then gazes a bit vacantly at Alesta as her spell takes effect. He is dazed and stands his ground (thus missing his turn).
Aldern Foxglove, his breath coming heavy, almost performs a double-take when he sees Alesta, nods, "Thank you for your kind words, Miss. My gratitude to you and your companions for coming to my rescue will not be diminished by the death of my dog."
The two dwarves began flanking the last goblin combatant; Karl enjoyed seeing the little bugger cornered and would have enjoyed joining that particular scrap, but he had other priorities, namely one that tried to take a bite out of him.
The fortress of metal and muscle that was Karl retreated back to the goblin dog; each step causing his armor to clink and his axe to sway slightly, the glint of what remained of the sun's rays dancing along its blade. There was a sinister smile on his scarred face, that promised pain and hopefully an end to the goblin dog.
Once in range of the little monster that seemed to not be in its best of conditions, Karl raised his axe above his head and savagely slashed downwards at the animal.
Seeing his fellow dwarf move to surround the goblin, Darnak takes advantage and throws a flurry of fists at the filthy creature.