Vors raises his halberd and shouts directions as quickly and clearly as he can, "Stand strong, Allen! Huran’s going to help you avenge your sister!
"...Scatton and Ursa, keep helping Kelian!
"...Aimin and Orgel, help Sendal get the next one!
"...Strisgar, we’re after the leader!" And with that, the old warrior closes carefully on the horse riding leader, ready to slash away with his trusty halberd.
Vors surveys the carnage around him, and tries to take a measure of the enemy...
...but his attention is definitely elsewhere.
Allen, Kelian, and Vors all land their blows home. Vors looks around to gauge the situation but has trouble determining the state of the various orcs around him other than they all seem to have been bloodied.
This is for me son, you waste o' flesh! Hirda cries, as blood streams from her battered body. She strikes with her glaive.
As Noln hacks at him as well.
Both are stoically focused on the immediate fight, rather than the crumpled body of their son lying close by. Their anguish and hopes for his survival are pushed into that dwarven repository of repressed emotions, to be acted on at a more appropriate time.
The entwined orc attempts to break free from his spectral imprisonment.
He struggles, remaining stuck in the webbing.
The other orc, unencumbered by the webbing bites at Hirda and slashes at Noln.
His bite misses wildly but he nearly brings Noln down with a resounding axe blow.
The orc berserkers continue running toward the gate while the scouts move more cautiously, firing as they go. Perrin's visible, spell-casting presence on the catwalk draws their attention.
Seeing Hirda and Noln's situation, Mel sends six of the young archers over to help them. Scratchtail is hesitant to help in his wounded state but he trusts his instructor in bowcraft.
Nella's, Joren's, and Scratchtail's missiles land home on the entangled orc.
Orcs from the south wall run up to the gate towards Vors. Mel directs her archers to target them as they are not yet too close to Vors for a safe shot.
Mel directs the archers at the gate to fire
Whisky's arrow seems to have no effect whatsoever on the raging orc, while Alexandra and Sarah's shafts knock it back somewhat.
Still, the two orcs make it over to Vors while a third, wounded by a bear trap, is limping up from behind.
The mounted orc attempts to control his mount and move carefully away from Vors
but the beast balks at backing up carefully. The leader then attempts to cast a spell with Vors in his face
and succeeds as Vors' longspear scratches off his armor. He lays his hand on himself and a red light glows briefly.
The huge karak attempts to put out his own flames once more, as does the burning orc.
The karak finally manages to beat out the flames on his body while the orc rolling in the mud still fails to end Perrin's mysterious fires.
The orc who smote Pebbles to dust turns to join back into the fray, making an opening for Strisgar to attack him with his longspear.
The four berserker orcs then turn to engage the villagers behind them but not before their attention is interrupted somewhat by a pounding of hooves and the harsh twangs of bowstrings.
The shafts bring one orc down and send another to one knee before he stands back up with dazed and bloody gleam in his eye.
Mel adds her own shaft to the fray but is too taken off guard to aim carefully.
The orcs at the gate, waver uncertainly. Their leader grunts something and several move with the karak toward the new threat while three continue their assault on the villagers.
Vors nearly falls under the weight of their blows while Allen falls with a cry.
A dark figure steps out from among the buildings of Brookside. It raises its arms toward the gate and mumbles something in a thick, orcish accent. A burst of light appears among the three orcs at the gate.
One is blinded and the other two are dazzled by the surge of radiance. All seem to be harmed by it.
Perrin winces as an arrow finds its way past the top of the palisade to graze his shoulder, and he crouches down below the wall as well. Raising that strange lump of metal, the doctor lets out yet another cry. His body spasms, his eyes roll back, and a wave of healing energy washes over those around him.
As Perrin's burned skin grows smooth once more and arrow wounds begin to close all around him, he gives a few more instructions to the group. "I've got to go help Noln and Hirda. Keep shooting at the orcs, start heading toward the gate, and listen to Mel when you get there."
With that, Perrin scrambles down the nearest ladder and starts running toward the dwarves by the riverside. The archers within earshot of his words start moving along the wall toward the gate, continuing to fire at the nearest orcs.
Vors simply reels from the heavy blows that he sustains. He sees Allen go down, butchered by a massive blow, and he knows that there's no way out for him now - surrounded by orcs, and too old and slow to get out of the way of their blows. "The only way out is through - DEATH! DEATH! DEATH! STRIKE WITH ALL YOU HAAAAVE!" He bellows this war cry to the youth surrounding him, and summons the last vestiges of power in his body to strike twice at the mounted figure.
One blow lands, but the rush of blood he feels in trying to make a second, desperate attack throws him just a bit off balance.
The remaining youth forego the tactics of helping each other, all simply hoping to land any blow possible.
Together, Hurin and Scatton finish off one of the orcs. A cry of joy comes from some of the villagers as they see one of the raiders fall bloodied by their weapons.
"Archers, take any clear shot you can get!" Mel yells.
Then she lines up another shot on the leader, hoping to catch him in the midst of another spell casting.
Hirda's resolve nearly fails, as she watches herself and her family cut to ribbons by the menacing orcs. Still, there are others to think about. I won't let our people be slaughtered as long as I can help it. Hirda and Noln concentrate their attacks on the free orc.
At a grunt from the leader, the great beast drops its shield and moves toward the source of the arrows, four mounted archers on the road from Astin. With his fierce teeth, he bites at the nearest archer.
Three of the orcs charge the new figures, slashing with their greataxes. One runs up more slowly, hampered by a trap, coming to the fray but not in time to strike.
One of the newly-arrived archers, and his horse, scream in terror as the creatures converge on it and shred both mount and rider.
The mounted orc touches his own armor and a shroud of darkness appears around him as he rides toward the mounted figures.
The orc nearest Vors continues rolling, attempting to put out the fire on himself.
Finally putting out the fire.
The orc near Vors swings at him with his greataxe.
Strisgar falls with a spray of blood from the tusks.
The other orc slashes his axe and bites.
x3=21
The archers greatly weaken one of the remaining orcs in the gate.
Three arrows come pouring over the south wall, attacking the uncovered archers around Perrin.
Karen Golightly is struck hard by an arrow and lies on the catwalk, clinging to life. Roger Tomfoot and Nancy Yenwood fall dead.
Reinala's fairly competent archery attracts attention from the north wall
but the palisade guards her.
The free orc, barely clinging onto life and bleeding freely, swings his axe at Noln.
Noln falls and is bleeding, but seems to be still breathing. The orc that broke free from the wedding goes after Hirda with his weapon.
The orc that broke free from the wedding goes after Hirda with his weapon.
The orc that broke free from the wedding goes after Hirda with his weapon.
but fails.
With her family now laying dead or dying around her, Hirda is resigned to her fate. My time's come. We've all enjoyed a long and happy life, our destiny is to pay for it by protecting that opportunity for the next generations. Gods grant me the strength to purge these vermin before I fall.
Hirda takes one last desperate swing as the orc raises his axe.
Perrin hears the sound of bodies falling behind him but can't afford to look back. Instead he clenches his fist until the fingernails dig in and sprints between the scattered buildings toward the river.
As he approaches, the armor-clad doctor shouts some scary-sounding words in Abyssal and flings open his hand, allowing the active light spell to shine out in the orc's face. "Don't move or I'll burn you!!"
The rage leaves the orc's eyes at Hirda's first slash as he falls on his face in the mud.
The orc squints at the bright light emanating from Perrin's palm and holds still for the moment but is clearly watching Perrin closely for any sign of inattention or weakness.
(+1 for Anatomist)
Glancing back to the river side, Mel sees a target clearly highlighted by Perrin's light spell, and entangled in webbing. She can see Hirda weaving on her feet, and still bodies of villagers and orcs alike scattered across the street.
We need to close that front, she thinks. Ostara, guide my aim! And she lofts an arrow towards the entangled orc.
Noln's struggle to hold onto life could not overcome his multiple vicious wounds and his chest is no longer heaving.
The young archers follow Mel's lead in shooting at the grappled orc by the light of Perrin's spell.
Vors sees some highlight moments from his life flash before his eyes as the greataxe scrapes across the dragonhide breastplate. Without Halak's armor, he'd be as good as dead now, and he wastes no time retaliating against that very same orc...
...the old fighter winces as Strisgar and Orgel go down, and tries his best to direct the remaining fighters to attack any foe within reach...
Following Mel's lead, several more arrows fly at the orc, four managing to penetrate his armor and thick hide. The orc's glassy eyes remain fixed on Hirda as he attempts to break his bonds.
He finally tears off the strange strands and moves closer to Hirda. After fighting orcs for a while now, Hirda notices that they move much more slowly when in this glassy-eyed, bleeding state.
The archers fire furiously at the orcs attacking their friends and neighbors.
The orc attacking Vors falls face first in the torn-up ground, Reinala's shaft protruding from its back.
Perrin having moved off, the archers direct their attention to Mel in the watchtower as they move northeast.
The distracting archer to the north moves east and fires at one of the mounted human archers.
The leader of the mounted humans shouts something to his men and they ride west away from the mass of enemies that converged upon them. Two fire at the orcs as they leave but one simply focuses on withdrawing without providing an opening for the orcs to attack.
The orcs, the great beast, and the moving cloud of blackness follow after the mounted archers. The orc struck by the archer's arrows follows very slowly with a bear trap still attached to his leg and bleeding from arrow wounds.
Together, the villagers take down one more of the remaining orcs in the gate, most of them ganging up on one which was blinded by Halak's spell while Sendal strikes the last standing orc.
Halak moves towards Vors while eyeing the remaining orc warily.
Kill this one, human. You and me must fight after all over.
The bleeding orc, enraged at the loss of its comrades, swings his greataxe at Sendal.
Sendal is repaid for his strike by an axeblow that opens his chest, the quiet gillman falling without a sound.
Vors grunts at Halak, though tears are starting to sting his eyes as yet another of his charges falls. "You'll get your fight, Halak. Just let me butcher one more of these evil sods..." He motions for the remaining fighters to surround the last orc at the gate, then to strike.
Perrin winces as he sees Noln stop breathing, but exhales in relief as the arrows fly in from the approaching archers. Seeing the orc pull full free of the webs and close in, Perrin scurries back and holds up a hand. "Wait to shoot until Hirda steps clear!"
The arrows flying out of the darkness hit:
Thunk
Thunk
Thunk
"Ow!"
Mel stares in mild surprise at her left arm, now bleeding freely -- the arrow did not embed itself, but passed cleanly through, leaving a surface wound: a shallow, nasty cut perhaps two inches long across the side of her arm, just below the shoulder. Not enough damage to seriously impair her, but it certainly stung!
"Oh, yeah? Well, everybody gets lucky sometimes," Mel mutters. "I've got more important people to shoot." And with that, she lofts another arrow at the one orc still engaged with Hirda and Perrin.
The shot felt good. Perhaps it was the clarity of pain -- or the ongoing effects of the potion she'd downed -- but Mel knew even as she launched the shaft that it would find solid purchase in her target.
She held still just a moment to be sure the arrow was fully clear of the bow, then turned immediately back towards the fracas at the gate without waiting to see the arrow land.
Mel's voice rings out true and brave, rallying the beleaguered Brooksiders with a voice of hope.
The orc clings to life as it shrugs off the majority of the blows from the children of Brookside until their instructor intervenes. Mel's shaft pierces the blackness of the night before thumping into the orc's torso. His glassy eyes roll back in his head and he falls slowly to the ground.
At Vors' direction, the toughest surviving inhabitants of Brookside surround the remaining orc. Enraged, their blows rise and fall furiously, driving the orc to its knees. With tears of pain, loss, and fury in his eyes, Vors removes the orc's head.
Halak moves over to Vors and grunts in respect.
Owe fight me, tomorrow.
Vors nods, wearily, then claps Halak on the shoulder. "You'll get it. Now - which one's Ukar? That him on the horse?"
Halak peers out through the gate to see the mounted orc but has trouble piercing the darkness from this distance. He shrugs.
Maybe. Sound like. What him do?
Perrin's spirits are lifted by both Mel's news of reinforcements and her timely arrow, but he turns to Hirda with a worried look. The doctor presses his hand against her wounds, concentrates, and the flow of blood starts to abate.
"Are you okay?" He reaches into his pocket and hands Hirda the small bottle they took from Halak at the campsite. "Here, drink this." Perrin steals a glance toward the scattered forces at the gate. "We've got to go help Vors."
Vors tries to recall the details from the haze of battle. "He was healing the other orcs, mostly, after we lit them on fire."
Halak nods with a grunt.
Him.
Vors grunts, too. "All right then," he sets his halberd on his shoulder, and yells up the watchtower, "MEL! What do y'see?!"
As Perrin's soothing touch washes over her, Hirda has a moment to survey the carnage around her. Pent-up grief begins to surface when she fully realizes what she feared--that her husband and son are gone. The rushing river looks inviting--just throw myself in and end it all. There's nothing left for me here...No, I promised to defend the town to my last breath, and we're not done yet. She represses her grief once more and swallows Perrin's potion. Aye lad, thankee, go on then, I'll be right behind. Her voice is scarcely audible.
"Four mounted archers showed up and started attacking the orcs and the karak. One got killed, the other three are still fighting. The orc leader went out to deal with them, I think, but he's under the effects of some kind of spell that causes darkness. I can't see him to shoot him any more. It's hard to even make out where the edges of the magic are -- the magic darkness blends with the normal darkness pretty well."
"That's bad. He and the other orcs can see fine in there, and probably the karak too, but we won't be able to see jack squat if we get close, and we can't see him to shoot him from far off."
"He must have been training that horse to move in darkness for ages! Or else he used magic to let it see in the dark, otherwise it'd be just as blind as we are. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll step in a bear trap?"
Looking down again, she notes that Vors looks seriously wounded. "Hey, I've got a healing potion we took from the orc camp -- you want it? They've barely touched me, but you're looking pretty rough."
The orc archers moving north fire again at the obvious target, Mel.
The mounted archers fire at the most obvious target before them, the huge beast lumbering at them while doing their best to keep their distance from their attackers.
x3=21
All three shafts strike home in the great beast, drawing groans of pain from it but its wounds continue to heal, slowly, as you had heard from Halak.
The orcs, karak, and sphere of darkness pursue. For now, they focus their attentions on their new and deadly attackers.
One of the orcs looses a shaft at the constantly-moving archers
but misses by a wide margin.
Perrin looks back at Hirda with an agonized expression, but in the end he turns away and sprints toward the front gate, knowing that others might be in need of his healing.
As he slows to a halt, Perrin hears the karak's groans of pain from beyond the wall and realizes it must have been hit. He wracks his brain, trying to think of how they might take it down.
"Shoot at the beast!" he calls at the top of his lungs, trying to direct the burst of inspiration Mel's rhetoric has provided.
"Ow!" Mel hollers again as an arrow strikes her, narrowly penetrating her chain mail to cause a slight wound to her upper chest.
"You'll get yours, lady!" Mel yells back at her assailant. "Just wait your turn!"
Reaching into her belt pouch, Mel extracts the potion Perrin gave her and the ball of sturdy silk thread she keeps on hand for use as fishing line.
A quick loop and knot around the flask's neck, and she lowers it down to dangle within easy arms' reach of Vors. "There you go ... whoops, incoming fire!" Dropping to the floor of the guard tower, three more arrows sailed through the spot where she had been standing and disappeared into the night. Mel could hear them impact the roof of one of the huts beyond, thock, thock, thock.
Dropping to the floor had pulled the thread down with her, lifting the dangling potion a couple of feet. She reels out a couple more feet of thread to compensate.
I'm assuming the guard post has a solid wall about waist high to give the occupants cover and prevent them from falling out.
Step 1, free action: drops her bow to the floor of the guard post. I'm imagining this as just setting it down against the wall rather than actually dropping it.
Step 2, move action: pulls the potion and thread from her belt pouch. Technically I think it might take two move actions to pull two items, but honestly, it's a belt pouch and there's not a whole lot in there, so I'm working on the theory that she can grab both at once.
Step 3, standard action: tie an overhand knot around the flask and reel it down to Vors. Just a single overhand is quick, and it doesn't need to hold for long.
Step 4, free action: drops prone, gaining total cover from the safety wall.
I figure she can't see anything from this position, but she's gotten the potion down to Vors with one full-round action, without having to leave the tower and climb back up. Next turn she can stand as a move action, presumably picking up the bow that's right next to her on the floor as she does so, and go back to launching arrows.
If you think that's too much stuff for one round, GM, just say so and I'll use up part of her next round to finish things up.
Vors grabs the potion and downs it, though not without a forlorn look at the slain Brooksiders at his feet. "Doctor, if you can do anything for these good folk, I'd appreciate it."
Turning to the other melee combatants - Hurin, Kelian, Scatton, Aimin, and Ursa - and says, "There're archers trying to pick off our townsfolk on the south wall. It's pinning them down, when they need to focus on the orcs chasing our allies. If you're still up for it after all this, come with me now, and we'll end them."
With that, he heads to the ruined gate, and makes ready to dash at the closest of the archers.
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Lacking a more obvious target, three of the orc archers spread their fire among the targets on the wall while the one who is able to fires at the mounted archers.
The archers on horseback continue falling back while firing at the huge beast, moving north along through the plain dotted with scattered trees.
But only one of their shafts strike home in the huge creature.
But only Vargos manages to place a shaft in the great creature's hide.
The orcs continue to pursue their newfound attackers but you hear some shouts coming from the figure wreathed in shadow.
With nothing else to do, Halak touches Vors on the shoulder again halfheartedly.
Hirda catches her breath for a moment, heaves a deep and mournful sigh, and runs after Perrin.