"Hold on." Perrin raises a hand in a "stop" motion, freezing in place and focusing intently. "Hear that? Some sort of voices, just beyond those hills."
"And look! Loads of tracks pass right through this gap. This... this could be it!"
Perrin looks around in panic for a moment, then takes a quick breath. He makes eye contact with Pebbles and jerks his head toward the hills. Seeming to understand, the elemental dives smoothly into the ground beneath him and disappears, leaving not a ripple to track his movement.
Vors holds while Perrin takes care of reconnaissance, but makes sure his trusty halberd at the ready. He whispers, "Can't say I like being the one to walk between hills. Always tried to be on top of them, if I could. Anyone feel like sneaking up that rise over there?" Vors points to the hill on the north side of the pass.
"Aye, I hear it," he said quietly to the others. "Sommat speakin' some foreign gabble up ahead."
"Could be lots of 'em, or else a few but they pass in an' out a lot," he said. "See all them tracks goin' all over and back."
Glancing at Perrin, he adds "Is your, err, pile of rocks gone to find out what's there? Good idea. I'll send Rally to peek over th' other way."
I hear it as well.
Perrin concentrates on his emotions of urgency and need, taking a couple quick steps away from the hills to indicate that Pebbles should return and report what he found.
Pebbles earth glides back towards the group and emerges next to Perrin. He utters some odd grunting noises to Perrin.
L7, and Q3. You can share this information generally with the rest of the party but Perrin would have to draw some sort of map if you want to tell the party exactly what squares you mean.
"Pebbles says there are at least eight of them, all to the left of that gap in the hills."
Hirda lashes her mule well out of harms way and readies her makeshift pole-arm, waiting for information.
If they's not waitin' t' ambush us, might be we could ambush them instead. Draw 'em this way an' trap'em in the gap.
"Up the hill, perhaps, then catch 'em in a charge? Perrin, what'd your creature there say they were?"
Cyrus concentrates on fleeing and safety, mentally urging Rally to return.
The fox slinks back into your midst, her bright eyes darting nervously back towards the narrow pass to the east.
"Perrin, what'd your creature there say they were?"
"He couldn't tell, he just felt their movements in the ground."
Perrin looks back at the pass nervously as Rally rejoins the group. "I think I know a spell that could make some webbing to trap them in... but do you reckon we should try to lure them here, or sneak up there and attack from above?"
Cyrus reported: "Rally says she saw a whole encampment in there, on the north end. Three tents, big ones, up on the side where Perrin's rock ... err ... friend went. There's a tree with chains on it past them; could be mebbe that beastie we fought earlier was tied up there."
Listening further, he added "There's a really big guy with green skin and a longbow down south-ways. He saw Rally, but there was some kind of argument going on up on the north side, so she pulled away before he could do anythin'."
Cyrus rubbed a hand along one shoulder, feeling a sudden chill. "Your rock-friend found 8, Rally saw 1 more. Sounds t' me like there's a whole heap of trouble on the far side of those hills. We got 5 of us, plus Perrin's rock-friend, and Rally. I dunno about Perrin's friend, but Rally probably can't do much in a real fight. Maybe distract one, at best. She's great for trackin' and lookin' ahead, but ..." he shook his head.
"If we just charge in willy-nilly, I figure we are like to die. We got to get the drop on 'em, or else back off and try t' lure 'em out so we can fight 'em one at a time, or at least in smaller bunches. And we need to pick fast before they quit their arguin' and find us."
"Maybe we go after the one on the south. Sounds like a scout, yeah? Take that one down, they send another one looking, we work on that one next."
"Sounds good to me -- maybe we could circle down south, make some noise or somethin' to lure him into the trees. The trick is gettin' him far enough away that he can't just shout for help. He sounds big; I doubt we can take him down before he could holler to his buddies."
Ugh, sounds like orcs. I was hopin' never t' see another of 'em. Well, I'll foller you-all south t' take out the scout. Might be an idear t' send Sir Fox n' Sir Rocks here up t' the north side o' their camp. If the main group 'ears us n' starts movin' our way, they can make some noise on t'other side, mebbe buy us some time.
It is difficult to tell because the yelling voice is on the other side of the line of hills.
"That lone one down south is making a lot of fuss its own self," Cyrus said. "More 'n the ones up north. Wish we knew what they were on about."
"Yeah, it sounds like that yelling has moved closer to the spot where Rally was looking." The living pile of rocks makes a soft rumbling sound, and Perrin shoots it a quick glance of alarm. "Pebbles says very close. Like, ten feet. Do you think more of them could be over there now?" Perrin looks concerned, but prepares to follow the rest of the group as they head to the south.
Rally yipped quietly at Cyrus. "Err, she thinks so," Cyrus said. "Maybe that plan's no good after all."
Could be we's not the only ones wantin' t' make mincemeat o' this group. Mebbe we jus' stay put fer a moment, wait t' see what happens, mebbe attack 'em from the rear if they move.
The shouting dies down for a few minutes. Then you hear a sharp cracking sound and a cry of pain. The cracking sound repeats and as does the accompanying cry. The paired sounds continue with gut-wrenching rhythm.
A look of horror crosses over Perrin's face. "It sounds like someone's getting whipped! That... that scared-sounding person from earlier." Perrin takes a couple small steps from side to side, wringing his hands in uncertainty. "Shouldn't we do something?? It kind of really feels like we should do something."
"Well, crap," Cyrus said. "Could be Goodman Higgins. No time to be fancy, then."
"Doc, we'll try your spider web thing. I'm gonna run in there and get their attention, try to lure 'em back through the gap. When they come after me, web as many as you can get without hitting the rest of us. Hirda, Vors, be ready to stand and fight."
Glancing up at the sky, he finished with "I really hope somebody up there decides to like us today!" And with that blunt but heart-felt prayer, he turned and charged through the gap.
As Cyrus dashes forward, Perrin rests a hand on what passes for Pebble's shoulder, giving a low hiss in his demonic tongue. The rocky creature then dives beneath the earth once more.
They seem to have heard you dashing towards them but are relatively surprised at the abrupt appearance of a human.
Brooksiders' Initiative:
Unknown's Initiative:
Aye, we'll all stand t'gether. See how these beasties fight when they's not overpowerin' lone folk in the dark. Now Cyrus, don't be too obvious aboot leadin' 'em inta a trap.
Hirda takes a few practice swings with her pole-arm.
Well, at least it ain't Goodman Higgins bein' whipped, Cyrus thought. Wonder what the heck those are.
Throwing a rock suddenly seemed like a bad idea. Made him seem less like prey. "Whoops!" he said to the green-skinnned folk. "Err ... bye!"
And with that, he turned and fled back the way he came.
The rest of you observe Cyrus run through the gap in the hills then immediately head back towards you. Some surprised cries come from the other side of the hills but you have a moment to act before they gather themselves.
Tess readies herself with her great ax for the fight.
Yep. That works.
Vors hefts his halberd and starts heading for one of the hillocks, trying to get to higher, more defensible ground.
A lithe, female humanoid moves into G6, triggering Vors readied action.
Vors' halberd deflects off her armor.
She whips up the bow she had in her hands and nocks an arrow, letting it fly at Vors but leaving him an opportunity to strike again as she readies her bow.
This time, she sees Vors' halberd coming as it swings back and she nimbly dodges it while letting her arrow fly.
A second orc, the one noticed by Rally, moves into K8 to fire at the retreating Cyrus. Pebbles erupts from the ground and swings at her twice.
Pebbles' longspear catches in the orcs side, leaving her bleeding.
Pebbles' next attack is deflected by her armor while she brings her bow to bear on him.
Her arrow manages to pierce Pebbles' armor and thick hide.
Screaming at the top of his lungs, a bulky male orc charges south into the gap, chasing Cyrus. His face is so contorted in a mask of rage it is impossible to tell if he is surprised at the sight of Pebbles but he immediately swings his greataxe at the small elemental, while Cyrus swings his readied mace at the charging marauder.
smashes into the orcs chest but doesn't stop him.
Hefting his greataxe, a second orc berserker surges toward Cyrus.
.
A third orc berserker charges with a blood-curdling roar into position.
Tied tightly to the ground, the orc with blood streaming from its back attempts to wrench himself free from his bonds.
but fails to do so.
Bellowing orders, the largest of the orcs takes up a high ground position on the hill while hurling a javelin at Cyrus.
his javelin snaps past Cyrus' head, burying itself in the ground behind Cyrus.
An old, wizened orc emerges from one of the tents and moves into N9 to see what is happening.
Pebbles grunts in pain as the arrow sinks into his earthy hide, swiveling to thrust his spear at the bellowing orc on the hill and sliding backward along the ground.
Rushing forward to face the sudden onslaught, Perrin gives his loudest bellow yet and flings his arm out toward the approaching mob. In the same instant, a grotesque web of clinging fibers bursts from the ground in their midst, spreading outwards and enveloping everything in its path.
Rally tucks her tail firmly between her legs -- but rushes in anyway, wanting to be closer to Cyrus.
Arriving at Cyrus' side, she yaps her head off to distract the brutes.
Then she slinks back a bit.
Cyrus feels a rush of gratitude towards Rally for risking herself on his behalf. Shifting to one side, he attempts to shove the brute backwards into its ally.
Well, crap, Cyrus thought as he shoved ineffectually at the massive green fellow. I thought that'd be real clever, but these guys are built like a brick outhouse.
Pebbles' attack draws a pained grunt from the orc warleader but the chieftain is much more surprised by the appearance of webbing all around him.
Reflex saves:
Aaaarrrr!!! Hirda lets out an inarticulate bellow and bounds awkwardly towards the nearest orc, bringing her bladed pole down on its shoulders.
Whaddaya done wit me Nolly, ya big green galoot? Time fer ya t' pay up!