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Túrion rushes into the corner, trying not to be in anybodys way again, Nelly fast behind him. He looks at the orcs, focusing his gaze at the leader, and getting ready to finish an incantation, one Rod in hand.
Túrion finishes his spell, and 4 magic missiles fly towards the Orcish leader...suddenly one of the missiles dives down and slams into the orcs leg with enough force to knock a regular bear down.
Kelian attempts to rush forward, discovering as he does the difficulty of moving under the weight of his new armor.
Ears ringing, Mel moves over by Túrion and launches an arrow at the orc leader.
Brolin follows at his side. Since Kelian's somewhat slower than the merchant captain, Muse uses his standard action for total defense.
Fyrtor runs forward, his ears still ringing. When he sees how everyone is arrange he pauses, wracked by indecision. He decides the best thing to do is simply take a shot at the lead orc, letting his thistle arrow fly.
Despite catching the orcs off-guard, Turion's spell is unable to trip the leader, who refuses to flinch when the force strikes him. Fyrtor's arrow deflects off the warrior's mail while Mel manages to land a shot on the unprepared orc.
The orcs assume battle positions, with the greataxe wielders down in front of the defenses while the archers fire from on top. Most of the archers, their eyes burning with anger, target Mel and Turion. Turion is hit with a devastating barrage (29 damage if your AC is really just 13) while Mel is struck once (8 damage). The leader focuses on Kelian and hits him twice (26 damage). One arrow very nearly pierces Turion's neck. The greataxe orcs stand ready to attack anyone who draws near.
Kazador ran around the corner and stood his ground before the orcs, daring them to attack.
Algric had his back to the wall. He took a deep breath, spun around to the other side and unleashed two arrows into the most injured orc he could see.
Fyrtor alarmed at the wounds the elves have taken calls out, "Mel, Turion, wall or fog?!"
"Blast -- I was hoping the barrier would be down. Wall!" Mel calls.
She lofts an arrow towards the leader once again; but a groan of pain attracts her attention. She glances over at Túrion, taking in for the first time his severe wounds. "Ai, Ostara," she gasps. "I'm coming, Túrion -- get clear or get down! Nelly! Move!" She squeezes past the wolf.
The obscuring mist still has the downside of preventing Mel and Túrion from actually doing anything useful, and effectively focusing fire on our melee types because all those archers cannot split their attacks, whereas a +2 partial cover bonus to AC would be welcome.
I'd love to do Healer's Hands on Túrion right now, but it's a full round action and he's 10 feet away, so one arrow at the leader which will probably miss, and then move to get next to Túrion.
Kelian advances fearlessly, and takes a swing at the first of the melee orcs with his longsword.
not confirmed with a nat 1
Hearing Mel call out Fyrtor drops his bow and moves while drawing his sword, he felt better with a blade in hand anyways. He rushes to the corner and puts his back to the wall, turning to face the rear his gaze upon the elves, Damn it, this is a mess. Then he reaches into the pouch at his belt pulling out a handful of dirt and with a wave of his shield arm cries out, "laat die aarde en die klip my vyand se pad verskans!"
As he finishes the incantation a low wall shoots up from the ground. Done, Fyrtor turns back to the orcs ready to strike.
Kelian lowers his head a moment moving his shield arm in close so he can press his hand to his heart. A faint breeze flares around him for a moment, and his wounds seal.
Kelian steps forward, drawing a flash of greataxes toward him. He is struck twice but manages to deflect a third blow that surely would have left him at death's door (31 damage to Kelian).
Túrion watched the stupid young man charge forward, right into the axes. He felt the arrows pierce his flesh. And he took note of the rubble and damaged barricade.
Not a favorable tactical position. Not at all.
Túrion gently touched his Wolf Companion, a magical shield appearing next to her, then spoke to her: "Dul ar aghaidh. Má thagann an fear óg, déan iarracht é a tharraingt go sábháilte."
Then he started moving back into the corridor they came from:"I appreciate it, but do not worry about me, Mel, worry about your friends!"
Nel rushed forward, just far enough to be next to Kelian, but not snapping at the Orc in front of her. Instead, she seemed to watch the young man curiously.
Nelly snaps an armored leg of the young man Kelian, then drags him straight back as far as she reasonably can.
Seeing Kelian eat the brunt of the orcs' assault, Captain Muse hurries to join him in being attacked by monsters with superhuman strength. Because, gosh golly, I do love being attacked by monsters with superhuman strength.
Charging the orcs , Muse channels Rook, a spirit of undying resistance and dogged tenacity. Under the ghost's influence, the landfaring seasman throws himself into his attack, hammering away with sword and shield, keeping his adversaries on their guard, keeping them on the defensive.
Where Legacy fights with peerless precision, attacking when and where he can't be blocked, Rook's repetitive but ceaseless attacks aim not to debilitate or disable, but simply to keep whoever he's fighting dodging or parrying Rook's attacks until something connects or until their arms give out. While Rook's doing his part to keep the orcs' attention, Muse, trusting Rook's prowess at keeping them alive, tries to make himself a target.
The captain says anything that crosses his mind, hoping to strike a nerve with something. "I'm kinda surprised you lot didn't break ranks and bolt after we exploded you, but I guess I shouldn't be. Dying like chumps is pretty much what you orcs seem to be best at. I've been cleaning up Kazad Gavr one ugly green humanoid at a time most of today, so I'd know. The pillage's been kinda shoddy, though. There was this one magic shield we found, but I like mine better, on account of mine having got a duck on it. The shield though! it had this lion on it, bit things on it's own? Ring a bell, belong to a friend of yours? It looked pretty fancy, so we killed that guy and everyone with him. Our raid's been decently profitable so far! What've you lot got on your person?"
The orc attacked by Kelian sways on his feet. By all rights, it should be dead. But he fights on, raising his axe. He and his comrades swing fiercely at Kelian and Brolin but the brave warriors deflect with their shields and sidestep, making every attack miss. The leader fires at Kazador three times but Kazador manages to block the arrows. The other archers then fire, focusing on Mel. Only one hits (9 dam). As of yet, there is no sign of reinforcements.
Kelian, staggered by the ferocity of his opponents, shakes his head to clear it. "I ... uh, need to breathe," he says.
He presses a hand against his chest, feeling the healing warmth -- wherever it might be from -- soothing his hurts.
As he finishes the motion and moves his shield forward once more, it lurches forward unexpectedly in his grip, the lion on its boss lunging towards the startled orc in front of him with a terrifying snarl.
Easing back guardedly despite the surprising activity of his shield, Kelian falls back into the side corridor, winding up beside Fyrtor.
"Whew," he remarks.
Seeing Kelian withdraw, Mel takes the opportunity to send two shots into the gap he vacated.
nonlethal
nonlethal
She hesitates as the corridor fills with frantic motion, pulling her shots aside to avoid hitting allies. "Ihana nainen!" she mutters. "Miten puuttuu jokainen tässä jättiläisissä kohteissa?"
Muse is relieved to see Kelian get away free and clear.
"Press."
It's sometimes hard to tell what's going on around him, these fights get so frenetic, but Brolin's pretty sure that Turion's safe too. It's a load off his mind knowing that everyone's all right. Cayden's cup, but I hate fighting archers. If swordfighting is like a game of badmitton, with back and forth, counterplay, then being shot full of arrows is like a game of darts where you're the target. Well, perhaps that's a bad metaphor, too on point . . . but really, what are you supposed to do but hope and pray that they're bad at darts?
"Press."
People sometimes look at him strange when Captain Muse describes himself as risk-adverse. But that's how he sees himself. Sure, from the outside it looks like Brolin makes some fairly audacious gambles, but when push comes to shove and people are in danger his biggest priority is getting people out of danger, whatever personal risks that entails. Now that no one's in immediate danger, the captain turns his thoughts to the possibility of a retreat. They could fall back, maybe he could do something with his illusion spell, though that would slow him down, or, better, something with Fyrtor's fog-
The world wavers for a split second, a battle of wills broken off by mutual agreement, neither party can afford to take their minds away from the here and now. But Rook got Muse's attention.
"Press the advantage. They're hurting. Don't give them time to recover, don't give them time to reinforce, don't give them time to maneuver, don't give them time to think. Keep moving. Pressure them. Press."
Rook's approach to everything is a simple one. If you're winning, press the advantage. If you're losing, apply pressure. People make mistakes under pressure. Don't waste time thinking, don't give them time to think. Press.
It's not an approach that Muse typically agrees with. The captain is risk-adverse. But he didn't dredge up the memory of the long-dead soldier to ignore the guy's advice.
Minds and body in reluctant accord, the medium charges through the massed orcs, shoving and pushing and slipping by to open a front behind the invaders.
Thus positioned, Captain Muse sets about minimizing risk to his team by attempting to disarm the nearest archer.
Seeing Kelian move into the other side passage, Túrion raises an eyebrow.
Kid is better or luckier than I thought.
With the others pushing forward, he shouts: "Nelly, ionsaí ar ár naimhde."
Meanwhile, he hastily retrieved another spellbook, quickly focusing on the runes on the page opened with a different-colored cord.
Nelly, hearing her masters voice, does not hesitate - if the Orc in front of her is still up, she snaps at him, otherwise moves up to the strongest and healthiest-looking of the bunch in front of her, and trying to sink her teeth into him.
Not satisfied with just ripping flesh, she moves her muzzle with a sudden jerk before releasing the bite, trying to pull her victim off its feet with raw power - a tactic that works surprisingly often for a creature as strong as an oversized wolf.
Likewise seeing a gap, Algric fired at the orc in front of the leader. He had to open a gap for Kazador!
Two accurate arrows flew downrange into the formation.
Kazador ran forward. He hoped that he could get to the leader. He hoped that a hole in the line could be formed. He hoped that he’d be able to reach him on the defenses. He ran...
Kelian's shield finishes off the most wounded of the orcs.
Brolin provokes attacks from all four of the greataxe wielding orcs. One gets in a solid hit (nat 20, nat 1 to confirm, 18 dam). He attempts to knock the bow aside but the wily orc jerks her bow out of his reach. Algric's first shot finds the orc leader but his second misses. Due to the difficult terrain, Kazador is only able to move up and strike at one of the barbarian orcs but his blow lands at the same time as Nelly's and together they finish off the orc. The leader drops his bow, drawing a scimitar. He strikes at Kazador but stumbles as he steps forward. Nevertheless, he nearly lands his blow. The two orcs on either side of Kazador attempt to strike him but fail. One of them also tries to continue his blow to Nelly but has no accuracy... An orc in the back drops his axe and attempts to grapple Brolin but fails (and provokes). The orcs back there fire at Brolin with one hit (9 damage) while one in front fires at Mel but misses horribly.
You can hear running feat from the east, shouts, and also what sounds like clashing weapons.
Túrion rushes towards the 3-feet high palisade, next to Mel. Glancing at the situation, he shouts the last syllables to complete the spell prepared in his mind, then drops prone. Noticing the look the other elf gives him, he smiles:"Hi again. Figured I shouldn't leave a lady alone, in danger."
With even more determination than before, Nelly continues her assault, snapping at the orcs, trying to tear flesh and pull them prone where she can.
Algric tried to line up his shots, but it was nearly impossible with the swirling melee. Afraid of hitting a friend he held back to the point where it was too late.
Buffeted from all sides by orcs, Kazador smiled grimly. This is where he belonged. Defending his ancestral lands from orcs. Clad in runic armor so that he might be protected while he kept his comrades safe. Wielding runic hammer to break the bodies and spirits of his enemies. Torag was watching. He would not dissapoint!
Fyrtor seeing charge take shape decides that retreat may not be needed. He moves forward to strike at the leader though doing so leaves oppenings for is opponents to strike. Fyrtor counts on his skill and daring to save him from his opponents axed. Once in place he strikes at the orc cutting him deeply before falling into a defensive stance.
When the orc comes to grab Muse, he sweeps their feet out from under them.
Shouting to be heard over the sound of battle, Muse calls out, "I think the orcs' reinforcements are on their way! Let's finish this up before they get here!"
Pressing back towards his friends, Muse attempts to disarm the archer closest to the top of the map.
"Ha!" Mel says. "Yes, I was pining for company out here."
Scanning the combat, she lines up two shots and sends them flying down the corridor.
nonlethal
nonlethal
Both shots sail down the corridor. Mel feels a flush of relief. They feel solid.
Kelian breathes a little easier as he heals himself once again. Then, as Túrion's spell takes effect, he steps determinedly back out into the battle.
Nelly pulls down one orc and bites it twice, damaging him severely. Algric can't hit in the melee (soft cover makes the 18 a miss) while Mel lands two heavy shots. Kelian attacks the same orc, whose eyes go blank, but the orc keeps fighting. Kazador and Fyrtor both land blows on the leader but he is not severely damaged. Muse causes all sorts of mischief in the back lines of the orcs but doesn't actually hurt any of the orcs...
Fyrtor is struck at twice as he moves. The leader lands a heavy blow (21 damage) while the grunt misses. The leader then strikes at Fyrtor again but misses, though Fyrtor is unable to take advantage of the miss. The wary orc also draws a light shield. The other heavy orcs hack at Kazador and Fyrtor but can't break through their defenses. The orc in the rear stands up and grabs Brolin!
The slighter orc attakcs Brolin with her falchion but misses. Several orcs then fire on Mel but only one hits (7 dam).
”You’re dead, ye just don’t know it yet.” Kazador growled as he unleashed his fury on the orc leader. His hammer, runes glowing green, went high, then low, and high again. He was determined to break the orc’s defenses!
”Fyrtor! Withdraw! I’ll fill the line.”
Fyrtor discouraged by the lack of impact his blow had on the orc leader turns to take advantage of the orc between him and Kelian. His first blow goes wide, but he is quick to recover attacking a second time thanks to Turion's enchantment. Only then does he hear Algric's cries to retreat.