"Belay that, Prat!" he calls to the boy. "Why don't you let me take point, and you can back me up with that shield of yours."
**Pouts**
"From the mouths of babes," Luenevyn mutters to his companions with a wry smile.
"Belay that, Prat!" he calls to the boy. "Why don't you let me take point, and you can back me up with that shield of yours. Or perhaps it might be best to see if we can get some of Lam-Ang's meat ready. It's only dogs, but we may as well take advantage of Lance's planning."
Luenevyn turns to Summer. "Lady, were you able to get some herbs to spike the meat?"
Summer nods "Yes I was able to get the herbs. Were is the meat? I can just sprinkle the powder onto it."
Summer and Lam-ang prepare the bait by rubbing a foul smelling herbal powder on a even more foul smelling meat. Once completed the party moves down the shady path with Luenevyn and Prat taking a somewhat lead. Lam-ang follows close behind, ready to chunk the meat at the first sign of trouble. Summer and Lance cover the rear.
Soon you see the tree-tunnel end and the mansion comes into view. It is far more stately than you may have imagined , but signs of age and neglect are present even from this great distance. The white paint is peeling. Red tiles are sagging. Shutters have fallen. One of the front windows is broken.
Lam-ang admonishes everyone to stay alert and to keep silent.
"So do we head right up to the front door and knock, or do we want to take a lap around the outside first?"
Lam-ang whispers, "I favor circling the place before entering. It'll give us a better idea of what to expect."
Lam-ang whispers, "I favor circling the place before entering. It'll give us a better idea of what to expect."
Prat ignors Lam-ang and looks to Lance for instruction.
"I say that we circle around the outside first. That i probably where the dogs are and we can hopefully stay at least 20ft from them and just throw the meat to them."
Luenevyn suddenly realizes that volunteering to take point was excessively foolish, even for him.
"Circling sounds good to me. Lead on, gentlemen!"
After a moment he adds, "And lady."
As you exit the tunnel of branches onto the lawn, you blink a few times to get accustom to the direct sun light. The opening is quite spacious and enough of the original landscaping is evident to relay a sense that this place was once very formal and beautiful.
Now however, the grass has gone wild and the bushes chocked with vines. A few fragrant flows bloom here and there as a last ditch effort to avoid total suffocation. The air is filled with their sweet scent and the buzzing of insects.
The mansion is two stories with a sizable front porch capped with a stately balcony. Windows line both floors. There are two large front doors, closed, in the center of the house. Their red paint is faded and peeling.
As your eye sweep past the house a deep growl can be heard coming from under the porch. Three feral dogs quickly scramble to their feet and start barking furiously. They begin to advance slowly but their pace quickens.
Prat trembles with fear and anticipation as the dogs crawl out from under the porch. Grasping his rapier and shield tighter he waits for them to attack, ready to stab the first one that comes anywhere near to him.
Lam-ang tosses the prepared meat into the midst of the hungry dogs. He then yells, "Stand together! We can take them!"
Summer readies her quarterstaff but also says " I propose we retreat a distance and hope that the Bullrush takes effect before they get to us."
Summer then takes a few cautious steps back.
Luenevyn takes up a fighting stance. After a moment, he looks sheepishly around and slowly draws his club, trying not to attract attention.
Three feral dogs crawl out from underneath the porch and tear across the lawn, barking furiously.
Everyone draws their weapons. Lam-ang hesitates only a fraction of a second and then launches the bait in a high arch over the lawn. It lands perfectly in front of the charging dogs. They slow down, sniffing the air agressively. Their barking slows and they approach the meat without hesitation. While keping a weary eye on the party, all three dogs begin to fight over chuncks of food.
It seems like the plan will work...
But then you hear a fourth dog growling. This gutteral rumble is deeper and somehow more menacing. The entire porch jumps and dust fills the air. A mass moves into the sunlight. A massive dog, easily the size of a horse claws out from under the house. It stretches and sniffs the air. Eyes, red with hate, and seemingly giving off enough heat to warp the surrounding air fix on you. It immediately breaks into a run.
Initiative:
Prat
Lam-ang
Luenevyn
Summer
Very Large Dog
Lance
Luenevyn looks at the big fire dog and the right corner of the porch. His eyes flick back and forth, gauging the distance between the dog, the party, and the house. He loosens the coil of rope around his shoulders, and looks like he's preparing to run.
Without turning his head, he tells the others, "I'm going to try to get my grappling hook on that balcony over the porch, in case we need to get out of that thing's reach. Can you cover me?"
Prat trembles as the big dog advances and says, "That sounds like a very good idea Riddle."
Seeing that trying to wait for the dogs to keel over is not going to work, Summer steps in front of 'Riddle' and says "I will try to provide cover."
Lam-ang draws a handful of scrap meat from the sack and hurls it at the path of the Big bad wolf, hoping that it will distract it from charging and give us time enough to subdue it.
The huge dog quickly covers the ground between the house and the party. The three smaller canines continue to fight over their meal, but duck out of their bigger cousin's way. Lam-ang tosses another hand full of smelly meat towards the dog. Luenevyn breaks away and heads toward the house, twirling his grapple hook at the end of some rope. Summer steps forward. The horse-sized dog uses the last ten feet of his charge to leap toward the party. With jaws snapping it lands in your midst. It ducks as Summer swings but Prat's blade strikes true. It's unnaturally intelligent eyes turn toward the youth. It's huge body slams into Lam-ang as it positions to bite.
Prat trembles as the huge beast turns to glare at him. Sweat drips off his nose while he watches a reflection of himself in the dogs eye withdraw a blood smeared blade. A wave of fear floods through him and he softly utters an elvish curse, Chiarore! Prat is dumfounded as a burst of light brightly appears before the beasts eyes seemingly of its own accord.
Luenevyn runs forward a few feet, twirling his grappling hook to the side before letting it fly towards the balcony of the porch.
Lam-ang dives away from the big bad wolf.
And hurls more gobs of meat at it.
Summer lunges forward with a ferocious look on her face and swings at the big bad wolf with her quarterstaff aiming for the chest of the big animal.
The huge dog slams into Lam-ang and knocks him off balance. The big man lands ungraciously on his back side . With its ears pulled back and its gums raised in a snarl, the beast moves to devour Prat. Suddenly a brilliant flash explodes in front of the dog. It yepls in surprise. Summer brings her quarterstaff down with a solid thud across the beast's neck. It snaps its saliva coated teeth at her. The clashing of jaws is unnerving, but the attack misses. It takes a step backwards, shaking its head to get rid of the lingering afterimages from the flash.
In the meanwhile, Luenevyn finishes his dash across the yard and lets loose his grapple hook. It arcs gracefully through the sky, lands on the balcony, and pulls taut.
Reflex Save (1d20+2=9) ** spoiler omitted **
Luenevyn shouts to the others: "The rope's up! We can climb up to the balcony!"
Luenevyn wants to go up himself, but he doesn't want to abandon the group, especially since his only missile weapon (my only weapon, Luenevyn reminds himself) is his club. Hurry up, hurry up!
Lam-ang shouts, "Quickly, that thing won't be blinded for long." He then makes a sprint to where Luenevyn is.
Prat shakes a confused look from his face and follows Lam-ang across the yard full tilt.
Not wanting to be left as the only one on the ground with the big dog, Summer sprints across the lawn towards the elf. She is attempting to dodge past the dog as quickly as possible and hoping it is not fast enough to snap at her on her way by.
Everyone breaks toward Luenevyn's escape route at a dead run! The huge dog shakes its head a few times and lets out a chilling howl. It follows at full speed.
Luenevyn:
"It's not gonna let us just run away!" Luenevyn shouts, horrified to see the giant dog chasing after his friends.
I shouldn't be here. I should be sitting in the Empty Grave with a pint of ale, or better yet, at the Secret with Aralandi. I should NOT be here.
But his feet are already moving. Luenevyn runs away from the house, club held high, charging the dog.
Attack; Damage (1d20+2=8, 1d6=2)
Prat hears the elfs warning and sees him charge back into the battle. Determined not to be afraid the youth turns and thrusts his rapier straight for the beasts savage eyes.
Attack roll round 3 (1d20-2=15)
But his feet are already moving. Luenevyn runs away from the house, club held high, charging the dog.
As everyone runs toward the house, Luenevyn runs toward the dog. The dog seems slightly confounded by the new prey and skids to a stop. The elf bravely swings but the dog ducks.
Lam-ang notices the precarious tactical position Luenevyn is in. He wields his quarterstaff two-handed and charges the dog.
Luenevyn skids to a stop in front of the big dog, club swinging ineffectually. His knees are trembling. One voice inside him says, RUN, you thrice-damned fool!, but another one shrugs and says, In for a copper, in for a gold.
The tiniest whimper escapes his lips as Luenevyn swings his club again at the dog's head, hoping he'll be nimble enough to avoid the monster's snapping jaws.
Summer turns to fight the dog even though part of her is cursing it as the stupidest thing she has ever done, she knows that they are going to have to deal with the dog at some time.
Everyone wheels around and batters the giant dog with a rain of blows!
Summer:
Lam-ang:
It yelps and collapses.
"Good job everyone. Now let's go up the rope before the other dogs recover."
As soon as the dog hits the ground, Luenevyn turns and runs for the rope.
Lam-ang offers to give the other party members a boost up the rope.
Summer nods to Lam-ang and accepts the leg up.
Prat shoves the blade of his rapier through the dog's eye to ensure the beast is dead before following the others to the rope and climbing to the roof.