The barbarian gives Will a strange look as the healing washes over him, one which slowly transforms into a smile as he realizes what Will did.
Brom turns and moves swiftly towards the remaining bandit, realizes he's not going to get close enough to bring Krasa to bear. The area is dark, and Brom can just make out some shadowy shapes, including a small form bleeding on the ground, "NOOO!!" Seeing Cappi down Brom drops Krasa as he closes the last few feet, yanking a throwing axe from its leather strap and hurling it at the shadowy form of the bandit.
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Will's song ends abruptly as the sickening sound of axe meeting bone echoes through the small campsite. "Oh hells!" the bard exclaims, rushing to Cappi's side. Think damn you think! What did those combat medics do. Pressure! That will help keep the blood in! Adjusting Cappi's arm to close the wound as best he can, Will uses a bit of Cappi's torn sleeve to keep pressure on the wound and limit the amount of crimson blood flowing from the wound.
Will rushes forward, dropping his weapon and shield and attempting to stop the flow of blood from Cappi's wounded arm. With some effort and a lot of luck he manages to slow the blood loss and chase away the specter of death for another day.
Brom comes charging through the trees, tossing an axe at the woman which sails widely and misses the agile bandit.
Seeing the little one down he fires into melee before moving away from the bandit.
Dendarial fires an arrow at the woman as he pulls back into the shadows, but the projectile narrowly misses the female bandit, careening off into the trees. Sir Karse takes another swing at the woman, but she deftly moves away from the blow at the last moment, and the weapon connects with only air.
The woman, noting the appearance of a severely wounded human, grits her teeth and growls at Brom, seemingly not at all intimidated by the man's size, especially since he appears to be unarmed. She makes an agile move to her right, hopping slightly as she moves out of the reach of the paladin's flail, and opens up a series of attacks against the tiring barbarian...
...her hatred of the human race in general fuels her attacks as she drives the blade of her first axe deep into Brom's shoulder, following the attack with a tremendously powerful forward chop of the second axe which buries itself deeply into the barbarian's chest, creating a terrifying looking wound. Brom's arms sag to his sides and his body loses the ability to remain upright. His crashes to the hard earth with a loud thud.
The woman screeches in a display of triumph, her success and dropping two of the party members only fuels her resolve as she prepares to circle around the downed halfling to get at the other human.
.....gurgle.....
As the woman drops Brom Den takes advantage of her not being in melee and fires a arrow. At the same time he calls out Swoop! to his owl and moves a little farther to the East.
Dendarial scores a hit with his shot, the arrow lodging keep in the woman's side. She falters for a second, looking weak on her feet, but she regains her composure and growls in defiance.
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Having just finished stabilizing Cappi to see the mighty barbarian succumb to his wounds, Will takes on a slightly panicked look. They keep falling! We must stop her or we’ll all die. Look up to the woman a few paces away, Will recognizes the hate fueling the woman as being akin to the same that drives Dendarial. An idea forming, Will hops back onto his feet and takes a few paces back, deeper into the darkness. ”Come now wench, you can attack children and people barely standing. Try me on for size!”
The woman snarls at Will, her eyes showing a deep and loathing hate for the man. Unexpectedly though she takes a step away from Sir Karse, putting her at the outer edge of the firelight, she reaches into a pouch on her belt and produces a flask which she quickly drinks from. Immediately her wounds begin to close and her blood loss stops.
Seeing the woman step away from Karse makes Den smile. Another clear shot. he thinks as he thanks Desna for the opportunity, and takes the shot.
Almost immediately after the shot, plummeting from the air, a large owl (Well, small, but large for an owl) crashed forth into the woman claws tearing into her flesh.
Two arrows streak into the woman, one from the bard and the other from the ranger, both finding their marks and sending her spinning towards the ground. Karse takes a final swing at the woman, clobbering her with his flail. As she falls she is raked by the sharp talons of Acio as he flies into her, the claws doing their work.
Her form shudders for a brief moment before her lungs empty and her grip on life slips away.
....gurglegurgleblurgle.....
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Karse immediately turns his attention to Brom, attempting to stabilize him.
Gods! What was it they taught? Pressure... raise the wound... How? How can I get his chest above his heart?
Karse applies pressure to the wounds to slow the bleeding.
"Erastil, if it be your will, do not let this bold man die!"
The corpse of Kressle was butchered rather well. Multiple arrows stick out from the body along with several deep cuts as well as the bash suffered from the flail. Amazingly enough her masterwork studded leather armor appears to be in good shape, having only taken minor damage from the combat. She wielded a pair of masterwork handaxes as well, which are coated in blood. She had four daggers on her person as well as a pouch with 85gp inside.
Brom's breathing becomes less labored, and the bleeding finally stops.
Brom floats on a sea of red and black clouds, flashes of violence and battle his only dreams.
Brom might have snored a desire for one or both axes... but it was likely just a regular snore.
The group leaves Brom and Cappi once they are confirmed to be ok for the time being and begin to search through the camp. Besides the obvious mundane and worthless items the party does discover a cache hidden beneath the closest watch tower. The spoils include 321 sp and 90 gp secured in a small unlocked coffer, a pair of silver earrings, a wooden music box, three crates of furs and hides, and a polished wooden case of potent greenish herbal liquor. There are still eight bottles with liquor left in them.
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”I can see magical auras if you give me a moment.” replies Will as he focuses on the items found, humming a little tune causing any magics to glow before him. After explaining his findings to the group, he adds ”We have Bob and two horses, assuming they are still out there. We could just lash each of them to a horse and the rest of us walk. Actually, I think I have a bit of curative magic left in me, I can try and wake Cappi up now, which would just leave the big man.”
Bending low over the Halfling, Will sings a reverent song of renewal, causing his hands to glow and the illumination to permeate the diminutive warrior.
Seeing that both wounded are in no danger of dying Den first gathers what arrows are not broken from those shot and those on the bodies replacing his "currency" in his quiver. After he asks Will Help me carry the wounded to be near the fire. I will tend to them through the night and perhaps aid the healing of their wounds. After the wounded are comfortable and warm he will help search the camp, making a pile of the valuable and useful items.
Will, can you go and retrieve the pack animals. he says as he begins to wash and clean Brom's wounds. Karse, you seem to have a good hand for healing. Would you give me a hand with this?
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Will aids Dendarial with his requests, and summons multiple light spells on some surrounding stones so the area is well lit while they clean the wounds. Then, retrieving his weapons and shield, he fetches the animals from the darkness, seeing his way through the wilderness with a light spell on his sword.
The party spends the evening in the woods, tending to the wounded party members and keeping an eye on them during the night. In the morning, the three members awake to find Brom's wounds on the mend, while Cappi is actually awake, although looking a bit rough. The rain has picked back up and it makes for a rather miserable morning.
Before bed Dendarial changes into the masterwork armor and tucks a masterwork axe into his belt. His only other melee weapon had been a dagger. I'll use these for now, if no one objects.
Dendarial and his owl hunt at first light, his thinking that fresh meat will help the injured men heal.
Brom wakes slowly and stiffly, his bandaged wounds red with blood, it does not appear to be a happy morning for him. "Vhat is zhis? You all are my spirit guides? Zhis is not vhat I expected zhe spirit-life to be..." Once the others bring him up to speed and he's given a bite, the massive man gingerly peels off the unneeded bandages, "Vell, I am in your debt Vill, all of you! My spirit should have departed last night, but here I sit, strong as horse! Aheagh!" his burst of excitement is interrupted by a loud cough and spitting up of reddish spittle, his lungs still clearing themselves of the blood he's swallowed.
He takes some time, still sitting to apologize to Krasa, for dropping her in his excitement and need to try and help Cappi, and promises to try and never do it again. After eating and stretching, he's feeling much more mobile, though far from completely healed, he seems much improved. "So vhen shall ve return vizh zhe spoils of var? I hope zhe ozhers have enjoyed as glorious a battle as ve did!" Lastly he takes some time to admire the pink new scars criss-crossing his large torso, muttering under his breath what sounds like prayers of gratitude to the spirits.
He takes a moment to lament their fallen foes, "Zhey fought vizh honor, and zhe voman vas... very special. I am sad she is gone. I vould have liked to have made great strong babies vizh vun as powerful as her..." and wipes away a single tear, seeming genuinely distraught.
Dendarial spends the morning hunting with the help of Acio, who decided breakfast was going to be a mouse and refused to share the tender morsel with the ranger, showing typical avian "stand-offishness" that morning. Dendarial does however manage to fell a wild turkey, which more than makes up for the lack of help from the bird. Roast turkey over the flame of the campfire fills the morning air and sets everyone's stomachs to rumbling.
As the rest of the party goes about their daily morning routine a few hours drag by and the weather begins to lessen in severity, turning to a very light misting of precipitation. The sun can be seen struggling to win a battle with the cloudy skies, and it brings the promise of sunshine at some point during the day.