"You all go. I'll see if I can hold them up," he points to the noblemen, "while you all take them," he points in the direction of the boars, "down. Because they," he points back to the nobleman and his entourage, "are going to get killed if they try and take those things on. I'm not sure they could take down one much less four. Go!"
Turning toward his target and clearing his throat, "Hey, um, sir!" he calls out to the nobleman. "A word if you would. Okay, here's the thing. These boars we're hunting, okay, they're like fairly big. And when I say big I mean BIG, are you tracking with me? Big as in: you could ride one." He then looks to his hireling and points, "And he could too. The same one at the same time. I kid you not. Give our team a moment to take care of these beasts and you can have all the glory ... we don't really care. At least I don't anyway. But if you go out there against these things they will kill you and they will eat you and there ain't jack - no pun intended - we can do about it. So what do you say? Will you give us a minute or two?" he asks, cringing a bit as to which direction the nobleman might lean. Fairly well-versed into this type of personality, Jack isn't so sure the nobleman will make the intelligent decision.
Lazar waits for the signal from his chosen spot.
Lazar, once the signal is given, let's lose his arrow targeting the nearest beast, thinking this will be the one his companions will target as well.
Gadren did his best to mitigate the immediate threat to the group. He focused on the closest boar which would force the others to go around the deep pit in the ground.
Maria steps forward and calls to Iomedae for guidance.
Jack moves up near the others, drawing both his blades as he does. "So what's the plan? Wait 'til they come to us?"
Gadren raises an eyebrow. "Well I guess melee elements move a little forward to form a skirmish line to disrupt any charge. Ranged combatants hold position in cover. I'll try to hamper them and- that boar is scampering out of the pit!" The older gentleman gets a bit more annoyed as the spell fails to have the desired effect.
Jack looks to the wizard curiously. "Disrupt a charge?! From those things! What do I look like to you, nuts? Don't answer that. Yeah I'm thinking more along the lines of avoiding a charge altogether and hopefully kill them before they kill us. Because if they're charging, I'm dodging. No way I'm 'disrupting' anything that freakishly huge. Those beasts wouldn't even realize they've run over me as far as that goes," he states as a matter of fact.
Maria grins wickedly at Jack "Just watch me and learn how to take a hit, little friend." and moves to the front, her large blade readied with a firm, two-handed grip.
Gadren draws his sword. "I've always found melee combat quite bracing, I might try blinding one shortly."
Lazar sinks an arrow deep into Red, which squeals in fury.
Red stumbles badly as it tries to clear the pit that opened under its feet, but fails, falling in with a surprised squeal.
The other two pigs hurry towards you.
The part may now act.
Imploring Divine help to Pharasma, Lazar lets loose some more arrows, taking the boar approaching from his right as his target .
Maria steps forward, nodding, knowing the boars would charge soon. She readies her blade to cut them down.
With raised eyebrows, the rogue lets out a sigh and simply shakes his head. "Yeah, well, good luck then," he says to Maria. "And I mean that sincerely. Because if those things get through you then they'll be coming after me. And let's face it... that would just suck." Jack moves up a bit and prepares for the behemoth boar as best he can.
Drawing a pinch of ground mica Gadren says some words and blows on it... the powder starts to glow with arcane energy as it flows towards one of the pigs and sticks to it's hide and hopefully eyes. "Lets see if I can incapacitate a second!"
Green freezes in place and shakes its head in confusion.
Yellow squeals in pain and fury as Lazar's arrow sinks deep into its shoulder. It charges furiously and is nearly cut in half by Maria.
Green is not moving. The party may now act. Remind me to have Gadren killed.
Cedric stands ready to shoot his crossbow or cast a spell, but stops for a moment, almost feeling bad for the animals before pulling up the crossbow and firing at green.
Maria nods grimly as the boar dies under her blade and moves over toward the other one, prepared to cut it down if it comes near. "Here, boar! Test your strength!" She makes sure the blinded beast knows where to find her.
With one of the boars out of the equation, the other one will be down immediately. Lazar makes sure this happens with some other arrows. Then, the one in the pit will be like a fairground attraction.
Green is not moving. The party may now act. Remind me to have Gadren killed.
Jack's just about to head toward's the current threat until he watches Maria and Lazar absolutely destroy the wild beast. Relaxing his defensive stance, "You've got to be kidding... seriously?! Just like that? I mean, really?" Shaking his head in amazement, "Well about all I can say is, I'm glad we're all on the same team." He then looks to Lazar, "But for the record, if any of you ever kick me off the team, all I ask is for a head start. Like... a really long head start. Probably a couple of days. Maybe weeks. Okay a month. Yeah, a month is good. At the very least," he nods several times thinking that probably is a good amount of time. "But until then, let's go finish off the other one, shall we? Or probably just you, Lazar. I'm not getting in the pit with that beast," he confesses freely as he heads that way in a leisurely fashion.
Green wounded by Lazar hears Maria's taunts and charges her. Meeting the same gory fate as the last one that tried that tactic.
Once the you have slain the boars, Duristan wastes no time inspecting the carcass of the stag. The task is a little over his head, however, and he requests your aid.
A DC 22 Heal check discovers two types of wounds on the carcass—the tooth marks and tusk slashes of the boars, and a number of bites and lacerations that presumably caused the stag’s death. After examining these wounds, Duristan is convinced that werewolves are about.
Excited with the prospect of another kill, Duristan quickly decides to wait out the night in the woods in the hope of catching the werewolves. Delgros derides Duristan’s plan as a “fool’s errand” and informs Duristan that he’s heading back to the lodge before night falls. Duristan hopes that the PCs will stay with him, and asks them to do so, promising
them a hunt like no other.
You need to make that skill check before we can move on.
Lazar had a look, willing to help.
Sheathing his blades, Jack goes over to assist the others.
"I'd like to extol the virtues of a good skirmish line but Maria's a bit heavily armoured. Expertise and grit won this day... with a little magical aid." Gadren indulges in a little self congratulating eyebrow wiggling.
Grinning and nodding in acceptance, "Okay, old bean, I guess I have to agree with you there. Well done!" he tells him, giving him a friendly slap on the arm.
Lazar leaves his task for a second, nodding. "We make a great team. Now move your arses here and help me" he jokes.
"It looks dead" Maria grunts.
Cedric looks over the animal, but he has much more experience with mending wounds, he rarely asked where or how they got there, save the few times knowing that would have aided him.
He seems close, but the last few pieces of the puzzle seem to be escaping his mind.
"Let me cast light to let you see better Cedric."
"Would you give us a sec, there, sir. Just one sec," he tells Duristan, holding up a finger and nodding as he pulls the others out of earshot of the hunter. "Okay, gang, this guy's an idiot. He wants to hang out here and wait for werewolves like it's some kind of game. Now while I'm confident in ourselves to take down the hairy beasts, this gentleman's just going to get in our way and get himself eaten; but I'm guessing we really don't have an option but to keep him with us, do we?" he asks as he looks to them all in turn, really hoping one of them can find a reason to lose this bum.
Maria shrugs. "I say we warn him. If he chooses to recklessly risk his life, then alright. Let him."
"But... We can't do that... If we know he's going to die and we do nothing about it, we're no better than assassins.' Lazar closes his eyes for a second and sighs. "We must either talk him out of it or stay with him, I'm afraid."
"Night time hunting would only play to it's strengths and to our disadvantages, it's not tactically sound. That said it's confidence might lead to its undoing? If we can't make it back I can always conjure one of those cottages whenever we please to rest, it would make a defensible position. Why? Firstly such creatures are dangerous and tend towards evil. Secondly foolish and deadly traps are being set up to catch them, confirming the kill will put an end to the monster and remove the reason for the traps being placed. Lastly this young nobleman's life is in peril but we can likely keep him much safer and we might just open up some doors for ourselves in that lodge later."
"Okay, as Maria said, we'll warn him. And if he chooses to ignore the warning and dies then that's on him." Jack then looks to Lazar, "Now with that being said, Lazar, we're not just going to sit there and watch him die, my friend, we'll be there to help him. But you know how these kind of fights go, you just never know when it's your last one," he says with a shrug. "And Gadren's point is solid. If we are able to keep him alive, that very well might score us some points within that lodge. So with that, I think we've got this one figured out. Now, let's go score us some points and win this game. Ready... BREAK!" Jack says as he claps his hands together loudly while grinning, heading back over to the hunter.
"Okay, good sir, we will aid you in this endeavor of yours. But you must be forewarned. There's a chance you could get yourself killed doing this. You're talking about werewolves here, sir, not a bunch of goblins. I mean we will do all that we can to keep you alive, and we've got a formidable group here I assure you, but, you just never know how something like this might turn out. So if you are willing to take that gamble then we will be right here to take it with you. And if you decide to go through with this, what's your plan to catch this beast? Or beasts?" A curious look then crosses the rogue's face. "Quick question: Do you know how many of these things we're actually talking about here? Or is there only one? Or do you even know for that matter?" he asks, truly curious.
Duristan smiles confidently at Jack's warning. "Don't worry my good man!" He tells you bracingly, patting the silver longsword at his hip. "I've hunted and slain several of these creatures. We shall set up a central camp with baited traps around it and let the beasts come to us."
You all get the feeling he is dangerously overconfident and his employees are mostly vagabonds happy to take his coin, having little skill at hunting or battle.
What are you doing now? Following his 'plan', or setting up your own?
Maria shakes her head. "We're going to take point on this. We can't have a bunch of untrained lackeys running around in these woods. They stay at the lodge until we've dealt with this."
Suspecting the noble might take umbridge with the statement Gadren holds up a hand in a placating motion towards the noble. "Maria is a devout and noble servant of Iomedae. She is equipped and trained to take them on if needed but is acutely aware that others are less experienced in these matters."
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Raising a curious eyebrow at the ridiculous level of braggadociousness the hunter possesses combined with his carefree attitude toward such an endeavor, Jack simply grins and shrugs. Yep, this guy's toast. "Well I will say this, you're nothing if not confident. And Maria is right; we can't protect everybody. You really should send the rest of your crew back to the lodge and let us handle this. Because I think we both know that they don't possess your fantastic level of skill at the hunt there, sir," he tells him while giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "They'll just slow you down which ultimately makes them a liability. Am I right or am I right? And we can't have that. Because if something goes wrong and some of these guys die then that's gonna make you look bad, see? "Don't go with Duristan. Last I heard, everybody he hires out dies. And what goods coin if you're dead! Let him find another idiot, I'm out," he mocks in a peasant-like gravelly voice. "And you don't want that, do you? You can't afford to have such a well-known and stellar reputation tarnished by a bunch of unskilled mercenaries, can you? I don't think so. I don't think so. Besides, now that my crew's here, we got this. Trust me," he gives a nod of confidence.
Jack is not sold in any form or fashion that this guy has ANY skill at the hunt. Or is well-known or possesses any type of reputation except for being an idiot if he has one at all. A blind squirrel has a better chance at finding a nut than this guy. At least in Jack's mind.
As you reason with him Duristan splits his hirelings into pairs, and instructs them to bait the perimeter and keep watch. From the crates, his hirelings pull several silvered, toothed wolf traps and hunks of raw meat. Two pairs head out in opposite directions. The third pair remains behind, setting up a small camp, while Duristan pours each of you a crystal snifter of exquisite Ustalavic brandy.
"Nonsense, these men have been with me on several hunts!" Is his response to your concerns. "I've slain three of the beasts myself.".
He proceeds to show you a strange scar on his shoulder. Given to him by a local witch to render him immune to lycanthropy.
He is not going to listen to your advice. What are you doing?