"That's why we take him out first and don't give him a chance to impale anyone. We managed to get pretty close before without them noticing. Right now, they're probably eating and the old one's probably doing a jig about getting the horn. If Lark and Sunstruck and you and I can sneak in again, we can take him out before they get a good chance to react." Thren explains.
"Besides...we're fighting out in the open. Would you prefer to wait until they come to our front door and come right on in and fight them in the halls with no room to move around instead? Where they might very well kill our entire crew before they know what's happening? No. We need to deal with this now. We screwed this up. Time to fix it. Being negative doesn't make things better. Putting down giants, getting back the One Reason to Live...that will."
Lark nods along in agreement with Threnody's suggestions. "I especially like the idea of being invisible. Maybe we could catch the big guy away from that spear, or even steal it first."
"Lee, can you make all of us invisible?"
"I can, but it would mean no more of my mid-level spells and my most potent offense would be unavailable until I rest."
Thren thinks about this. "I don't know if we absolutely need all of us to be invisible," she says, thinking aloud. Her tail is twitching back and forth slowly. "Sunstruck, for sure. I got in pretty close without any magic. You and Lark...I'm not sure."
"If the goal is to get close, I'll definitely need the help," Emberar says with a chuckle.
Emberar tries to think back to what he's read, thinking whether there's anything he knows about Cyclopes that might be helpful.
Emberar remembers from his studies that cyclops are big, tough, and strong, like most giants. While shadows of their ancestral selves, their ancient oracular traditions was bred deeply within them; some are known to be able to gain a flash of insight into the future, which they can use to seemingly manipulate fortune itself. While potentially a terrifying ability, they cannot regularly nor reliably engage in it--after all, most fortune-related skills are capricious by their nature.
When Lee mentions his "most potent offense" most of you realize he means his fireball spell, but you recall his ray of fire being completely absorbed by a ward cast upon the cyclops. It's possible Lee dispelled that on the hunter, but you don't know what spells the old woman cyclops has enhanced herself with.
"Anything else we can add to this to make sure it works? Lee, you're being quiet. You too Sunstruck."
"If I could take a few rounds to look at them before we start the fight I might be able to tell if there are any magical defenses in place around them."
"The more we know about those defenses the better. Don't forget that Lee's first try to burn them didn't do any damage at all. Will your fireball get through that?"
Emberar nods at Lee. ”Observing them—if we can—magically might be a good idea. Otherwise...this strikes me as the best plan, if we’re gonna go after them today.”
"Looks like we're all in agreement and know what we're doing then," Thren says. "So let's get this done."
When the party is ready to go, our bard casts heroism on Sunstruck, Lark, and herself.
Emberar nods. "Ready," he says. "As soon as we're close, I'll begin asking Keltheald for his support in our endeavors. I think he'll help...after all, part of any journey is coming home."
Not that *I've* been home in a while, he thinks wryly.
"I'm not sure I know what I'm doing, but whatever it is, I'm doing it." Lark replies to Threnody then falls in behind Emberar.
Once they re-enter the forest Lark will wait for Threnody to move into the trees and start sneaking.
Thren rolls her eyes and sighs. "We're sneaking up on the bad guys. Hopefully you and Sunstruck can get close to the guy with the spear and take him out with a few well-placed hits before he impales someone again. Then we will focus on his grandmother." Thren explains patiently.
"My Invisibility spell is good for 7 minutes. Let me know when we make contact with the cyclopeses and we'll back off and cast. Don't want to waste it bumbling thru the jungle."
With that Lee falls into line and follows Lark and Thren as quietly as possible. He'll leave reasonable space between himself that the stealthy pair.
As you only went back to the beach, which was not that all that far (the cyclops showed no sign of pursuing), you can easily find your way back and approach quietly. Well before you are in hearing distance of the cyclops, Lee casts his invisibility spell on himself and Emberar, and you approach the campsite. You can smell something cooking on the cookfire.
If you get close enough to see past the brush, you can only see the cyclops hunter near the fire. The wounds you inflicted upon him are gone.
Thren keeps to the brush as she draws near, bow at hand. She murmurs a brief prayer under her breath as she gets ready for the fight.
Before Lark and Emberar leave the rest of the group, Emberar reaches out. ”Threnody, your hand.” He seizes it and whispers a quick prayer to Keltheald: ”Sunset Lord, let this follower fly as a bird flies, that she might better view the glory of this island.” As they move toward the edge of the scrub, he mutters, ”And protect ME, Lord. Lend me strength of arms, sturdiness of spine, and let me halberd strike fear into the hearts of our foes. I serve you.”
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You approach closer after some quiet, last-minute ward casting, and hope to catch the monsters by surprise. You see the male stoking the fire with the tip of his spear, and hear the female's voice muttering within the cave.
The male, who is, after all, equipped like a hunter, looks up as you get closer, his single eye narrowing as he slowly turns his head in the party's direction--pausing upon Lark, and even leering suspiciously toward the "empty air" where Emberar stands. Then his ears perk, and he looks over to Threnody, seeing her feet floating off the ground. The eye widens, and he calls out.
He readies his spear!
Surprise Round
Lee hucks a Web spell into the cave. Lee has no idea how deep the cave is and is looking to block the entrance. Maybe he catches Aghra but there's no way to be sure.
Round 1
Lee will open the combat proper with Haste for the whole team.
"Get to it."
Arakh finds himself suddenly trapped in a web, caught in its sticky strands. He thrashes, trying to break himself free.
He tries to push his way through the web.
With spear and might he tears his way through the web and gets out of its snare, but it has taken him all of his energy for the moment just to get free.
”Keltheald preserve us,” Emberar whispers. Then, striding invisibly forth from the undergrowth, he launches his asssault with a yell, halberd blazing like the sun.
for
You hear the female's voice within the cave incanting a spell, but you see no visible effects.
Thren tries out her newfound ability to fly by moving straight up 30'. She grins down toward the giant that nearly killed her with an evil grin and begins to sing a Chelish opera.
Round #2
2nd round of Haste (of 7).
Lee tries to figure out what spellcasting is going on in the cave.
"I guess we should see how much defense Arakh has in place. I wanted to just look but I guess the creeping-n-peeking plan wasn't meant to work out. Time for testing option #2, I guess. We can't afford to dawdle. Don't waste the Haste!"
Arakh cries out in pain and calls out, probably to his grandmother, as Lark and Emberar carve into his flesh. He seems easier to hit than before.
Lee lands two fiery rays on the giant's flesh, and he seems to shrug off the first ray, but as the second burns him, the ward that was on him seems to have broken and his flesh begins to sear through his armor, an unpleasant scent of canned cyclops.
He sidesteps and swings the haft of his spear at Lark, intent on shoving the young man backward into the magical web.
And Lark goes flying into the tangled sticky mess.
Lark manages to avoid getting completely stuck, but will have to break some strands to get back out. .
His spear in one hand, he pulls something out of a belt pouch--a vial, perhaps?
Emberar yells up at the cyclops. "I'm your foe, Arakh!" He punctuates his words by spinning his halberd in a blurred flurry, aided by the spell on him.
for
for
Guessing what spell is being cast based solely on verbal components in a language you do not speak is very difficult (because the web obscures Aghra from sight), but you're guessing it's a common, low level ward of some kind.
Lark touches his hat brim in salute to Emberar as he moves past the half-elf, "Very impressive."
Lee gestures at the cave while speaking.
"I suspect some protective magic has gone on in there. Do we want me to dispel the webs, burn them or let her struggle out under her own power? Option 3 involves giving up some control..."
"Burn them. Let's finish this," Emberar says grimly.
Fueled by divine might and mundane but heroic determination, Sunstruck takes down the mighty cyclops hunter. He lies bleeding and unconscious on the ground, near death.
Ahgra moves about within the cave, shuffling along on aged feet. Wherever she has moved, you no longer see the shadow of her figure through the webs.
"Has she retreated?" Emberar cranes his neck, but he can't see her shadow. He swears. "Maybe best to just dismiss the webs! We don't want to have to wait long!"
"That sounded like a potion going down an oversized throat."
"Hmm, wonder if I can bait her out...." Thren murmurs softly to herself.
Thren casts silent image. On the ground, an image of the bard appears before the cave entrance, smiling, pointing, and laughing at Arakh's fallen form. The image makes no noise.
As the phantasmal bard forms, the actual bard flies forward a few feet to reposition herself.