"Importer and impersonator then. No mercy for your betrayal then."
Somer has trouble making out her shape in the fog but still spends more of his inate arcane powers to re-enchant his bow while he casts another spell and lets his arrows fly.
Tam moves to a position from which he has an unobstructed line of fire, though the mist will of course make things terrible.
Derrik moves up beside Ingrahild, touching her on the shoulder.
Milani make this woman's blades strike true."
Ingrahild moves up towards the woman, fire in her eyes.
Somer and Balmir fail to hit the creature that was an elf woman, but now appears as her true self - the form of a green hag!
Ingrahild's anger helps her strike twice
She steps back and casts a spell. Both Balmir and Ingrahild notice that they metal equipment (armor, weapons) suddenly begin to get uncomfortably warm.
Balmir HP 44/51 AC 23/11/22 +4 vs giant +2 barkskin
Derrik HP 37/41 AC 19/12/19
Mouser HP 42/44 AC 20/17/14
Somer HP 31/31 AC 18/14/14
Tamxander HP 32/32 AC 13/12/11
Ingrahild HP 54/55 AC 18/12/16
Balmir follows Ewigga's shadowy shape as she tries to move away. He swings the hammer at her again.
Derrik steps forward touching Balmir on the shoulder "Milani grant this stout Dwarf your blessing to allow him to strike harder and with more awe inspiring power."
Somer moves quickly to get out of the fog and around the back of the hag.
"Maybe we can push her out of that blasted mist!"
[ooc] Move/Move [/oooc]
Balmir is sure he is dead on target, but the swirling vapors of the mist get in his eyes. And then his armor starts to burn his skin!
Mouser manages to flank the hag and stab it in a sensitive spot. She howls in rage and turns on him, claws flashing.
Balmir HP 44/51 AC 23/11/22 +4 vs giant +2 barkskin
Derrik HP 37/41 AC 19/12/19
Mouser HP 23/44 AC 20/17/14
Somer HP 31/31 AC 18/14/14
Tamxander HP 32/32 AC 13/12/11
Ingrahild HP 34/55 AC 18/12/16
Balmir squirms as his skin burns but he presses forward. "She's got some sort of magic that's making my armor burn. We need to kill her fast." He grumbles and growls then swings the hammer at full strength again.
Somer steps forward and casts a very minor spell before letting two arrows fly. He thanks his practice for the ability to shoot well into combat.
Derrik raises his holy symbol in the air as a burst of energy pulses out.
"Milani heal our wounds and allow us more time to vanquish this foe" Derri
Tam once again fails to do anything useful.
"Agh! You are strong foes, but you have not seem the last of me!"
With that, the hag disappears from view into the mist.
Balmir HP 51/51 AC 23/11/22 +4 vs giant +2 barkskin
Derrik HP 41/41 AC 19/12/19
Mouser HP 31/44 AC 20/17/14 2 pt Str dmg
Somer HP 31/31 AC 18/14/14
Tamxander HP 32/32 AC 13/12/11
Ingrahild HP 42/55 AC 18/12/16
You can't get away that easily!" Balmir shouts and then steps into where he last saw her shadowy shape. He swings his hammer at the air in front of him.
Balmir hits nothing but air.
"She is running!"
Somer quickly sprints times it towards the door hoping to block her path.
"She must be invisible, I used my spell earlier!" Derrik says as he looks around for anything moving.
Somer was almost a detriment - if he could have blocked the way, it might have helped. But unfortunately, she seems to have escaped.
Balmir takes some more damage from the heated armor, but not enough to kill him
Once you have determined that it is again safe to move around, you go back to examining your treasure. But was it worth all of this?
Beneath the false bottom, a warped wooden ladder descends inside the hill to a 10-foot-square chamber containing the Council of Thorns’ hidden armory. Although several of the items once stored here have decayed or rotted away, the cache still contains a +1 ironwood breastplate, Gorum’s thorn (see the sidebar), a +1 flaming scimitar, 10 +1 orc bane arrows, a single orc slaying arrow, a scroll of barkskin, a scroll of call lightning, a scroll of summon nature’s ally IV, a wand of flaming sphere (9 charges), a wand of greater magic fang (12 charges), an ironwood crown with a stylized thorn motif (worth 250 gp), a ceremonial gem-encrusted cudgel (worth 150 gp), 3 pp, 178 gp, 605 sp, and 2,125 cp.
"Quite the items, we will have to get them back up to the boat but carefully, we have no idea where Ewiga is right now. Once on the boat we can take some time figuring out what they all are and do." Derrik says taking his share of the load of items to carry back to the boat.
"Agreed back to the boat makes sense. I would like to take some time to enchant my bow as well. I bought the materials but did not take the time. It seems we will need every edge we can get, no matter how small. Tamxander, can you do that sort of thing?"
Somer will, of course, grab the arrows unless someone else wants them. Beyond that he is happy to load up with whatever is needed to transport.
"Does that makes sense to everyone, heading to the boat?"
|
Mouser's eyes go wide as they examine all the treasure they have found.
As usual, the items wouldn't fit him, but it certainly looked like a lot of value.
"I think the witch took off...we were going to get the best of her," the halfling says.
"But for now, I agree. We should take the treasure and get back to the boat...hopefully it's still waiting for us."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Yeah. Besides, we need to find that sidebar."
...Gorum’s thorn (see the sidebar)...
The orcs of Belkzen are no strangers to fighting giants, and orc priests of Gorum created a weapon called Gorum’s Thorn for their faithful warriors to use against giant-sized foes.
The druids of the Council of Thorns captured one of these weapons in a battle with the orcs and placed it within the Vault of Thorns to study in hopes of creating their own version of Gorum’s Thorn to use against the orcs.
GORUM’S THORN
Value: 12,350 GP SLOT: none CL 10th WEIGHT 8 lbs.
AURA moderate transmutation
This forge-blackened +1 keen greatsword is festooned with religious iconography depicting glorious images of the Lord in Iron. If Gorum is the wielder’s patron, Gorum’s Thorn gains an additional ability: when the wielder confirms a critical hit against any creature with the giant subtype, he can attempt to trip that target as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity and ignoring any size restrictions related to the target. If the trip attempt fails by 10 or more, the wielder is not knocked prone.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
COST 6,350 GP
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, keen edge, righteous might
Now that you have cleared this area, it does make for a safe place to rest and do some crafting, etc. Otherwise, you can do this on the boat as well, although you will be getting into more dangerous territories. Luckily, Capt Bloodtusk has paied the right orcs, and you are able to spend the next 5 days travel without incident.
So, anything you want to do before continuing to the fort? And anything you want to specify as to your plan of approach?
OH, and this would be a good point to level up to Level 6!
While in the Vault of Thorns and walking back to the boat Somer is preoccupied with studying more about nature. He often stops to look at this or that plant, tasting and sometimes taking a leaf for later. If he sees tracks he stops to look, trying to determine what they are from and age. If any large track is spotted he is even more interested and takes notes on the spot. In the evening he takes notes on what he saw, all in attempt to become better in the wild.
Either in the vault of on the boat Somer will approach Tamxander about doing a +1 enchantment but if there are other things the wizard wants to do it is of little concern. Beyond that there is little he wants to accomplish other than enjoying that no one is actively trying to kill him for a bit.
Balmir walks with the rest of the group back to the boat. While away he had been able to put the orcs out of his mind but now, back on the boat, he falls into a foul mood. Finding an out of the way spot on the deck, he plops down and waits for the rest of the journey to commence.
Derrik looks the sword over, "A fine blade but not that which Milani favours."
Once back on the Boat Derrik will assist Somer and Tam in identifying the items.
"It is a fine blade but I am locked forever to a bow. It is a shame we cannot make it smaller, Mouser tripping and climbing giants would be quite the site."
The power of the blade is great, it would be almost criminal to simply sell it. Maybe we can find someone to wield it even if not with us on our adventure. Take it home for Kurst perhaps.
"Hmm." Tam raises an eyebrow. "Hmm. You give me an interesting idea, Somer. Given time and a lot of money I might be able to do something with it."
"Anyway, did you want me to enchant your bow, or your armor, or something else? We have juuust enough time."
"The bow please, I have brought the needed materials with me and once it is enchanted I can use my power to add additional effects in battle."
"I am ok for now, this Armor is interesting, I have seen wooden armor, it looks like it may move a bit smoother than my own." Derrik spends sometime trying on the wooden Breast Plate.
After 5 days, Bloodtusk drops you off on the southern bank of the river. Redlake Fort lies about 10 miles to the west, along a small tributary that feeds into the Esk.
"Ten miles, not far really. We should move with some caution, they may have patrols out." I need to take this time to improve my forest skills.
Happy to have solid ground under his feet again, Balmir shows a rare smile. "I"m not sure I want to be cautious. I might like to run into these patrols."
"You just want to swing at an Orc and not have to live with them for a week." Derrik says to Balmir. " What do we know about this back door though?"
"Wanting to take out a patrol is all well and good but if one escapes it would be bad for us. If it comes to that we need to be sure to get them all."
"I'll guard the rear, all this talk of the back door makes me think we should watch ours."
Somer drops back about ten yards and keeps to the shadows as much as he can as well.
You head toward the fort. Mouser, stealthy and up ahead, finds a patrol before they find you, but because the rest of you are not really trying to be sneaky, it is only enough warning to give you a surprise round.
You see a hill giant following 4 orcs, beating the bushes and grunting among themselves.
Balmir HP 51/51 AC 23/11/22 +4 vs giant
Derrik HP 41/41 AC 19/12/19
Mouser HP 44/44 AC 20/17/14
Somer HP 31/31 AC 18/14/14
Tamxander HP 32/32 AC 13/12/11
Ingrahild HP 55/55 AC 18/12/16