|
Lord Braggett leaps from the saddle, sticking the landing and the red gaav. Though injured, the devil absorbs much of blow.
Sir Kibble nearly closes his jaws on one of the purple lemure's misshapen limbs through the mass of devils.
The scouts moan in fear, the battle's outcome far from certain.
Hanlin squints and squeezes out a blast of positive energy.
The assembled denizens of Hell hiss at the wave of divine power. "The mortals brought a priest! I will eat his liver, rip his head from his neck, and s#+# down his throat!" screams the yellow gaav.
The effects of Lord Braggett's Lion's Call fade...
Bishop
Erlathan & Akela
---
Netokkurai
6 Lemures
Red Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
Yellow Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
---
Nina & Inky
Vegazi
Lord Braggett
Sir Kibble
---
Scouts
---
Hanlin
|
Erlathan frantically watches the sudden explosion of devils from just in front of him. "Gah! Devils... Devils, everywhere! And I thought our odds were looking pretty good too. Get 'em, Akela!"
Akela tries to bite the Gaav nearest him again..
The silvery white wolf finds success this time, grabbing the devil's sinewy foot in his fangs and wrestling it around.
The ball of lightning rolls south and continues surging near Captain Devil...
And Erlathan stays put. "Vegazi, if you get out of there, I may be able to unleash my lightning palms upon them. It's like burning hands, but the effects smell way worse."
|
|
Nina threatens to wash the yellow gaav's potty-mouth out with soap, while Bishop uses a wand to heal some of his wounds.
Erlathan sends Akela after the red gaav. This time he sinks his fangs into its leg, barely damaging the little devil, who wobbles in the air and then rights himself. Erlathan points at his sphere of crackling electricity, hurtling it toward the bearded devil. This time, it stings, and Netokkurai shrieks in unaccustomed pain.
Bishop
Erlathan
Akela
---
Netokkurai
6 Lemures
Red Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
Yellow Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
---
Nina & Inky
Vegazi
Lord Braggett
Sir Kibble
---
Scouts
---
Hanlin
|
|
Bishop curses under his breath, as the wand fails to activate.
Erlathan sends two serpentine bolts of arcane force slamming into the red gaav, and it drops to earth, lying in an unconscious heap.
With death in his baleful gaze, Netokkurai marches up to Lord Braggett. When the fiend, misses the little gnome, his expression turns to shock. "Hold still, you little fey fartling!"
The enraged, potty-mouthed gaav decides to attack the priest of Iomedae. Unable to cough up some more noxious breath, it jabs with its spear. More infernal expletives follow the lesser host devil's miss.
The lemures continue their assault on Vegazi. The cyan lemure swings one claw and falls unconscious. Only three of the blows land, and once again, Hanlin's shield other spell splits the suffering between himself and his half-orc friend.
Surrounded, Vegazi slashes at the red lemure with her short sword, but the wriggling fiend dodges her attack.
Bishop
Erlathan & Akela
---
Netokkurai
6 Lemures
Red Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
Yellow Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
---
Nina & Inky
Vegazi
Lord Braggett & Sir Kibble
---
Scouts
---
Hanlin
|
|
Lord Braggett ducks under the glaive and jumps back upright with a spring in his step and a big smile on his face. "Haha! Better a fey fartling than an incompetent infernal." He quickly raises his shield and scurries closer to his foe, swinging his flail at the bearded devil's shin. "Haha! There's plenty more where that came from." Hopping side to side on the balls of his feet like a boxer, the confident knight issues his challenge and starts whirring his flail to frightening speeds before diving in for another strike. "Have at you!"
___
As disgusting as he remembers lemures tasting, Kibble dutifully continues to snap at one of the foul devils besieging his knight's friend. "Arf! Grrrr..." Knowing that the thing just doesn't seem to care about his bites, Kibble does his very best to just knock it on it's oily backside. Getting over the memories of the taste, however, is proving difficult, and he seems to be more bark than bite at the moment.
Nina scolds the infernal host for its foul mouths. She drives her point home with her silver mace.
Incandescence heeds her mistress's command, sinking her fangs into the fiend's corpulent body.
|
|
Lord Braggett, juggernaut of cavalier greatness, challenges Netokkurai to personal combat. He steps forward and delivers the invitation with a roundhouse swing of his silver flail. The weapon connects with the fiend's kneecap. *CRACK!*
Netokkurai thunders, "You there, gnome! NOW, YOU HAVE MY UNDIVIDED ATTENTION!"
Nearby, Sir Kibble still struggles to wrap his jaws around a lemure. Even the purple one eludes his bite.
Nina and Inky tag-team the yellow lemure, both striking the chubby little devil, but it stays on its misshapen feet.
The scouts are too busy voiding their bladders and bowels to weigh in on the desparate battle only a few feet away from their hiding place.
Bishop
Erlathan & Akela
---
Netokkurai
6 Lemures
Red Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
Yellow Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
---
Nina & Inky
Vegazi
Lord Braggett & Sir Kibble
---
Scouts
---
Hanlin
|
Hanlin winces a bit at the cuts forming across his arms as Vegazi takes some shots "We'll get you out of there Vegazi, do your best to protect yourself!" He again raises his hand and sends out a wave of holy awesomeness to cleanse the area of devil stink.
He nods in thanks as Iomedae answers his request with a bit more gusto this time.
|
|
"That's right, Hanlin! Thin their ranks while I have the ball of lightning harry the leader! Come to think of it, I need a name for the thing..." Erlathan brings his hand to his chin in thought. "Oh, Akela. Attack!"
The wolf pounces again, but grabs only a mouthful of air.
Meanwhile, the ball of lightning rolls south towards Netokkurai.
And Erlathan conjures another pair of serpent missiles destined for the leader.
|
|
Divine energy erupts from Hanlin, its waves washing over the entire infernal host. Two of the lemures vanish back to the hell they came from.
Bishop steps up between Lord Braggett and the summoned wolf and stabs the yellow gaav with his silver dagger. Its infernal hide turns away most of the blade's impact.
Erlathan twirls his forefinger, and the whirling dervish of electricity careens toward Netokurrai, but this time the bearded devil is ready for it. He hip-thrusts away from its touch. But he can't dodge the magic missiles from Erlathan's staff.
Netokkurai is not pleased with the way the battle is unfolding. He steps back, away from the sphere of lightning and the cavalier. "Vegazi, you WILL be sacrificed, you may count on it." The seething devil grips his vicious, saw-toothed glaive, leering at you with his toothy maw, and stroking his hideous, twitching beard with his free hand. "UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN! MWAH-AH-AHHH!" Then he vanishes, and the remaining lemures disappear, too.
Tweedledee looks around and realizes he's the only denizen of Hell left. "This party's lame. Gotta split. Laters!" The yellow gaav flies back a few feet and vanishes.
The incredulous scouts weep with joy, cheering the heroes, "Who are you guys! Wait till the folks in the Stead hear about this! You guys are gonna be famous! Can we go home now? Please?"
Bishop
Vegazi
Hanlin
---
Red Lesser Host Devil (Gaav)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Coward! Come back and fight..." Lord Braggett shouts indignantly as he swings at open air. "Bah! They don't make villains like they used to anymore." He huffs as he stows his flail safely away. However, the sting of missing out on a glorious knockout is softened somewhat by the cheering scouts. He wastes no time in greeting his rightfully adoring fans, puffing out his chest proudly. "The Knights of Arwyll Stead, at your service! Now now, before you ask... Yes! I will be happy to autograph anything you like, just as soon as we have secured the area and you are more appropriately dressed." He salutes and makes his way back to check on his friends.
"Excellent work, comrades! I dare say that was our best performance yet." He scratches Kibble behind the ear as he addresses the Pathfinders and Vegazi, and happily notes that wounds were kept to a minimum. "What do you say we take a look around before those cowardly devils call for reinforcements? I'm curious to see if there are any more journals around, or perhaps some weapons and armour for our escapees."
|
|
They've fled, good. Hanlin draws out his shining longsword and steps up to behead the remaining Gaav.
"Hold on Braggett, we came to do a job and that was to save these brave scouts." He turns to them and asks "Do we have all of you? Are there any more prisoners here? What do you know?" He includes Bishop in this question before they go rushing in to who knows what for no reason.
He sheaths his sword and pulls out the healing wand they'd found earlier and gets to work on healing the group.
|
Thanking Hanlin for the healing he speaks, "There is a section behind the pens that I agree we should investigate before taking the scouts home I didn't investigate it because those devils were guarding the passage leading there. Also that cave over there where the two big brutes came out of." He then retrieves his crossbow and stores it on his back.
|
|
Hanlin slays the lesser host devil, Tweedledumb, then sees to Terrin Shaw's scouts.
Bishop and Lord Braggett organize the effort to search the cavern complex.
Musty bedrolls riddle the ground around a stone campfire ring between the dead alder trees, stumps, and boulders of this small encampment. A pile of chopped wood leans against the northern side of the largest boulder.
The orcs were gambling with some valuable items, including a masterwork short sword,
three rubies, and a pair of gloves.
Also among the loot here are some distasteful war trophies and accessories made from the mutilated body parts of the murdered scouts, including a fist-sized satchel made from tanned human flesh and a set of 10 severed fingers threaded on a wire necklace. While the grisly necklace isn’t worth anything by itself, one of the fingers dangling from it still sports a bloody gold ring set with a sapphire.
A steep ledge winds up the side of the cliff here, leading to a small rocky shelf covered with boxes, crates, and other containers of supplies.
When the Hell’s Fury tribe orcs stripped their captives of their clothes and belongings, they placed most of the scouts’ useful equipment here. In addition to bundles of clothing and miscellaneous personal effects, the following items are strewn amid the gear: three short bows, 60 arrows, a suit of studded leather armor, two chain shirts, two suits of chainmail, 5 days’ worth of trail rations, five bedrolls, five filled waterskins, two vials of antitoxin, three potions of cure moderate wounds, 254gp, and 89sp.
|
|
Mist and runoff from a waterfall farther up the mountain floats hazily down the rock faces of the northern cliffs, condensing into this sizable mountain pond. A shore of smooth rocks lies on the eastern edge of the pond. A narrow ledge leads up to a pair of makeshift wooden bridges twenty feet above the pond, which connects the gaps between two other outcroppings on the northern side of the pond.
As you carefully make your way to the devil's cavern, most of you spot something. Tucked away inside a crack in the stone where water is trickling down the face of the cliff is a metal pitcher.
The walls of this cavern glisten with moisture, but the dirt floor is dry and dusty.
The surviving scouts inform you that Netokkurai had taken pleasure in his duties as the self-appointed executioner of Terrin’s scouts since Korlum and Grache captured the humans several days ago. Each night, the bearded devil dragged one of the scouts out of the pen and ttook the victim into this cavern for torture. After he had his fun—and made sure the scout’s screams were loud enough for the others in the prisoner pen to hear—Netokkurai took the unfortunate out to the stone balcony north of the pen and executed the still screaming human just as the sun began to rise. Finally, the bearded devil tossed into the prisoners’ pen whatever body parts he severed during the torture session and held the mangled corpse aloft for the team of gaavs to snatch and carry to Arwyll Stead.
|
|
Searching the corpses of the fallen gaav, Hell's Fury orcs, and the half-orc twins, Korlum and Grache, you assemble a large pile of loot:
The orcs arms and armor, the gaav's masterwork spear, the twins' chain shirts and two potions of cure light wounds
Two messy bedrolls adorn this cramped stone cavern. A crude diagram is drawn in chalk on the back wall. This small cavern is where Korlum and Grache, Kelseph’s abused half-orc sons, rested and planned their schemes away from the small band of Hell’s Fury orcs they unofficially led.
Korlum hid his few belongings beneath his bedroll in this chamber, including two bright green emeralds, a compass, 20 feet of chain, a piece of charcoal, a crystalline carving that looks like a hand-sized tree leaf, and the key to the padlock holding the prisoner fence shut.
The diagram on the back wall is poorly drawn and difficult to interpret.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The priest of Iomedae points to the ringed finger "We've got to return that to the man's family. Without the finger of course." He pulls it off and cleans the blood from it.
Hanlin walks around with the others, carrying as much loot as he can and still function "Good thing we found the scout's gear, it may not be a smooth trip back to the Stead." He readjusts a suit of chain mail that hangs over his shoulder.
In the twin's cave he casts light and tries to get a better look at the cave drawing "Wow, this guy was no artist... but at least he didn't draw it in blood or feces..."
"Ah yes, I'd recognize that anywhere, its a map of the area around the Stead. Make's sense." After concluding nothing else can be gleaned from the map, Hanlin conjures water to wash it off of the wall. "No need in leaving someone a map they don't need." He takes a few steps back to avoid the spreading water on the floor.
|
|
With Sir Kibble's saddlebags bulging with loot, Lord Braggett gets to work returning the scouts' lost clothing and equipment. "...No need to thank me! It's all part of what makes me the exceptional knight that I am. Soon we'll have you back safely in Arwyll Stead, where you will undoubtedly tell the story of your heroic rescue. Why, I am so chivalrous, I shall even help you with your oratory! First, you..." He continues to assist the scouts to make sure they can convey the story with the gusto that it deserves.
|
|
Erlathan claps his hands, and the flaming sphere, lightning ball, and Akela all disappear in a puff of smoke. "Until next time, loyal companions!"
He eagerly examines the magical goods, avoiding the 'trophies' the orcs had collected.
"Ah! Gloves of larceny! Just the thing to make my staff twirling all the more impressive. Or for stealing things, if that's your lifestyle." He passes them around for the others to see.
"And this is a Decanter of endless Water. It is... exactly what it sounds like."
"Finally, we've got a oh-so-useful Snapleaf. Activate it, and become invisible and light as a feather all at once. Calmly float down on your foes unseen and deliver a sneak attack! Not bad at all."
Erlathan walks over to Hanlin and peers over his shoulder. "Let me have a look at that map... It seems they have identified this mountain as Eiseth's Roost in orc."
|
|
"Eiseth? Perhaps that is a devil Kelseph has been bargaining with... Although, I'm not entirely sure devils 'roost' per se. In any case it is an important lead! One we should follow up on as soon as the scouts are safe." Lord Braggett says as he struts over to the map. "However, if it is a dragon... Think how glorious it would be to charge it down on wolfback." When Hanlin offers to Ro Sham Bo for the snapleaf, the generous knight declines, showing off the one currently hanging from his neck.
|
|
While the party sees to the rescued scouts and searches the nooks and crannies of the caverns and the Hell's Fury camp, Vegazi stands in silence over the bodies of her slain half-brothers, the half-orc twins Korlum and Grache.
"I have seen the horrors my brothers are capable of first-hand, and I know they were irredeemable."
She seeks a private moment with Hanlin. "I owe you my life, friend priest. Your spell enabled you to bear many of the wounds I was meant to suffer, and the power of the goddess channeled through you, her vessel, prevented their numbers from overwhelming us. Thank you."
|
|
When you gather to return their gear to the scouts and to examine and divvy up your loot, Vegazi looks on.
"So, friends, what's next? The scouts wish to return home, and Terrin Shaw will be anxious to learn their fate." She frowns, "But Mayor Proum won't have lifted his quarantine of the Stead, unless the requested reinforcements have arrived. He'll be furious that we violated his quarantine."
Then her eyes light up, as she remembers something important.
"Your friend, the paladin, should arrive at Arwyll Stead sometime tomorrow afternoon, if he rode hard. The Mayor's not going to let him into the Stead, either. How are we going to link up with him?"
Now she looks worried. "Netokkurai serves Kelsheph. He'll likely inform her of what happened here and warn her."
|
|
Hanlin smiles and rests his hand on Vegazi's shoulder "You are very welcome Vegazi. We are a team, doing what we can to work together as a stronger one." He smiles to her before looking up towards the sun, squinting his eyes as he does so "Iomedae has granted me the ability to use her power to further her goals. I only did what I thought she would approve of to help the team." He removes his hand and heads back to the scouts to leave her with her thoughts.
When she returns to discuss their options, Hanlin looks first to the Scouts "Can you all travel? Can you fight if you must? What would you do.. travel home in all haste and face the wrath of the Mayor or continue on to find the source of all this trouble to end it?" He looks at each of them with confidence and determination.
|
|
Erlathan concentrates, and three purple veins flicker in his hand. He sighs. "I'm afraid most of my more powerful magic is exhausted. I have precisely three low-level incantations remaining for the day, and this Roost is sure to prove challenging, I assume. If we don't yet return to Arwyll Stead, perhaps we might find somewhere safe - relatively, of course - to rest for the evening?"
|
|
"We take the scouts back through the same ay we were able to get in. I still hold the key. While we do that one of us needs remain on the road from where our courier will be coming from so that we do not miss him. I would suggest either Nina or Lord Braggett since they can travel faster on their respective companions. Whichever of the two they should leave once we meet upwith the road to Arwyll Stead.
Once these men are through the town we will leave post haste. I am not going to let the mayor lock us in when we are so near to hopefully seeing some freedom for our friend, Vegazi, here."
|
|
Lord Braggett strokes his beard as he contemplates Bishop's plan and the incredulous scouts, and finally agrees. "I would be honoured, Sir, to be the one to rendezvous with the young Chastity Nevuhgonngetzum. Sir Kibble and I can ride like the wind if need be, even when loaded down with hundreds of pounds of new supplies!" At this, Kibble's ears prick up and looks askance at his knight, "Arf?" Braggett nods, liking the plan more and more. "Yes, if we agree on a location to meet up, you can sneak the scouts safely to their families, and Sir Erlathan can get the rest he needs while I heroically deliver the equipment necessary to end Kelseph's reign of terror!"
He then turns to the scouts, stepping up beside Hanlin. "I'm afraid Sir Hanlin is right, out of fear, the mayor has placed Arwyll Stead under quarantine and he will not open the gates lightly. Why, we had to sneak out ourselves in order to launch the daring rescue you witnessed. Now, my comrades can get you back safely the way we came, but they will need time to return to the road so that we may continue our good work unmolested. As hard as it might be, I ask that you give them that time and wait in the tunnels until nightfall before returning to your families."
|
|
While the rest of the party heads back to the secret tunnels beneath Arwyll Stead to return the escaped scouts and get some needed rest, Lord Braggett and Sir Kibble head for the Path Road to intercept Chastity Nevuhgonnagetzum and the companions' requested supplies.
Neither effort experiences any significant obstacles, and by midday on the morrow, the party is reunited on the Path Road, fully rested and recovered, pawing all the shiny, new equipment they'd requested...
|
|
As they gather Bishop is greeted by the familiar sound of the over gracious gnome and his faithful companion. A broad smile indicating that the supplies are intact. "Seems that the Starsong Lady was good to both of us. The scouts were returned to their families and we were able to leave without a whisper or a bell being raised. Gather your goods and let's see about finishing this once and for all."
|
|
"That is excellent news, Sir!" Lord Braggett cheers as he fiddles with his new, shiny headband. "As for my task; the young paladin was surprised to see me, but was most accommodating. Furthermore, his taste in headwear is impeccable! Look how handsomely this headband goes with my outfit... Ha! I finally have the accessories befitting my noble personage." Beaming with pride, the fetching knight doles out the rest of the equipment from Kibble's saddle bags.
|
|
"By the tentacles on my chin! What a fine headband indeed, Lord Braggett! Had I the funds, I'd like a similar one, yet perhaps the sort that would benefit my intellect rather than my social graces," Erlathan smiles as he reprepares his daily spells. "Besides, I'm already a master of diplomacy. One fancy staff toss and..."
The elf flips his staff up 15 feet, takes a step forward, and catches it behind his back. "Just about anyone would be impressed!"
|
|
While Hanlin had some trepidation of sending Braggett off alone, he wasn't able to voice his opinion before the big little gnome rode off in a cloud of dust "It would have been more wise to have Nina and Inky head with him but oh well." He furrows his brow and giving a slight wave.
Before he sends the scouts off home, Hanlin makes sure they are all healed to the best of his ability and are blessed with Iomedae's social ability in case they need it. "Good luck. Rest up." He bids them adeu before settling in with the group for a restful night.
The following morning he rises with the sun as usual and makes his morning prayers before setting out with the group to meet their gnome knight.
|
|
__________
After the exciting day they'd had of sneaking out, rescuing the scouts, and then sneaking them back into town, Nina conks out pretty hard when they finally make camp for the evening and may or may not annoy her companions just a bit with her snoring.
The next morning, she's more than ready to get going again, happily transferring her gear from her old backpack to the shiny new haversack she'd ordered.
__________
|
|
Chastity Nevuhgonnagetzum, paladin of Iomedae and friendly Pathfinder deliveryman is happy to see you. With cheerful but strict adherence to duty, he notes in his journal with meticulous care the amounts of gold received before handing over your requested purchases. As dusk turns to night, he prepares a tidy camp, grooms his mount, and finally settles in near the fire, excited by the recounting of the tales of your adventures.
You rise early, perform your morning rituals, and enjoy the simple but hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, sourdough biscuits, and apples that Chastity has prepared while you slept.
While you sip your last cups of tea and coffee, Chastity breaks camp with quiet efficiency. He mounts his horse, tugs on the pack mule's lead, and with a cheerful salute, sets off on his return journey to Vigil.
|
|
"Well, are you lot about ready to get started?" Inky asks as she watches Chastity ride away back towards Vigil. "Not that I'm just super excited to go to this Eiseth's Roost place but the sooner we go and take care of the last of these buggers the sooner we can get back to town and rub that Mayor's nose in things."
She glances down the road again, towards the slowly-vanishing paladin. "And then get back to Vigil. Say what you will but that man makes the best bacon I've ever had - all nice and crispy!"
|
|
The crude map drawn on the back wall of Korlum and Grache’s cave proves adequate to guide you to your objective, Eiseth's Roost, a soaring mountain plateau carved by millennia of erosion into a perilous landscape.
You reach the foot of the mountain by late afternoon. It’s a grueling climb from the base to the top of Eiseth’s Roost, taking no fewer than three more hours without a magical means of expedited transportation. The “trail” is rough and consists not so much a created walkway as the least obstructive path up the mountain. The sun has set by the time you reach the summit.
Piercing the hazy darkness are several fires burning in large braziers atop the plateau. The trail, such as it is, continues to climb, punctuated in various places by steps carved into the rock. The ledges and cliff sides of the escarpments along the mountain are rough and have adequate handholds and footholds.
|
|
Hanlin huffs and puffs as they make the steep climb, extremely happy with his new armor "This was the best purchase I've ever made. Its so much lighter and maneuverable. I couldn't imagine making this climb with that old spiked thing on." The sweat is still pouring off his forehead from the climb as he peers towards the fires.
Hanlin whispers "We are at an extreme disadvantage here. They have the higher ground, can see in the darkness, and know the terrain. I wish I had more ranged options at my disposal." He looks at Vegazi and her bow "Stay close to me once again and I'll share your pain like the other day. If your mother is here she will try for sure to take you down." Hanlin reaches over and asks Iomedae to protect her from harm, sharing it with himself.
He double checks that his heavy crossbow is loaded and handy, looking to the others to lead the way forward.
|
|
"I don't like it either; neither me or Inky are all that good at climbing," Nina agrees, frowning as she looks around. "I've got my crossbow...and I can also conjure more grease pools under them. Or conjure snowballs to throw. But that's about it."
She glances at Bishop. "Should we try to scout around more first or just armor up best we can and go for it?"
|
|
"Indeed! If we were not such paragons of knighthood, I'd say the odds are against us this night." Lord Braggett agrees in his own way as he looks around at the distinct tactical disadvantage the mountain poses. He makes sure his shield is strapped on straight, so that the Arwyll family crest can be displayed to maximum effect, and places a few choice potions and oils in his belt pouch for easy retrieval as he contemplates the situation. "Hmm, yes a little reconnaissance would not go amiss..." He turns to Bishop. "What do you say, Sir?"
|
|
"At night I will be at a disadvantage. I say we wait until day has come. The orcs need to sleep as well. We should move just as dawn comes while they are still resting. I cannot think that Vegazi's mother think us crazed enough to bring Vegazi and the fight into her own camp. PLUS climbing at night is full of peril. If you want to continue then I will be of no use to scout ahead in the darkness."
|
|
"A long night of waiting, hmm?" Lord Braggett gives his beard a stroke as he considers the thought. "A dawn raid does sound quite story worthy, but I fear another attack on Arwyll Stead if we wait. I dare say they will be getting desperate now that they know how truly extraordinary we are..." He glances at his longbow, and then up through the hazy darkness. "As much as it goes against my nature, what if we approached the fires as quietly as possible? Maybe we could try to pick them off, one small group at a time, either with bow, magic, or your superior ability to get close."