"Maybe we could sneak past?" Hinata offered not really sure if guard roaches were a thing but figured it best safe to at least try and avoid them for now."Or at least try and finish them before they can make noise."
"Sneaking by could leave enemies at our back. The duergar have shown they are after us. Let's sneak as close as we can and end this quickly," he'd offer, giving a nod to Poe before heading in. He wanted to sneak close, but Yizzik wasn't exactly the quiet type in all the armor. He'd give it his best shot though.
Hinata would draw her spear and try to move in with Yizzik but cat-like she was not, at least for sneaking. She would still try to stay near the back of the group so she could provide cover fire and hopefully defend them if they were attacked from behind.
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Depite Yizzik's attempt to approach the camp quietly, the duergars' compatibility with the subterranean darkness and the vantage point of the caravan allows them to see your approach.
Chained to a massive stone column at the corner of the camp are no less than three dozens dwarven slaves, stripped of most of their clothing and equipment.
"We got intruders, boys. Sum look dwarven. Probably reinforcements from Davarn! Lock 'em up! NOW!" The better armed duergar shouts at his forces to attack.
One of the weaker soldiers trembles in fear as he's commanded by the leader. The four pack beetles you had seen on your approach scurry as far back as they can, terrified of your presence, but two darker looking beetles scramble forward and raise their acid-lined mandibles in your direction threateningly.
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Poe steps to the side of Yizzik and drops to a knee before firing off a shot. His bolt goes wide and he grimaces, pumping a new bolt into Olivia while he grumbles.
"Knew I shoulda laid off the second helping." Vingold says, patting his stomach unhappily as their cover is blown.
Lilly lets the wand of shield slide into her hand and activates it.
She grabs her whip in anticipation.
Inspired by his dwarves friend and the rush of combat, Yizzik would snarl loud before charging in. He dash hard towards the first enemy within reach, looking to strike down hard with his magical axe and end his opponent swiftly.
Hoping to save her bombs until later in the fight Hinata fell to her default option of pelting them with rocks, aiming for Poe's target.
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Yizzik indeed strikes hard and swiftly, and the duergar soldier stumbles as the axe cuts him across the chest. Hinata's rock hits the red solider in the forehead with laser-like precision.
Blue retaliates with slice at Yizzik, foolishly of course. Green moves up to gain a better view.
One of the large beetles comes crawling towards Yizzik and shoots a jet of acid from its mouth.
The other beetle scrambles forward while the leader fires a bolt through cover at Yizzik.
Vingold takes out a wand, pointing it at the leader. He barks a laugh at Hinata. "Show them what being rock-headed means!"
Using his natural agility and thick scales in conjunction with his shield and armor, Yizzik managed to avoid most of the blows aimed at him. Even a quick roll and his shield managed to protect him from most of the acid. Once recovering from the assault of his enemies, he'd return in to try and strike down the enemy duergar.
Lilly walks closer, and she does an eeny-meeny-miney-moe.
Red's the sucker, and she slowly whispers foreign words, chuckling as she points at Red.
Poe trundles forward a few steps and fires another shot at Red.
"Ah guess Ah'll take the bugger on next." He grumbles.
Hinata follows Poe and Lilly as they move up and sends a bomb toward the most grouped up enemies she sees, the red bug and purple duergar.
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The red-eyed beetle gets a bomb to the face, and purple endures a splash of fiery shrapnel cutting through his grey skin.
Green steps up to Yizzik but fails to land even a light hit.
The orange-spotted beetle crawls forward and bites Poe. Its mandibles sink deep into the dwarf's arm, blood coursing out of the wound.
The red-eyed beetle crawls forward and breathes a jet of acid at Lilly, Hinata, and Poe.
The leader hangs back and reloads his crossbow.
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"OI! Bad bug, BAD BUG!"
Lilly moves closer to orange, and tries a kick to its face.
"Aw, shoo." (pout)
Vingold smirks at the leader. "Performance issues?"
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The leader falls to the ground and rolls around, laughing hysterically. "Bahaha.. Performance issues.. Stupid dwarf.. BAHAHAHA"
Lilly misses her kick, but Poe's bolt finds a soft spot under the beetle's mouth and slides in and through its waxy mandibles, acid squirting out of the wound.
Both purple and yellow grunt in frustration as their axes scrape up some dirt and little else.
Fighting off the other two duergar, Yizzik continued to keep the assault. Luckily for him, the two seemed incapable of working together against him. So after blocking the attack from the yellow duergar, his axe would make its firm rebuttal.
Hinata manages to sidestep most of the acid as she draws her spear. She attacks the red bug in an attempt to stop it from spewing any more of the disgusting filth on them.
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In a rare appearance, Hinata shows up in the beetle's face with her spear and stabs through its head with it. The creature wavers on its eight legs but manages to stay up.
Yizzik's axe slices a deep gash in the duergar soldier's neck. He spits a mouthful of blood as he shouts at the lizardman in Undercommon. "Lizard f@$+, yer gonna die for that!"
Duergar green carves another drawing in the gravel with his waraxe, and the red beetle falls unconscious from a desperate (and failed) attack on Hinata.
Lilly takes a deep bite on the ankle from the orange beetle, but luckily her shield spell prevents it from being even worse.
"Bahaha.. performance.. issues.. oh my.. wow.. And he's a dwarf tellin' ME this.. Wait a minute... What the hell?!" The leader suddenly snaps out of his mania.
Vingold laughs and hits the leader with ill omen again.
Poe cocks his crossbow and unloads a bolt into Orange Beetle with a smirk.
Lilly steps back.
"That bad bug bites hard, very hard."
She steps back, and casts CMW on herself.
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Poe launches another direct hit. The bolt pierces through the beetle's body and lands near the dwarven captives, who look to be cheering on your success in as much as they can given their current malnourished state. Although severely injured, the beetle's not dead yet!
Two more missed hits on Yizzik - can anything hit him?
Aa the fierce battle raged, Yizzik continued to trade blows with the pair of far dwarves, the difference in skill and defensive prowess becoming apparent the longer the battle went.
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With one bug down Hinata would try to deal with the other, taking a quick sidestep as she lunged with her spear hoping to draw some attention away from Lilly.
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Yizzik cuts down the yellow-eyed duergar with a swift swipe of his mighty axe, slicing his torso off of pelvis. Hinata is distracted by the beetle's hideous face and lunges too far to the left.
Hinata endures a deep, bloody bite into her chest, the beetle sinking its fangs far enough into her flesh that she nearly falls unconscious from the pain and blood loss.
The duergar leader stands up and advances towards Yizzik.
"Woaaahhhh." Vingold abandons his magical onslaught of the boss and rushes to Hinata's side, with a touch cloaking her in invisibility.
Lilly tries to crack her whip over the beetle's eyes, maybe blinding it, so Hinata can move away.
"BLOODY EFFING HELLS!" Poe exclaims raising Olivia and retaliating against the beetle.
Yizzik would continue his battle with the duergar, unable to hide the smirk of confidence as the beetle toppled to the ground curtesy of his teams combined efforts.
Hinata managed a weak thanks to Vingold for his spell, she would try to drink one of her extracts to recover from the horrid bite.
Yizzik is quick on the offensive, seeing the string of bad luck for the leader, sets in to retaliate hard with his axe.
Lilly moves forward, and tries to disarm green.
Still being heavily injuried Hinata would try to keep her distance and pelt the remaining few enemies with her stones.