Nearly exhausted Freyja barely makes it in side and then sleeps deeply, trusting the house fey to wake everyone if they need to be awake.
Evelina was relieved to make it to the warmth and shelter of Nadya's home. However, when she finally lays her head down on the pillow, sleep proves somewhat elusive and she spends what feels like hours staring at the ceiling. Even once she does fall asleep, her mind is still spinning. In her dreams Taldor is at war and she but a foot soldier caught in a chaotic swirl of violence and death. She finds herself being yelled at by an angry general, whose voice and figure seem eerily similar to Matt's. The general screams to her the atrocities that the enemy have committed and that she needs to do better or go home. However, on her other side the matron of the orphanage where she was raised seems to be crying and trying to tell her than murder is wrong. Both seem to grab and shake at her, while white cloaked woman with a great axe moves closer and closer. Unable to escape their grasps, she wakes up in a cold sweat just as the woman's axe lands. Quickly sitting up, she checks her stomach and finds no wounds. Looking around she sees the others still safe. Hugging her knees, she thinks, Probably best someone keeps watch anyway, as she nervously sits awake in the darkness.
In spite of the late hour and the cold, Cithembi stands outside for several minutes, staring up at the sky. He silently prays that Desna will watch over their travels, thinking of the dangers of the road ahead and just what depends on them if they truly are the only ones standing between Golarion and more of these winter portals.
Matt's mind buzzed for the first several hours of the walk back, thinking of what he had done, and trying to decide if he could live with it. Unable to come to any conclusion, he finally gave into exhausted numbness. He barely registered when they got back to Nadya's house. Following Maddy, he found a spot to curl up and collapsed almost instantly.
Maddy has a hard time processing all the events of the day...the fighting, the witch, the grief over her sister. Even though she is grateful that they have Maggie's soul in bird form, it's not the same as if they'd found her alive. Matty thought he could reverse the process but Maddy had her doubts - not that she'd tell him that.
When they finally get back to Nadya's, she almost stumbles into the cabin. She is exhausted and hadn't realized how much so until the promise of sleep is so close. She makes sure to arrange herself so that she's in between Matty and the door to make sure her body shields him, just in case there's unwanted company. She then closes her eyes and is soon asleep.
As everyone rests (or worries), the quiet of the cabin is occasionally interrupted by the rustles and knocks of Nadya's preparations, both at the sled outside and as she passes through the home's heavy door flap. After a couple of hours, Nadya climbs the ladder to the home's lone bed, and the preparations pause for a time...but the movement doesn't. The young widow's sleep is restless, and she tosses and turns beneath her quilts, a stray sob or two muffled by the heavy cloth and fur of the covers. She isn't the only one, though - despite Nadya being upstairs in her bed, an occasional clink or thud sounds from the kitchen, and once or twice the oven door slams.
----------
As the sky begins to fade to a watercolor gold along the eastern horizon, everyone is roused by the smell of fresh-baked bread - and a tiny curse word as its maker burns a small hand on the hot stone of the oven. The sounds of the domovoi's movement retreat behind a heavy chest, and Nadya's covers rustle as she pulls herself up from her fitful rest and makes her way down the ladder. Time to wake, friends, she murmurs with gentle shakes of everyone's shoulders, rousing everyone that still rests. Eat and get ready to go - we'll leave as soon as I gather the boys from Kashka's. Gathering a trio of small loaves in hand, she ducks out of the flap once again.
----------
Soon, she returns, letting a faint pinkish light into the cabin as she ducks inside the flap. Against her chest, one of her sons rests draped over one shoulder, still half-asleep and snuggling close. Orm is outside with Kashka - she's agreed to come too, Nadya explains, crossing to a chest and pulling out a deerskin that she drapes over Mjoli's shoulders. I spoke to her earlier in the evening, and she's already gathered her things. She's not exactly pleased about running, but I've made her see reason...the Witches' cronies will be here within the week, and it's not a secret that she's been close to us. I'm sorry - I'd never bring them all on a trip like this normally. I swear, they won't be a liability...I'll see to them...
----------
Before the sun peeks over the edge of the wintry plain, the ten of you are underway. Now far more awake, Orm and Mjoli seem to find the prospect of a dawn journey a grand adventure, and Nadya has to constantly shush them as the sled puts distance between itself and the awakening town of Waldsby. Nadya chooses her route to angle toward the Hoarwood, putting the sled between trees as soon as possible; as the rest of the world brightens, the sled remains cloaked in the trees' shadow, out of sight of Waldsby's watchtowers. Finally, after two hours' travel, she seems to relax slightly, bending over to gather Mjoli up in a fierce hug as he tromps through the thick snow on his tiny snowshoes.
Now, you boys have an important job today, ok? I heard the supplies talking last night, and those dried fruit sacks said the meanest things! They said they knew there were two big, strong boys inside who loved dried apples, and that they'd need to run away so that scary Orm and Mjoli wouldn't eat them all up! So I'll need you two to stay close to the sled to keep an eye on the supplies - if you don't, next thing you know the sugar sacks will be threatening to run away, too! And we can't have that, now, can we? After all, without the sugar there'll be no sweet bread!
The twins' eyes go wide, and they stand stock-straight and salute their mother before sprinting to where a tangle of fallen limbs rest between a knot of trees. Stripping away two supple pine boughs from the heap, they hurry back with their improvised whips and fall in next to the sled as it tugs lazily behind the walking dogs. There's one more dog in the team than there was during the trip to the Tower yesterday - roaming back and forth between the team's head and the sled is a slender dog with grey limning its muzzle, occasionally yipping encouragingly as one of the team stumbles. Though it is free of any traces or leads, the dog shows no intention of running away - in fact, it occasionally stops to let Nadya catch up, bumping its head beneath her hand in a comforting gesture.
The morning's travel passes without incident. The sled trundles slowly through the snow, a place of calm for anyone short of rest after the hurried night. Nadya and the new dog keep the driving team in line, and Kashka trudges in the sled's wake, occasionally seeing to Orm or Mjoli as they trip in the snow or dash up with interesting roadside finds. For some time, the journey's worried start is forgotten...but for how long?
Cithembi smiles as he picks out old friends from among the stars, and new ones he had never seen before. It takes him only a moment to calculate their location. How far they had come from Taldor! In spite of the evils they faced, the catfolk could not help but feel excited about seeing new lands so far from home.
Finally he goes inside and finds a place to spread his bedroll, and falls asleep with a grin still on his face.
---------------
Though he's tired when Nadya awakens him, Cithembi doesn't show it. His usual boundless energy and enthusiasm seems to have returned, and he eats swiftly then aids with preparations to leave. He waves off Nadya's concerns.
"It is all right. We shall all be glad to help keep them safe," he says, giving her a grin.
Behind his smile, he thinks it is good to see her worrying about the living rather than the dead.
He catnaps on the sled until he feels rested enough to commune with Desna. Once done he offers to help ward off the chill for those who need it.
He grins at Orm and Mjoli as they start their duties. "Perhaps if you are good and the skies are clear tonight, I might tell you the tales of some of my favorite stars, yes?"
Freyja's sleep is deeply and untroubled if short. She awakens feeling good about what has been accomplished and ready for the challenge of the day. She helps where she can with the cooking and packing and especially with the children. While working she hums a happy tune and she seems content with having tasks to to and the ability to do them.
She thanks Cithembi for the offer of protection from the elements but turns him down. I am of the north. She says to him, making sure he can read her lips. And then for practice she signs it to him as well. I was born in colder climes than this. Its brisk but refreshing.
Noting the strange dog she smiles but says noting and is comforted by the creatures presence. She chooses a spot in front of the sleds and walks at at a somewhat comfortable pace, bow in hand and looking for signs of trouble.
Maddy sits bolt upright when Nadya touches her shoulder. She's instantly awake and barely takes time to stretch and wipe sleep from the corners of her eyes before she's helping to get things ready for their journey.
As they begin trudging through the snow on their way to Whitethrone, Maddy takes up position at the back. She does what she can to mask their trail and she also makes sure no one falls behind.
Matt was barely awake as they made ready to move out, but after a few hours further rest in the sled, he hopped out and was able to continue in a somewhat human manner. He helped Cithembi out with casting endurance against the snow , and soon he and Maddy barely noticed the biting cold.
As they trudged through the snow, he found himself smiling at the antics of Nadya's boys, but even his smiles were pained. Maggie should be playing with them, throwing snowballs and guarding snacks. As it was, she flew happily with them, chattering away, and they seemed to find nothing out of the ordinary about their talking bird companion. Still, it hurt to know that her body lay curled in the sack that Maddy carried, an amulet on her chest all that was giving him hope that there was still a way to reverse what had been done.
Recognizing the new dog as Hatch, Matt was glad that the little guy had been able to join the family on their exodus.
As they travelled, Matt found himself beside Evelina. The small woman was wrapped in silence, and didn't look his way. He wondered if it was because of the comments he'd overheard her say a few times in the tower. She seemed to hate magic. Matt found that the idea that she didn't like him, or couldn't like him, because of his talents left him feeling slightly sick. After several minutes of building up his courage, he finally blurted out, "Evelina, what is it about magic that you don't like? Does it bother you, what I do?"
The day's travel wears on, and Nadya helps Madison to conceal the party's tracks as the sleds trudge along forest trails. The Irriseni landscape is almost serene, tucked tight into its blanket of snow, and the stillness is broken only by the occasional call of a crow in the distance. Around midday, Nadya pauses as the party prepares to round a small ridge and motions everyone else ahead. As the party disappears around the bend, Nadya waits for several moments, then stomps a snowshoe into the snow; a small flurry of wind begins at her feet and bursts outward, and all signs of the group's passage are obscured. That's the best we can do, she sighs, hurrying to catch the party back up. Around the bend, the forest breaks apart, and a broad plain opens up. The scene is a calming one, with a few lazily circling birds the only other movement.
Cithembi is too distracted with entertaining Orm and Mjoli to pay attention to the skies.
Exhausted from a restless night, Evelina walks along the cart sluggishly, her eyes occasionally drooping. Every so often she looked over at the sled longingly. It wouldn't be so bad if I just hopped on and took a nap...I'm pretty small...I wouldn't add much weight...
As she stares at the cart, her train of thought is broken by Matt. His question catches her totally off guard. "What? No? I don't hate magic! I always thought people doing magic was the coolest thing..." she claims. However, she looks down at the ground and lets out a sigh. "It's just...I just don't know any more..." Continuing to stare straight down, she explains, "We had a friend you see, travelled with us 'fore you guys did...She could do the most amazing fire stuff! So I said to her, 'Wow! Are you a wizard!' 'Cause I thought, she can make fire like that, she must be some sorta wizard, right?" Evelina look sad for a moment, "She got so upset when I said it. Like I'd said something awful to her. It was a bit awkward for the day, but then we were keeping watch and she came over to say sorry...and then she told me..." Evelina pauses, uncertain if details of the story were truly hers to repeat or if she even wanted to speak the details aloud. She settled for an abridged version. "She told me 'bout the horrible stuff a wizard did to her as a child...jus' to get some stuff to cast his spell. An' it was like a whole side of magic I never knew existed." Evelina looks up at Matt, "Still, I thought...maybe it was just one bad wizard y'know? But then I see all this stuff happening. Children being murdered an' there souls forced into animal and dolls. Portals that would make a whole country damn near freeze to death." Evelina's voice trembles and her eyes get watery, as she starts to get emotional. "People shouldn't be able to do these things. Knowin' magic...well it don't give no one the right to treat people's lives like they don't even matter. But because of magic they can do whatever they want. An' me? I ain't smart enough to do a darned thing to help..."
---
Still tired, Evelina's droopy eyes remain primarily on the ground and at the sled in front of her.
Martok growled, "Don't get too excited but we may have trouble ahead."
He pointed to the sky, "That's not natural behavior for ravens. They travel in groups but not so many of them."
He quickly added, "Let's keep going. The sooner we're under a roof the better but keep your eyes open."
You've good eyes Martok. I saw them too and was thinking the same thing. You know, I have always wondered why they call it a "murder" of ravens. She looks worried and switches her bow for he sword and shield.
Maddy is so focused on whether or not they're leaving a trail behind them that she completely misses the strangeness that is happening in the sky. When both Martok and Freyja mention the birds, she looks up and quickly draws her greatsword. She then moves to Matty's side and makes sure Nadya's sons are close by.
Matt's heart felt heavy as he listened to Evelina's story. He had heard of such evil wizards, of course. Those who would do anything to get that rare spell component. The curious scholar within him wanted to know what it was about her friend that the wizard wanted to extract; fortunately, he had just enough wisdom not to ask. Instead, he said, "It's true, some wizards are truly evil, just as some warriors are. And nobody should use their power to cause so much harm to innocent people. But that's why we're here, to stop them. And I don't know about smart enough, but you are doing something to stop it. And you're strong, and brave, and kind, and beautiful..." he stuttered to a stop, blushing, having said more than he meant to.
***
Matt hadn't noticed the ravens ahead, but when Martok pointed them out, Matt agreed with his assessment. "I think you're thinking of crows, Freyja," he said in a distracted voice, as he eyed the birds ahead. "Ravens make an unkindness. And these ones are definitely acting peculiar. I wonder if there's something dead up ahead. Something, or many things."
Turning to Maggie, he said, "Hey, little sister. Can you smell anything strange? Do you know what's happening up ahead?"
I takes Cithembi a bit of time to catch onto the conversation, distracted as he was, but soon enough he's gotten the gist of what is being discussed.
"Do you not remember the aerie in the tower? Might not the witches control these birds?" he suggests, worriedly.
Matt cocked his head to one side, considering. He signed as he spoke, trying to learn the finger-language that Cithembi had been introducing them too. "I guess it's possible. But there's an awful lot of them, and the witch from the last tower is dead. We're still a long way from Whitethrone. Seems unlikely that the witch would be doing this from there. But you might be right. Either way, there's no way to know until we get closer."
Still, he cast mage armour on himself, just in case.
Martok and Freyja wonder at the ravens' behavior, nervous that it portends something dangerous...and as Madison draws her greatsword, it flashes in the sun, and their fears are confirmed. At the sudden light, the unkindness of ravens wheels about abruptly, turning straight for the road. More birds rise from behind a hillock, and a few abandoned buildings several hundred feet away from the road yields another several birds, galvanized into action by the calls of those already airborne. And all are converging straight for the sled!
Martok looked at the children with concern and turned to his companions, "You all get ready to fend them off; I'll take care of the children."
He then called on the spirits to make them invisible to animals and touched the children, Nadya, and himself. He urged mother and children away from the sled, "C'mon, quickly come with me. You too Nadya."
-----------
HP 49/49
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
Conditions: n/a
Melee (+1 spear): +4 = +1(magic) +3(base)
Melee Damage (+1 spear): 1d8+1, x2
4/5 mythic pool, 4/4 touch of flame, 2/2 channel energy
Spell used: n/a
If they form some type of mob or swarm we may need your area effect spells to effectively hurt them Martok. Freyja warns. We should spread out so as to not pose a group target.
If they form some type of mob or swarm we may need your area effect spells to effectively hurt them Martok. Freyja warns. We should spread out so as to not pose a group target.
Martok called back, "Oh, I'm not going anywhere. Just getting the kids and Nadya away, that's all. I'll be right back."
He smiled, "I hear there's raven barbeque on the menu today."
Cithembi focuses for a moment, then waves one hand. A pattern of shifting silvery lights appears in front of and around the diving ravens. Then he jogs slightly off to one side, stepping lightly on the surface of the snow.
Evelina sighs, "Yeah, but all an evil warrior can do is jus' stab someone. Parry 'em and stab 'em right back. Problem solved." However, she is rather taken aback by the sudden compliment. Seeing that Matt is embarrassed by the situation and trying not to blush herself, she tries to diffuse the whole situation with a joke. "Well...yeah, I know I'm pretty! But pretty ain't gonna help me fight a wizard?" She thinks for a moment before trailing off with a random thought, "Well, I mean, I guess if he was a dirty old man...or jus' really lonely..."
"Area of what..?" Evelina asks, worriedly, "You mean I can't jus' stab 'em." Thinking for a minute, she pipes up, "Oh! You mean like hit a whole buncha them at once! Like those vials we found!" She hops up onto the sled and starts rummaging for the alchemical items. Grabbing one, she looks towards Madison, who she knows also doesn't know magic, she asks, "You want some?"
Maddy nods at Evelina. "I'm still trusting in my sword but something to throw may be better." She looks skeptically at the flask that Evelina hands her. "Is this really going to break when it hits a bird?"
"Well, I mean, I guess if he was a dirty old man...or jus' really lonely..."
Matt grinned, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I bet a well-timed eyelash-batting would make most wizards pause long enough to stick 'em."
Not wanting to be attacked by the incoming swarm, Matt flicked the cuffs of his robes away from his hands as he held them up. Moving the right in a complicated motion around his face, he twisted the left in an arcane dance that seemed to indicate the area immediately around him. As he did so, he said, "Morrir omauju", then flicked his hands again with a gesture of finality.
Two doubles of Matt appeared beside him, moving when he moved in a strange and confusing manner, making it difficult to decide which one was the actual wizard.
Matt grinned, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I bet a well-timed eyelash-batting would make most wizards pause long enough to stick 'em."
"Hmm...you really that'd work?" Evelina asks, her eyes wide and innocent. However, just as Matt looks about ready to respond, she jabs him, probably a little too hard, right in the stomach. "Haha! Gotcha!" she says with a smug grin. "You might be on 'ta something..."
---
Maddy nods at Evelina. "I'm still trusting in my sword but something to throw may be better." She looks skeptically at the flask that Evelina hands her. "Is this really going to break when it hits a bird?"
"Ummm...I dunno." Evelina says uncertainly. "I guess chuck it hard as you can...an' we'll find out."
The ravens coalesce into three writhing masses in the sky, spiraling downward to swarm the sled and its followers. Martok manages to get Nadya, Kashka, Orm, and Mjoli away from the sleds and warded against the birds' notice before they descend fully, but the dogs yelp and pull against their traces as the birds descend. The first few ravens fall motionless to the ground, dazzled by Cithembi's hypnotic spell, but these are barely a drop in the bucket compared to what keeps moving.
Soon, the sled is surrounded by a shifting cloud of wings and beaks, and the birds' talons rake at Evelina and Madison as they dig frantically for the vials they'd recovered from the Pale Tower. Another mass breaks off to gather around Freyja with beaks aiming straight for her eyes, and Matthew finds his mirror images do him little good - the birds go after all three of the wizards, and soon discover the other two don't feel nearly so visceral beneath their talons.
----------
Round 1
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison
Martok
Matthew
Petska family and friends
Raven swarms (3)
Round 2
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison
Martok
Matthew
Petska family and friends
Raven swarms (3)
"Stay here. Do not follow me, understand?"
With that the dwarf got back into the fray, flames spewing forth from his outstretched fingers.
"Here comes the barbecue..."
-----------
HP 49/49
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
Conditions: n/a
Melee (+1 spear): +4 = +1(magic) +3(base)
Melee Damage (+1 spear): 1d8+1, x2
4/5 mythic pool, 4/4 touch of flame, 2/2 channel energy
Spell used: burning hands
The swirling mass of black feathers and talons quickly overwhelmed Matt's senses, and he cried out, covering his eyes to protect them. There was little he could do without seeing the enemy, but at least he knew exactly where they were. All around.
Keeping his head tucked down as well as he could, he moved his fingers in a rapid, flickering motion, resembling the fire he was summoning. He then cried out, "Lernonj aurc!", and cast his hand above him in an arc, hoping to catch much of the swarm with the flame.
After attacking Freyja moves out and away from the swarm.
I think that color spray is good against swarms.
Though a beak does cut into Evelina's right shoulder, she otherwise ducks the creatures talons rather gracefully. Grabbing a reddish vial out of the the sled that she was pretty sure Matt had said contained fire. "Alright...here goes nothing..." she mutters to herself, as she chucks the vial as hard as she can at the barrage of birds.
Alchemist’s fire is a mix of several volatile liquids that ignite when exposed to air. You can throw a flask of alchemist’s fire as a splash weapon. Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet.
A direct hit deals 1d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of fire damage from the splash. On the round following a direct hit, the target takes an additional 1d6 points of damage. If desired, the target can use a full-round action to attempt to extinguish the flames before taking this additional damage. Extinguishing the flames requires a DC 15 Reflex save. Rolling on the ground provides the target a +2 bonus on the save. Leaping into a large body of water or magically extinguishing the flames automatically smothers the fire.
Maddy tries to block the swarming birds from getting to Matty and end up being overwhelmed. She can't see anything but beaks, talons, and feathers. She thinks about throwing the flask in her hand anyways but is afraid she may hurt the others so she holds on to it and tries to protect her face with her other hand.
Keeping his head tucked down as well as he could, Matt moved his fingers in a rapid, flickering motion, resembling the fire he was summoning. He then moved his hand rapidly to his mouth, as if miming eating the fire. He then cried out, "Foru lruaush!", and raised his head to the swarm, eyes shut tight, and belched forth fire into the swarm.
Seeing his first spell be ineffective, Cithembi falls back on his old standby. Maneuvering to try to get as many of the ravens in his fan at once, he waves a hand and sends a cone of shimmering starlight over the birds.
Swarm 1 (on Matthew): 32/32, -15 = 17/32
Swarm 2 (on Freyja): 32/32, -3, -4, color spray = 25/32
Swarm 3 (on Evelina and Madison): 32/32, -1, -7 -3, -12 = 9/32
Madison swings out with her sword, managing to catch several birds in midair with the blade , but it's not enough to disperse the threat - the birds rake at her vulnerable eyes, and she cries out and drops to the ground. Evelina throws her vial of fire, and it shatters against the ground and splashes over two dozen birds, causing them to scream in pain as their feathers burn . Seeing Evelina and Madison struggling to keep the birds away from the sled, Martok moves to aid them, carefully aiming his burst of fire to avoid the two women near the sled. Even with his caution, his spell proves quite effective - the birds are so intent on the sled and its occupants that they don't notice the flame from behind until it's too late.
Matthew suffers the same result as his sister as the ravens swarming him scratch at his eyes, but it isn't hard for him to figure out where the birds are - everywhere. He belches forth fire into the swarm, but these are far more intent on him than the others were on Martok, and his vision is hindered enough that he doesn't see much of the flock move out of the way. Still, though, the powerful spell takes out more than half the birds swarming him. Meanwhile, Freyja, her reflexes sharp and ready for the threat, takes two mighty sword swipes in quick succession , avoiding the raking talons and moving away. As she moves, Cithembi attempts to aid her by dazzling the birds surrounding her with motes of starlight; while a few birds succumb to the spray of light, most keep moving, and it's not enough even to slow the bulk of the swarm down.
Nadya, Kashka, and the children heed Martok's advice and stay out of the fracas. The unkindnesses of ravens, intent on their prey, move again to attack. Freyja takes another swing as they approach , but it isn't enough to stop them. Those attacking Matthew continue churning around the wizard, but those near the sled shift their focus from Evelina and Madison to Martok, moving to surround him.
----------
Round 2
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison
Martok
Matthew
Petska family and friends
Raven swarms (3)
Round 3
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison
Martok
Matthew
Petska family and friends
Raven swarm 1 (grazed)
Raven swarm 2 (healthy)
Raven swarm 3 (wounded)
Impressed by the fire breath of the wizard, the dwarf fails to see the raven swarm coming towards him until it was too late.
Martok closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and once more called on Lord Fire to put an end to these witch birds.
-----------
HP 49/49
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
Conditions: n/a
Melee (+1 spear): +4 = +1(magic) +3(base)
Melee Damage (+1 spear): 1d8+1, x2
4/5 mythic pool, 4/4 touch of flame, 2/2 channel energy
Spell used: burning hands, burning hands
Freyja moved so that she could attack swarm 3. But before she can do so swarm 2 covers her again. She does get off one AOO before she is swarmed, and this time she remembers to arcane strike.
Trying to take down at least one swarm she swings on swarm 3 but is too distracted to hit.
Crying out in pain as the swarm continues to target his eyes, Matt covers them with both arms, stumbling backwards. Again, he opens his mouth and belches out fire, though less this time.
Maddy's concern for her twin outweighs her own self preservation. Even with the birds in her face, she is determined to fight on to protect Matty. She releases the flask from her hand that Evelina had given her.
Swarm 1 (on Matthew): 17/32, -9 = 8/32
Swarm 2 (on Freyja): 25/32, -4, -1 = 20/32
Swarm 3 (on Martok): 9/32, -7, -1, -4 = dead
Martok catch a swath of birds in his fiery bursts Evelina reaches for the next glass container she can find, a flask of viscous green acid, and hurls it into the swarm; it breaks on the beak of one of the final birds, sending a spray of droplets into the air, and the last few birds accosting Martok fall to the ground.
Matthew belches fire over the birds attacking him once again; two-thirds or so of the birds that had swarmed him now lie scattered around him, though he cannot see the degree of his success. Freyja, too, strikes her assailants once more, and Cithembi assists by throwing a flask of alchemical fire, though he misses the bulk of the birds and only splashes them.
Though their numbers are severely diminished, the birds' single-minded assault keeps on. Get 'em! you hear one of the boys cry from behind a heap of snow, though Kashka quickly pulls him down and shushes him.
----------
Round 3
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison
Martok
Matthew
Petska family and friends
Raven swarm 1 (wounded)
Raven swarm 2 (grazed)
Raven swarm 3 (dead)
Round 3
Cithembi
Freyja
Evelina
Madison (blinded)
Martok
Matthew (blinded)
Petska family and friends
Raven swarm 1 (wounded)
Raven swarm 2 (grazed)
Raven swarm 3 (dead)
Martok growls as he hears the boy urging them on and makes it clear that they need to stay away.
He quickly turns to the fight and looks on with envy as the wizard continues to belch forth fire.
He calls forth another fan of flames, a little stronger this time to finish off the wounded swarm.
----------
HP 49/49
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
Conditions: n/a
Melee (+1 spear): +4 = +1(magic) +3(base)
Melee Damage (+1 spear): 1d8+1, x2
3/5 mythic pool, 4/4 touch of flame, 2/2 channel energy
Spell used: burning hands, burning hands
Without much more in the way of alchemist's fire, Cithembi decides to close and simply stab with his spear. He wouldn't kill many of them that way, but there were few enough left that didn't worry him too much.
With swarm 3 down Freyja focuses on the swarm on her.
After her attack she moves just out of the swarm, trying to lead it away from others, but mostly so it will provoke when it enters her square again.
Maddy still can't see properly but she still has her sword and she can hear the birds all around her and Matty. "Down, Matty!" she bellows before swinging blindly with her greatsword in an arc overhead.
Evelina picks up another vial, this one green and begins to hurl it at the horde of birds. However, her toss goes a little wonky as just barely ducks out of the way of Maddie's greatsword. "Woah! Maddie! Right behind you! she says to let the blinded barbarian know she's there.