"Dang, we must have wandered into this pair's territory. Let's see if we can drive them off."
Narnel calmly steps up next to the tree, unlimbers his longbows and fires at the creature.
Jerry moves up to intercept the second hippogriff.
Maintaining her bardic performance, Janira moves up - unstrapping her crossbow from her back and slotting a bolt.
"Well done Oktavian! As Marcos Farabellus once told me, sometimes a single strike is all it takes."
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Vetis feels a twinge of shame as his stone flies wildly off the mark, but he has little time to mope as suddenly the first hippogriff is upon them. Well, for a moment at least - Oktavian quickly brings the beast down in a brutal blow.
Shaking off his stunned surprise, Vetis tries to quickly follow Jerry while wiping some of the sprayed blood from his eye.
Vetis feels a twinge of shame as his stone flies wildly off the mark, but he has little time to mope as suddenly the first hippogriff is upon them.
It rakes and claws at Alister, yet Little Tom’s arrow threw off its charge and it's slashes miss their mark.
Oktavian roars in anger at seeing the hippogriff tearing at Alister, and a fire seems to ignite behind his eyes.
"Get back!" he shouts. "This one is mine!"
Baring his teeth in fury, Oktavian steps forward and swings his massive falchion in a reckless arc, as if uncaring about his own life.
"Die!"
The weapon comes cleaving down across the upper body of the creature, tearing through its back and wing. It gives a cry and crumples to the ground, where it continues to bleed out onto the mossy forest floor, still and motionless.
The remaining young hippogriff lets loose a cry of fury and sorrow at the loss of its brother.
Focused on the beasts sibling Narnel remarks, "Dang, we must have wandered into this pair's territory. Let's see if we can drive them off."
He calmly steps up next to the tree in front of him, unlimbers his longbows and fires at the creature, as Jerry moves up to intercept it.
Shaking off his stunned surprise at Oktavian's ferocity, Vetis tries to quickly follow Jerry while wiping some of the sprayed blood from his eye.
Maintaining her bardic performance, Janira moves up - unstrapping her crossbow from her back and slotting a bolt.
"Well done Oktavian! As Marcos Farabellus once told me, sometimes a single strike is all it takes."
Alister blanches having seen his life rush before his eyes and then aims and shoots his bow again. He also tells Cornelius to stay hidden and not be so brave.
Pleased with himself after landing his last arrow, Little Tom runs forward trying to get a clear shot at the second hippogriff and readies his bow.
Whipped into a frenzy, the remaining hippogriff charges at Jerry, throwing caution to the wind as it throws itself upon him.
Vetis is ready, unleashing his elemental control of the weather. Instantaneously a black-grey cloud appears and buffets the hippogriff with wind and driving rain. A single bolt of lightning darts forth from the cloud, which the hippogriff only narrowly dodges in time before it comes bearing down on Jerry. Wet and fire-blackened feathers fall from the animals wings, as it hooks into Jerry and scratches across his forearms.
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Jerry swings at the juvenile hippogriff with his heavy mace, yet misses.
With a quick dart to the left, Janira brings herself around a nearby oak - setting herself up for a clear shot.
Her bardic magic still lingers in the air, as she eyes down the sight and releases a bolt. Yet in not wanting to hit Oktavian or Jerry, her shot whizzes off into the undergrowth.
With a quick glance around, while trying to avoid the hippogriff's talons, he can tell that only he has been injured so far.
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Turning back towards the center of their party, Vetis sees his fellows surrounding the fallen hippogriff as it wheezes and bleeds on the ground. "Try and help it if you can," he calls backward. "It's just defending its territory!"
Vetis himself hugs the brush as he moves west, coming to a rest next to a fallen tree as he focuses another blast of wind and rain towards the remaining mate.
for
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With a beat of his chest, Oktavian roars at the bloody mess of a hippogriff at his feet. Turning to face the survivor he darts towards it at full speed, nimbly dodging through its flailing claws and attempting to cut off its escape.
As his allies close on the hippogriff, Narnel backs up to get a better shot at the creature. With the flurry of combat, and the friendly targets in the way, the arrow seems sure to miss. Yet somehow it flies true – straight at the hippogriffs side… only to ricochet off the hardened skin, causing a small but superficial wound.
Jerry takes a look around, surveying to see if anyone was hurt by the other hippogriff before it fell to Oktavian's blade. This distracts his concentration however, as his attempts to cudgel the beast with his own weapon fail to find their mark.
With a quick dart to the left, Janira brings herself around a nearby oak - setting herself up for a clear shot. Her bardic magic still lingers in the air, as she eyes down the sight and releases a bolt. Yet in not wanting to hit Oktavian or Jerry, her shot whizzes off into the undergrowth.
Alister sits back and surveys the battlefield. His shot also blocked, he readies his bow to shoot at the creature if it attempts to flee via flight.
Turning back towards the centre of their party, Vetis sees his fellows surrounding the fallen hippogriff as it wheezes and bleeds on the ground. "Try and help it if you can," he calls backward. "It's just defending its territory!"
He hugs the brush as he moves west, coming to a rest next to a fallen tree as he focuses another blast of wind and rain towards the remaining mate.
Yet again another cloud of elemental energy forms, a jagged bolt shooting out towards the fighting hippogriff. This time it is too distracted to dodge, and the jolt of energy courses through its body, wrecking it with a spasm. It crumples to the floor, knocked out from the blast.
With both of the young hippogriffs out of action, the forest is suddenly eerily quiet. No bird song fills the air now, and even the breeze is still. The tang of fresh blood fills the air.
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Vetis stares at the hippogriff he just blasted for a few moments to make sure it stays down. Then he doubles back towards the other creature, muttering a quick prayer and drawing a trickle of life force from the surroundings to channel it into the beast's wounds.
Relaxing himself a bit, Vetis turns towards Janira. "Thanks for the pep talks J. I think your words might have made the difference there." He looks around at the others. "Anyone badly hurt?"
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Oktavian raises his falchion to strike the killing blow but, just before delivering the swing, his anger seems to fade immediately. He falls to his knees for a brief moment before leaning on his sword. His rage seems to fade quickly and is replaced by labored breathing.
His face turns into a frown with a twinge of regret. He approaches the beast he attacked before.
"Will it live?" he asks Vetis.
The druidic magic seals the fierce wound upon the hippogriffs flank. It still lies unconscious and heavily wounded - but it will recover in time.
Stepping up to the assembled group Janira responds to Vetis, "No problem master druid. You all have done well, your first battle went by rather smoothly. You should be pleased to have shown these beasts compassion and mercy - as you say, they most likely were defending their lands from us intruders."
As Jerry makes his way over, Janira expends a cure spell to heal his injuries, the talon slashes upon his lower arms magically recovering without so much as a mark.
"You might need your magics for your Confirmation," she remarks to both Vetis and Jerry.
The forest seems more sinister now somehow, almost as if the oaks themselves stand against you.
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"It should." Vetis responds to Oktavian. He finishes approaching the beast and looks down at it. "It'll take a bit to recover of course. And don't feel bad for your blow: right then they would have been fine mauling us if we let them. The wilds can be a dangerous place. My stance is be merciful, but not foolish."
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Narnel steps over to the side and looks curiously as Vetis heals the beasts that were attempting to kill them just moments ago. He pulls out his Journal and begins to write.
Journal Entry (Travel to the Gillman Cave)
Leaving Absalom we were able to travel one day out of the city with no major events. We spent and uneventful night in one of the abandoned Siege Castles. Janira was full of interesting information about the different siege towers we passed. I must say being there made the history lesson much more interesting then what I was used to from my former life. Vetis also was full of information about the environment we were passing though.
The next morning after we set forth through the forests surrounding the cave. A fast path was chosen that took us through the territory of a pair of young hypogriffs. They obviously were not very happy to have us there and they attempted to scare us off. Unfortunately for the beasts it seems that this little group has quite a bit of Martial prowess, particularly Oktavian, who seemed to drop one of them with a single blow. We continued on being only slightly inconvenienced from the encounter.
Putting away his journal he looks at Vetis: You realize leaving both of them unconscious may be crueler than letting them die here. However you are right, the wild is dangerous, and you have picked the merciful course. You can just hope that these two drove away all the major predators from their territory.
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Oktavian claps a large hand onto Alister's shoulder as he hears his words.
"Think nothing of it my friend, We are a team now are we not? Your thanks are appreciated but not necessary - I am certain you would have done the same for me!"
He turns to look at the wounded hippogriff at his feet.
"Narnel is correct though, they could be in some trouble should something aggressive enough come along. Hopefully the struggle scared off any potential predators..."
"Still, a chance at survival is better than none I suppose. Shall we move on?"
"Yes let us move on," Janira agrees, "These rocks were something I made note of from my path - they were much farther to the west however. I'd say we have made great time!"
You head off north east once more, the forest growing more wild as you near the base of the mountains.
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After nearly two more hours, the dense green forest opens to a wide clearing at the base of a sheer cliff. Thick vines cover the surface of the craggy cliff stretching 30 feet overhead.
"Here! The cave entrance is behind those vines," Janira says with a broad smile as she walks to the cliff’s face. She pulls back several layers of vegetation to reveal a narrow crack in the cliff’s surface. "This is where I saw the gillmen enter."
As she motions toward the aperture, the surrounding woods come alive with the sound of small animals fleeing some unseen danger and a large creature crashing through the undergrowth.
The halfling worriedly remarks, "Quick, take cover before whatever it is spots us!"
As if she’d summoned the creature with her words, a massive horned monstrosity emerges from the trees. Standing eight feet tall on a pair of cloven hooves and wielding a tremendous axe, the bull-headed creature roars with unbridled anger when it spots you all.
Janira screams, "A minotaur! Take this bag," she continues, pulling off her backpack, "and head deeper into the caves. Finish your mission. I'll lead it away from the caves, lose it in the forest, and join you as soon as I can. Now go! GO!"
She heaves her backpack into the cave, casts a spell, and darts off toward the minotaur with her whip in hand. Dashing directly towards it, she rolls deftly between its legs. Behind it now, she flicks out with the whip.
CRACK!
The whip strikes across the monsters back, the blow not really causing any damage but definitely enraging it. The last glimpse you see of Janira is her darting into the treeline, leading the minotaur away.
As Jerry makes a dart for the backpack, Alister weaves his hands in incantation. His spell finished, a second sound can be heard from the forest - that of a large creature moving towards Janira and the minotaur's location.
Between the party and the minotaur is a 10ft. wide stream, flowing quickly from east to west. You easily made your way across the fallen tree which acted as bridge to get to the cave entrance... but you were taking your time. Now the slippery log is perhaps more of a concern.
To the west a large ledge overlooks the clearing, which could provide a great position from which to shoot from. That is of course whether you can get there in time to make a difference.
Alister's shouts, "I will never leave a comrade behind!"
To which Janira stops her retreat from the minotaur and calls back, "There is no need! Go, find the meaning of the gillmen caves."
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Alister:
Jerry:
Little Tom:
Narnel:
Oktavian:
Vetis:
Janira:
Minotaur:
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Narnel wispers to Alister:
Sir, this is not our fight, trust your allies to do what they do best and keep your eyes on the goal of the mission. Getting into fights that do not need to be fought is a good way to end up dead.
With that Narnel turns and walks into the cave, disappearing into the shadows.
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Vetis stands frozen. Is this part of our trial? He does a quick assessment of the situation and grimaces. There may be a spell or two in his arsenal that could aid Janira...or they could only further distract her by staying. And the size of that thing...
With a quick shake of the head Vetis darts towards Narnel into the caves, giving a quick prayer that its the correct decision. Silence answers.
"There's no need for such zeal!" Janira shouts, "It is not cowardice to fulfil your objectives, and let me handle this thing... this delaying is the only thing going to get me killed!"
"Remember, one of the-" Janira dodges a mighty swing of the minotaur's axe, "One of the tenants of the Pathfinder Society is to Cooperate! Goading each other with slander is not the way!"
The minotaur lets out a bellowing roar, infuriated by Janira's talking.
The giant illusionary beetle appears, 'bursting forth' from the treeline. The minotaur lets out a fierce roar, which echos off the mountainside.
Ignoring Janira, it charges at the beetle, horns lowered for a goring charge. Yet it barrels straight through the illusion.
Seeing the indecision of the party, and the lack of direct combat actions, Janira makes a break for it.
She heads off into the tangled woods for a distance, then whirls around and launches a sling shot at the minotaur. She misses, but it grabs the beast's attention, who begins chasing after her.
Janira continues to lead the minotaur away, birds and small creatures fleeing from the commotion of the chase.
It looks like Janira is safe for now in leading it away from the gillmen caves.
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Deeper within the cave you can hear the distant rushing of underground streams. The sound is almost a creepy background of constant noise, echoing through the earth. Yet the caves are not dark. The caves walls are patterned with blue-green luminescent fungi, which provide you with a dim source of light.
The narrow tunnel, previous obscured by vines and hanging plants, winds down below the foothills of the Kortos Mounts. Water drips from the stalactites above your heads, causing the ground to be damp and slippery.
Petroglyphs – most depicting marine animals or spiral shapes – periodically decorate the tunnels walls. The rough surface of the carvings provides a natural platform for the fungi, causing it to grow thicker and making the carvings glow slightly brighter than their surroundings.
The tunnel twists and turns out of sight ahead.
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As he enters the cave Narnel whispers to Alister Trust that you will see her again Sir. If she has not returned by the time we finish our mission, I will help you find her no matter how long it takes.
He then moves on and joins Jerry looking at the the Backpack.
I am reasonably good at throwing things, so if no one else wants the items you can toss or the smoke stick, I can use them. However I am perfectly fine not taking anything.
Looking around at the markings on the cave he says to the entire group: This place is more then a little unsettling, but it's also someplace that fits my skill set well. May I suggest that I scout ahead for you all. I just need a contact to relay anything I find to so that you all are prepared to handle anything before we wander into it.
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Vetis eyes the vials in the sack curiously. "I would grab a flask of the alchemist's fire, if none object. And that scroll of entangle I can use as well. Don't worry Alister: I'll see if we can't keep it intact for your use later, though I'd check with Janira if she's fine with her using her material." He grows melancholic as Janira's name passes his lips.
Trying to shake it off, Vetis turns to Narnel. "Do you think its wise to head off alone friend? If so, I can grant you some illumination if you wish."