Augrym steps back, studies both of the swarms in front of him, and strikes.
Augrym swipes and catches a few feathers and bones.
Round II
1. Unrak (92/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 12 dmg, white @ 14 dmg, blue @ 7 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
3. Bytor (57/66 hp), Taranis (48/65 hp, Toth 43/54 hp), Augrym (71/78 hp)
The glaive cuts haphazardly through several crows.
Round II
1. Unrak (92/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 22 dmg, white @ 14 dmg, blue @ 7 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
3. Bytor (57/66 hp), Taranis (48/65 hp, Toth 43/54 hp), Augrym (71/78 hp)
Zed moves FAR away!
The murders continue to swirl about the company.
Round II
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (39/65 hp, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (61/78 hp)
Round III
1. Unrak (85/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 22 dmg, white @ 14 dmg, blue @ 7 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
Taranis swats at the birds with his blade as best he can! for
Unrak screams in rage...
...drawing his greatsword, he steps toward the flock attacking Toth.
He swings at with abandon!!
Toth continues his mad attack on all the birds:
for
for
for
The birds find the Baron's eyes! Blood runs down his face as eyelids puff up, rendering him blind. The wound will take days to heal.
Toth and Unrak combine all their strength to disperse one of the four murders.
Round II
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (39/65 hp, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (61/78 hp)
Round III
1. Unrak (85/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 23 dmg, blue @ 7 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
5ft step. Add Bane to my weapon and attack.
Bytor casts Cure Moderate Wounds on himself.
He also maintains his inspire courage.
”There once was a vile murder of crows who were slain by a white wolf of pure snow.”
Unfortunately, Bytor can only swat wildly at the birds, as he is too distracted to do anything else.
Augrym cuts down a few more birds, chipping away at the murder nearest him.
Round III
1. Unrak (85/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 23 dmg, blue @ 17 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
3. Bytor (move action, 48/66 hp), Taranis (39/65 hp, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (61/78 hp)
Too distracted to do much else, Bytor retreats out of the swarm.
Zed, ill prepared for this eventuality, begins to summon some back up.
Bytor is little help at present, and Zed's help is still forthcoming.
Round III
1. Unrak (85/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 23 dmg, blue @ 17 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (39/65 hp, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (61/78 hp)
Marc's aim is terrible. The birds continue to peck and slash at the interlopers!
plus Fort/Reflex saves
plus Fort/Reflex saves
plus Fort/Reflex saves
Round III
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (32/65 hp, blind, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (51/78 hp)
Round IV
1. Unrak (79/95* hp), Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (red @ 23 dmg, blue @ 17 dmg, black @ 1 dmg)
Bytor maintains his inspire courage.
"The white wolf chewed apart crows for breakfast!"
Bytor then casts Cure Moderate Wounds upon Unrak.
"These crows want to eat you for breakfast. I wouldn't let them!" Bytor remarks trying to support Unrak's rage.
Blinded and in agony, Taranis tries to fight off the crows:
But he simply can't. He retreats until he bumps into a building.
Toth continues to savage the crows about Unrak:
for
for
for
Unrak shifts over, and swings with abandon.
The combined arms of Marc, Unrak, and Toth put many birds to flight. Only the swarm around Augrym, inside the fenced pen, holds cohesion.
The scratches around the Baron's eyes are widened with fresh strikes, and will take an estimated days to heal.
Round III
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (32/65 hp, blind, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (51/78 hp)
Round IV
1. Unrak, Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (blue @ 17 dmg)
5ft step out of the swarm, weary, and strike again!
Augrym's aim is true, yet still the swarm swirls with unspent malice!
Round IV
1. Unrak, Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (blue @ 25 dmg)
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (32/65 hp, blind, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (51/78 hp)
Within a moment, the whirlwind gathers strength and pulls the surrounding air close in to itself, as a man caught in a storm might gather his cloak around his shoulders. The whirlwind quickly becomes more substantial, until it can no longer be mistaken for anything other than the essence of Air itself, an elemental! This cloud-like creature has dark hollows reminiscent of eyes and a mouth, and a howling wind whips it into ominous shapes.
for damage.
Alignment & Size: N Small (4 ft. long, 1 lb.)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +4
AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 14
hp 15
Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +0
Defensive Abilities air mastery; Immune elemental traits:
[list]Immunity to bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
Not subject to critical hits or flanking. Does not take additional damage from precision-based attacks, such as sneak attack.
Proficient with natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with all simple weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Elementals not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Elementals are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Elementals do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
Speed fly 100 ft. (perfect)
Melee slam +8 (1d4+3)
Special Attacks whirlwind (DC 12, 10-20 ft.)
Str 16, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2; CMB +2; CMD 15
Feats Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +7, Escape Artist +7, Fly +17, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4, Stealth +11
Languages Auran
FlyBy Attack Make an attack before and after moving
Whirlwind (su): 1 round, (5 ft. wide at the base, 10-20 feet high) Creatures one or more size categories smaller than the whirlwind take damage (DC12 Reflex negates) when caught in the whirlwind and may be lifted into the air and held suspended in the powerful winds (DC12 Reflex saves). Creatures trapped in the whirlwind go where the whirlwind carries them, but can otherwise act normally. Must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell. Creatures caught in the whirlwind take a –4 penalty to Dexterity and a –2 penalty on attack rolls. The whirlwind can have only as many creatures trapped inside at one time as will fit inside the whirlwind’s volume. The whirlwind can eject any carried creatures whenever it wishes as a free action, depositing them in its space.
The elemental is not quite able to finish the job! The crows continue to feed on Augrym!
Round IV
1. Unrak, Marc (45/54 hp), Zed (24/39 hp)
2. Crows! (blue @ 25 dmg)
3. Bytor (48/66 hp), Taranis (32/65 hp, blind, Toth 35/54 hp), Augrym (42/78 hp, saves!)
Blind, Taranis simply urges Toth on!
Toth pounces on the mass of avians!
for
for
for
Rank for
Bytor maintains his inspire courage and then double moves over to support Taranis. "Have no fear my friend. I am right here. Give me a moment I will take care of those wounds. The rest are taking care of those fiendish avians."
Toth finally puts an end to the menace of the crows!
"Know this my friend, I am blind. I cannot see. In time I think my wounds will heal, but I am not going to be able to direct for some time..."
The Baron is awfully calm.
Unrak’s rage evaporates almost instantly. He goes to his brother and wordlessly puts the Baron’s hand on his shoulder.
Augrym keeps his sight and his wits, for the moment at least.
"Do any of you possess a magical means of healing my blindness? If not, then I will have to leave it to you to help piece together what happened in Varnhold." He nods at his brother's hand.
”Great leader brother friend Taranis, I do not have this magic. Hopefully someone does. Otherwise, I will be your eyes. Let us search this building first but, perhaps our next stop should be Varnold Pass from the second to last entry in the journal after. This would be my suggestion, fellow Huntsmen. But I am not the brains of this group.”
”Taranis, I too am sorry to tell you that I do not know how to heal you of your blindness either, but I will continue to search until I find someone who can. In the meantime, I will support you however I am able. Where do you suggest we search next?”
The interior of the structure proves to be the dwelling and forge of a blacksmith. Unlike some of the other buildings nearby, the interior appears to be undisturbed, but you find nothing of significant value.
"Then let us head to the pass. If combat arises, I may need to change into something inconspicuous, or to hang in the back with Zed. I think we've seen everything here. Yes?"
"If you need me to use my sword, Taranis, I offer it freely. Mind you, I will not claim to possess the skill that one such as Unrak brings with him."
"I shall be okay, but I will be a burden until then. Let us hope you do not need my sword."
I think we need to strike East into the Dunsward. I still think it's a red herring, these people weren't forced out by violence.
I propose the following plan:
1. Return to Solasgaard to keep the kingdom functioning.
2. Equip ourselves for faster travel (scour your spell lists for what you can cast right now.)
3. Equip ourselves for the challenges which plague us: swarms, sensory loss.
4. Return as quickly as possible to Varnhold, then strike East into the Dunsward.
The description was "river of local provenance," which is simply to say "nearby." What qualifies as nearby depends on who you ask, but those in Varnhold likely the Kiravoy and Crooked rivers to be nearby, and possibly others.
The Crooked River runs swift and cold over Varnhold Pass, but you have had no trouble crossing it twice now.
Taranis knows that the "Nomen Heights" refers to the foothills that run along the eastern arms of the Tors of Levenies, as well as the wide valley the runs between them until one reaches Dunsward.
Even at the apex of his skill and once his eyes heal, the Baron is doubtful that any tracks from the villagers' egress--now nearly three months old--could be detected on the pathways of Varnhold, if indeed there ever were any.
Unrak grunts in frustration. Aye, brother. I hate to leave this place with more questions than when we came, but you may be right. And I also don't think the centaurs had anything to do with this--unless they ate the corpses they made!! My gut is saying "magic" but that sounds silly saying it out loud. But if it wasn't violence, and it wasn't a planned exodus--I mean, the rotted food? The dead livestock?--then I'm not sure what's left.
"Make it so."