As Baern entered into the side passage, no sign of Teasag was to be found. It was as he feared, the orcs had taken his corpse deeper into the tunnel complex. It was then that he felt Hess's tap on his shoulder to warn him of some other danger that clicked ominously down the hallway.
"I see. Let us do the damage we can to these orcs and then beat a retreat. No use dying without a damn good reason." Some of their spells had been used for the day and he knew that Hess had taken a beating earlier as well. Rurik was a comforting sight to have but that still didn't loosen the gut that was tightened around his stomach.
Carefully now, he tried to follow with the group and be their shield. He motioned Rurik to come with him as well, the not so subtle Holderheks trying to lead the way. When he reaches the intersection again, he checks down the hall for enemies as well as past the barricade for whatever strange clicking that Hess had heard.
Reaching over and touching his cousin's shoulder, he'd murmur a quick prayer to Moradin. The dwarven fighter would feel a boost of confidence through his form, enhancing his skills.
As the group moves, Shianni takes up a her position and continues to try and stay vigilant.
Rurik moves along with his cousin moving between his new squad looking for threats.
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As the group proceeds, Baern suddenly holds up a fist to indicate that they should stop. Ahead, he can hear the low whisper of someone speaking. It is too low to make out what is being said, or the language (though it's a safe bet it's orcish), but you can definitely hear something from either side of the barricade. Watching carefully, he catches a glimpse of a figure around the corner to the south. It's an ambush!
Baern waits that moment, eyes pushing into the darkness until he hears that sounds from the darkness. Looking back at the others, he'd whisper to the others in Dwarvish first, then Elvish.
Lifting his shield upwards, he quickly moved through the tunnel and would leap over the barricade to engage the orcish threats beyond. Yet he focused on his defense, wanting to bring the attention of the enemy upon him and not his more vulnerable allies.
Shianni will prepare to throw fire at the first enemy she sees.
Not speaking either of the languages Baern spoke in, Garret is still a bit confused as to what is going on. Baern's rushing and diving over the barricade got the point across though.
Garret draws a blade and stands ready to strike at anyone that comes near.
Hoddy readies his crossbow as the others also prepare to attack the attackers!
Rurok moves to be his Cousins Shield, he strikes at the orc that he stops next to.
He feels the the hammer strike home into the ribs of the orc
"Hold that hall, I saw movement!" he indicates the hall he passes coming to Baern's aid
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As Baern and Rurik leap the barricade, Rurik slams his warhammer home on one of the orcs, eliciting a grunt of pain. The orcs counterattack, but the dwarves are prepared. Rurik easily avoids the clumsy stab from his opponent, but though Baern manages to avoid one of his foes, he steps right into the attack by the other. The spear sinks deep into his side. Though the wound would have killed an ordinary man, Baern is made of stronger stuff and weathers the blow. Even as the battle rages ahead, three more orcs round the corner near the bulk of the party. Shiana is prepared and sends a ball of fire into the lead orc, burning it badly, though it still comes.
/ piercing
/ piercing
"Is there no end to these things???".
Hess quickly retreats into the entry hallway, and targets the burnt orc with a blast of eldritch energy.
EB
Energy
Baern lifts his shield and the spears clatter against it, noise of combat growing loud from behind. Shianni, the druid, throws a handful of fire down the way, alerting the dwarf that there are more of the orcs behind them.
"You'll need to do better than that, you bastards!" Baern growls, swinging with his warhammer in retribution.
The hammer finds its mark, slamming into the orc's shoulder with a crack. Baern's attention turns down the hallway, where he shouts to his comrades. "Is everyone alright?"
Shianni launches fire again, this time at the most injured Orc.
Taking a slight step forward, Hoddy sees the orcs coming out of the side passage and fires at one of the lead creatures (number 3)
Attack:
Damage:
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Rurik swings at his foe but does not manage to connect. Baern does, however, breaking the orc's left shoulder. The orc squeals in pain, but does not slow its attacks. Hess blasts the burned orc, putting it out of its misery. Shianni throws another bolt of fire even as Hoddy fires his crossbow. Hoddy's shot misses, but Shianni blasts the orc right in the face! As the orcs round the corner, Garret spots an opening and strikes, sending it to meet its foul gods personally. One orc strikes at Hoddy, but misses. The others attack Baern (two orcs) and Rurik, but none can penetrate the dwarves' armor!
The tips of spears bang off of his armor and shield, the frustration upon the orc's faces makes a wicked grin slowly spread across Baern's face. With each strike that is parried, Baern feels his mood improving. "Maybe Moradin is with us afterall..." He thought to himself, swinging his hammer again at the injured orc. This time, his weapon aims low and seeks to destroy the savage's knee, sending it toppling to the ground.
Looking back at his cousin, Baern growls to him in Dwarven.
Shianni continues to throw fire at the Orcs.
Rurik follows Baern's instructions without thought, he slams his hammer into the knee of the orc next to him before moving to engage Hoddy's foe.
He is not focused on the attack and the blow misses
Bolstered by his previous success, Hess aims for the Orc the Dwarves are playing with.
Eldritch Welcoming Embrace
Eldritch love
With the creature right in his face, Hoddy reaches back and grabs his handaxe. He swings it at the orc before him.
Attack:
Damage:
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Baern slams his warhammer into the orc's knee, causing it to falter and fall prone. Meanwhile, Shianni fries the onrushing orc, which plunges forward heedlesly. Rurik breaks from the orc he is fighting to attack the one menacing the bulk of the party. As he disengages, the orc manages to pierce his side. Rurik's blow falls short of the orc. Hess blasts one of the orcs facing Baern with an eldritch blast, which leaves it wounded. Hoddy fires point-blank, but the attack misses.
The downed orc is so busy holding its shattered knee that it does not take an attack against Baern, but the other and Rurik's former dance partner do. Neither attack gets past the dwarf's armor. The remaining orc judges that Rurik is the greater threat and strikes at the wounded dwarf, but its attack is also stopped by his armor!
The other orcs descended on Baern, trying the dwarf's defenses with furious strikes of spears. They each slammed off of the cleric's shield and armor, redirecting the blows from lethal strikes to harmless blows.
"You'll need to do better than that!" Baern growls out, putting away his warhammer on his side as he still focused on his defense. He grabbed hold of the holy symbol that hung from his neck, the fiery anvil that symbolized Moradin fitting neatly within his palm. He raised the symbol high and called out to the heavens above.
"All-father! Burn the unworthy away!" And from him came down a corona of glowing fire, like a furnace tipped over. The radiant flames would catch over the orcs, covering everything around him.
Shianni will cast Produce Flame on the most injured Orc.
Rurik swings his hammer at the orc in front of him, intent on taking him out of the fight fighting the urge to check on Baern.
the blow takes the foe in the shoulder.
"Yer face'n clan Holderhek yer days are at an end"
The thrill of the fight wash away the sting of the orc's earlier blow.
"See to my Cousin!
Feeling his confidence grow Hess once again sends a blast of eldritch energy at the threatening Orc.
EB
Pain
If the Orc goes down Hess will move up to see what else is happening beyond his sight.
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Baern blasts the orcs with holy fire, but only the most severely wounded succumbs. Shianni flames the most wounded orc that she can see, but the flames only lick the creature. It is Rurik who finishes the job, laying low his foe. His target already felled, Hess move to where he can see another orc and blasts it with eldritch power, sending it to meet its maker.
Hoddy. seeing the threating orc drop, moves forward and fires on the remaining foe.
Attack:
Damage:
More orcs poured out from the darkness and Baern would father his warhammer once more, the head of it stained with the blood of their fellows. Seeing them split the way, Baern would turn his head towards his cousin.
"Cousin, more fools come to join the dead! Mind the bodies and whatever was making that noise this way!" Baern would move downwards towards Hoddy, passing the skilled crossbowman and engaging the orc that was coming his way.
"Stick together friends! Cover each others' flanks!" Baern shouted as he swung his blessed warhammer, bringing it overtop to crush the orc.
Again, Shianni focuses on picking off the most injured foe.
Smiling widely and starting to giggle a bit under his breath, Hess unleashes some more eldritch fury.
EB
EBD
The crunch of the hobnails on the stone floor raise Rurik's spirits as he closes on the orcs, fighting alongside family, protecting teammates.
Hoddy moves up onto the table to get a better vantage to shoot at the many orcs in the room.
athletics:
Attack:
Damage:
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Baern smashes into his foe with all the strength of a raging tiger. Though the blow is not fatal, it is a telling strike. Shianni hurls another ball of fire towards the orcs, narrowly missing one of the creatures. Hess has more success, flinging an eldritch blast at one of the orcs facing Rurik and striking it dead center. The orc grunts in acknowledgment, but keeps coming. Rurik strikes at the orc, but the blow misses. Hoddy climbs onto a tabletop and fires another bolt into the onrushing quartet, dropping the orc nearest Rurik! Garret moves to the relative safety of the barricade and hurls a dagger at the orc nearest Baern, the blade missing its target by the narrowest of margins.
The orcs retaliate, with one attacking Baern and the other two facing Rurik. Their spears clang harmlessly off Rurik's shield, but Baern's foe finds an opening and strikes a harsh blow!
The Warrior yells in frustration and almost runs to his downed cousin, but holds before breaking contact.
"Druid, can you save him?"
It might be Rurik's rage, or it might be the guidance of Moradin, either way the results are the same, the hammer takes the orc in the temple.
+
Hess sees the new member of the group cave in the skull of one of the remaining orcs, and sends a sizzling ray of pain towards the other one he faces.
EB
EBD
But in his cautious approach to keep from hitting the Dwarf only wings the remaining Greenskin.
At hearing Rurik's call for aid This one seems to be a jinx on any who share his blood...
Pain. The world suddenly is full of it as the orc in front of Baern flashes him a toothy grin. His spear retracts outward and even in the dim light, Baern can see the red that decorates his spear tip. Blood. His blood.
"Oh hell..." He tries to keep his footing, his legs betray him and he slips down to a knee. The warhammer catches on the ground as his vision begins to blur. "Well, one of them got lucky..." He thought to himself before the pain became too great and the priest of Moradin fell to his side.
Hoddy reloads and fires on the orc that just downed Baern.
Attack:
Damage:
Shianni moves up, weaving between the attacks of her companions, and draws upon the healing power within Baern's body to close his wounds.
Baern's eyes would flicker open as he laid there upon the ground, his form slowly rising up as he felt down at his side. The strike at his side had seemed to heal up now and he would look back towards Shianni.
"Thank you, lass. Just what I needed." He would rise up now, gripping his warhammer and looking back at the orc that had put him down. He swore he could see the surprise in his face and it brought a savage grin to Baern's face. "Oh, you thought I was done and out, did you? Give it another go if you dare!" He would swing upwards aiming for the orc's jawline to shatter it whole.
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Rurik's hammer connects with the orc's temple and the creature falls, the side of its head bashed in. Hess sends a bolt of eldritch energy which sizzles close enough to the other orc that Rurik faces to burn it a little. Hoddy puts a bolt into the orc that downed Baern. The orc staggers slightly, but does not fall. Shianni lets healing magic flow into Baern's figure, bringing life back to his still form. Baern gets to his feet and smashes the orc in the jaw, sending it to the floor! Garret hurls another dagger, this on intended for the orc threatening Rurik. The blade buries itself in the face of the orc and the creature falls backward. Garret hops over the barricade and begins collecting his daggers. The stirring of more orcs can be heard to the west, but no more come from the darkness at this time.
The battle has a lull in the sound of combat, Baern breathing hard as he looked about at the chaos around them. There was still no sign of Teasag's body but there were slews of dead orcs scattered around them. Even at the monastery, this would be seen as a victorious battle.
"Form a line at the barricade. Rurik, beside me." There was still the sound of more of the savage creatures coming from the west and within the darkness. Preparing for even worse, Baern had to honestly look at their options. The divine power was still within him but it has been weakened; he could not rely on it any further. Shianni had used her magic to help him recover but one more good blow like that could put him down for the count. If him and his cousin were to fall, they'd end up just like Teasag.
"Shianni, how much more of your druid magic do you have? Are you able to heal us if we need it? If not, I suggest we fall back and camp out. Keep an eye on the caves and see if we can see what else lurks here." A bang from the west silenced him for a moment, the dwarf's voice lowering as his raised his shield. "We need to make our decision quickly..."
"Garret, Hess you have a free hand when fighting, strip the corpses for valuables while we cover you"
He moves to stand next to his cousin.