Shianni begins moving forward, and as she does, her body flows into the form of a Wolf. She whines a bit confusedly, and then turns back towards the direction the group was heading with what could only be a wolf trying to shrug.
Hes, head on a pivot follows the Dwarven brothers deeper into the cave, glad he can see over their heads. He jumps a bit at Shianni's transformation, but then smiles and shrugs... he's seen stranger things.
Perception
Hoddy keeps to the rear of the pack, splitting his time watching their backtrail and seeing where they are going.
Rurik reaches over and taps Baern on the arm, he points to his eyes, down the hall to where he saw the movement, then makes a hand gesture like tusks in-front of his mouth.
he waits in the hopes that his gestures conveyed the message and gets ready to move down the hall side by side with the cleric.
Baern will hear the sudden shift of footsteps behind him, the sound of two feet becoming four. Turning his head around quickly, he catches sight of the wolf that is with them. He stares for a moment but is able to piece together that the fierce creature in front of him was the same as the woman that had just been with them.
"Crazy elves." He thought to himself just as Rurik taps his shoulders and gestures down the hallway. Giving a soft now, Baern puts away his weapon for a moment and pulls out his holy symbol.
"All-Father, grant us strength. Make our bodies as strong as hardened steel, our weapons as inevitable as crashing mountains." He whispers softly, casting a spell on his cousin, the warlock, and the ranger.
He then moved down the hallway twenty-five feet with his cousin at his side, his shield ready to protect the frontline.
Hess makes a sign in the air with his hand, (Blade Ward) and steps forward with the cousins.
The wolf that Shianni turned into begins growling, hackles raised. There was clearly something ahead she didn't like.
The young dwarf grunts slightly at the wound and strikes back at the Orc.
Filled with Frustration he swings again.
The back-swing connects with a solid thump
The spear bangs off of the dwarf's armor, a grim smile spread across Baern's face. "Thought you were done with us, eh?!" He shouts, just as one of them connects a solid strike upon his cousin. Rage pumps through his chest and a sense of protectiveness overwhelms the older Holderhek who follows up upon Rurik's strike with righteous vengeance.
"Leave my cousin be, you bastards!"
Hoddy takes aim with his crossbow and fires at the orcs before him.
Attack:
Damage:
Wolf-Shianni continues growling, then scoots back and then bounds forward, jumping off the wall to try and clear the wall of Orcs.
Hess starts a bit at the smell of the orcs. He had almost forgotten, then he lets loose a blast of personality fueled eldritch energy.
EB
Eldritch Pain
EB (If disadvantage is required for cover)
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Rurik's first blow does not get past the orc's hide armor, but the second one connects nicely, shattering the creature's jaw! Baern strikes the orc for its impertinence, but the stubborn creature remains standing. That is until Hoddy's crossbow puts a bolt between its eyes. The orc pitches backward.
The she-wolf Shianni makes a mighty leap, ricocheting off the wall and behind the orc in front of Baern! Hess unleashes a scorching blast of eldritch energy at the orc before Baern, wounding it terribly. Garret, stepping up beside Hess, finishes it off with a flip of a dagger.
Thier numbers suddenly down by two, the orcs withdraw slightly, holding their spears at the ready.
[spoiler=Dice Rolls] [/dice]
"They're falling back! On me, friends!" Baern says, seeing that the orcs hold their spears ready to attack. "I should try and prompt their strikes, give my allies a greater footing. Baern thinks, entering into the range of their attacks with his shield raised high.
Rurik can see Baern's plan in the Cleric's mind, there are some advantage to training with the same weapon master.
'Ulfgar would be proud'
He waits for the Orc's to commit to their strikes before stepping forward to attack.
Seeing an opening Hess moves forward, and releases another bolt of energy.
EB
Damage
Hoddy again takes aim and fires on the retreating orcs.
Attack:
Damage:
The Dwarf steps forward and swings his heavy Warhammer.
For all there faults, Orc armor is sturdy.
Shianni moves up and bites one of the Orcs.
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Baern steps up, drawing the attacks of the orcs, but before they can react, Hess blasts one with eldritch energies and Hoddy follows up with a crossbow bolt that drops the creature. Garret works his way in range and hurls a dagger at the remaining orc, hitting it square in the chest. Despite the burbling wound, the stubborn creature comes forward, striking at Baern. The ill-timed attack misses the dwarf and quickly Rurik and the she-wolf Shianni fill the gaps, though neither is able to hit the target.
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Rurick moves on the Orc striking it like a hunk of iron on the anvil.
Not a killing blow, but the creature was off balance now.
As the last enemy falls, Hoddy quickly checks their backtrail to make sure none of the creatures are following them.
Wolf-Shianni sniffs the Orc's corpses, then Harumphs, then begins tracking.
"Well. That came out a bit better than our last trip here. Shall we move forward... cautiously...
Hess waits for the Dwarven contingent to move forward, then follows his senses on alert.
Perception
And promptly slips in some green blood, and almost falls into a wall.
Rurik moves over to watch the ?Door? behind Hess while the others search.
He listens for noise from the other side.
The last orc falls to the ground and it brings a smirk to the cleric's face. They were falling fast and quickly, it would seem. Looking back at the others, he'd stand alongside Shianni and whisper back.
"Let's clear the room, make sure no one can come up behind us. You check it over Garret, let my cousin lead us in."
"Garret, do ya suppose you could open this?" He says indicating the door.
"Let me try". Hess grabs the thieves tools off the unresponsive Garrett and gives it a try.
Thieves Tools
TT Advantage if Garrett assists.
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With a quick twist of the wrist, Hess manages to jimmy the lock on the door. Beyond is a 20-foot-by-40-foot storeroom. Numerous sacks, crates, and casks are neatly stacked or piled along the walls. In addition, several shields hang on the east wall, along with numerous spears propped up in the corner. A pair of battleaxes sit on one of the crates, and a very familiar form lies on the floor in the middle of the room.
Moving into the room, Shianni starts smelling around for scent trails.
Hess rises up, pockets the”borrowed” thieves tools then moves along the wall to the right making sure none are hiding in ambush.
perception
Shianni moves along the trail and grunt-whines at the group, then moves over to Baern and shoulder checking him before moving back to where she started making noise.
Hoddy keeps a watch as the others examine the room. He moves so he can look down each of the corridors.
Baern freezes for only a moment when his vision rests upon the form that lays slumped upon the ground. The hesitation is there and for half a step, he doesn't approach. Slowly, carefully, he moves closer towards that discarded form laying there. Slowly, he would roll the fallen monk over onto his back. His rough, bloodied hands would finally close the glassy eyes of Teasag and a slow breath left him. The soft tongue of the elves left Baern's lips as he whispered a quick prayer in the room while the others searched it.
The prayer was short but there was little time to spend on the particulars of faith. Clerics hardened for use in battle had little time for proper burials; just the quick prayer to ensure their souls moved on properly.
"Let us finish this." Baern says grimly, hefting his warhammer once more. Turning, he nods to his cousin to take the flank alongside him before delving back into the dark against the orcish foes.
Shianni listens to Baern's prayer and huffs, then turns back towards the tracks.
Hess moves towards the door, and listens for anything from the other side. He motions the others to join him.
Perception
Hess turns and whispers to the others. There's at least three of them in there... and it sounds like they're...well... creating new baby Orcs... so we might can charge in and catch them unaware".
Hoddy feels like he might throw up a little in his mouth at the revelation that the Orc's beyond this door were mating!
"Blrrp!! Oops, sorry...just the thought...ewwww. Ok, I am good now..errppp..of gods I have to stop thinking about it...."
The gnome finally gets himself under control and readies his crossbow.
"Ready to go when I open the door'
Rurick hangs his hammer on the belt hook and holdes up 5 fingers
four
three
He lowers his hand to the handle on the two beat
one
He throws the door open
Shianni springs through the door and crashes into one of the females, jaws going for her throat.