Thaliar's hand immediately goes for his spear when he nudged. He always sleeps light, especially when not in a decent bed and is ready to go immediately. The new studded leather still chafed a bit and he'd need to readjust it when they were back at Oleg's but it was good enough.
Radomir's first instinct is to hop atop Czernabog. He unfetters Czernabog and mounts the steed, holing his lance at the ready.
Andrea casts CLW on Ed earlier
Soren quietly makes his way towards the horses, nudging people as he passes them while Radomir heads straight to his trusty horse and mounts him.
The nudged people begin to wake as a large figure moves out of the shadow of the trees and moves to attack one of the light horses.
It claws and bites the horse, taking chunks of flesh from it.
Alexander rolls to his feet quietly, spear in hand. He blinks as he sees the large creature and steps into a throw at its back.
Soren lets loose the arrow he had nocked, after studying the creature for a moment.
Radomir wheels Czernabog around and charges the creature. [b]"To arms! A beast approaches!"['/b]
x2 because charge!
"Watch it! Owlbears are fierce creatures." He shouts after Radomir as the knight charges of. He himself carefully moves closer, spear at the ready. Charging in after his colleague would be stupid and Thaliar instead keeps his distance. There he prepares in case the beast considers him a better target.
This bear like creature with a head like an owl and feathers covering its entire body is in fact the vicious owlbear. This check reveals all magical beast traits.
The owlbear attacks its prey with its deadly claws, latching onto an opponent. They then bite and claw until the victim falls dead and is devoured. Owlbears attack any prey on sight, and consider anything larger than a mouse prey.
Eduard will step forward until he can just see the creature.
"Well then."
He will draw his crossbow and cast Light on the first bolt to be fired while taking a 5 foot step behind whoever is nearest. The goal is to place the more durable members of the expedition between him and the clawing monstrosity.
Andrea frets at the timing, she has yet to regain what prayers she has spent.
Eduard makes sure that there are other targets between himself and the owlbear while drawing his crossbow and casting light upon it.
Soren fires off an arrow at the creature, but misses his target.
Thaliar moves up to within 20 feet of the owlbear and braces his spear for a possible charge by it.
A mounted Radomir charges the beast, but fails to connect with his lance.
Alexander throws his shortspear at the beast and makes contact.
Annoyed at being interrupted from its meal of horseflesh, the owlbear drops the now dead horse and steps around it to take a bite at Radomir.
Andrea loads her crossbow and waits for the area to be lit up so that she can take a clear shot.
An owlbear? How...descriptive. It's too bad it's not more owl than bear.
Alexander picks up his shield and straps it to his arm.
Radomir curses as his lance misses the beast's head by a clear margin. Frustration is evident in his moves as he jerks on the reins and makes another pass at the owlbear.
X2 on charge
An owlbear? How...descriptive. It's too bad it's not more owl than bear.
Alexander waves his hand and whispers some mystical words, then picks up his shield and straps it to his arm.
Andrea shoots and misses.
Carefully Thaliar moves closer until the beast is just within reach of his spear and then he strikes. He watches the creature carefully, ready to move away again should the beats decide to go after him.
Eduard will fire the Light enchanted bolt at the Owlbear.
Eduard misses the Owlbear with his bolt, but it lands right near the creature and light up both it and the area it is in.
Andrea shoots a crossbow bolt at the creature, but misses.
Soren also misses with his ranged attack, his arrow thunking into tree a yard behind the Owlbear.
Thaliar closes in to attack the creature with his spear.
Czernabog lashes out with his hooves and bites at the Owlbear before taking a step back to that Radomir can attempt to use his lance upon the creature.
Alexander casts Grease underneath the Owlbear.
The Owlbear manages to keep to its feet when Alexander first casts the spell....
...But when it moves to follow after Radomir and Czernabog, its feet fly out from underneath it as it slips in the Grease and it falls flat on its feathery back.
well done Czernabog! Now, we press our advantage!.
Radomir thrusts his lance at the owlbear again as he guides his fierce stallion into the fray. The horse's hooves bad teeth lash out tat the prone beast.
Radomir:
Czernabog:
When the owlbear falls down Thaliar lets out a small sigh of relief before he attacks again. His spear easily finds it's mark as the beast laid on it's back.
Eduard will reload and attempt to fire again.
Eduards misses with a bolt.
Thaliar gets in a solid hit with his spear, piercing the animal in its gut.
Radomir and his trusty steed finish off the Owlbear, leaving trampled pile of feathery ruin in their wake.
Well, my heart is certainly racing. How about everyone else?
Alexander strides over to the creature, staying a healthy owlbear arm's reach back from it until certain it isn't moving. After this moment's hesitation he steps forward and pulls his shortspear from it's back. Stepping back from the corpse, he scans the woods around the camp for any signs of others.
We should calm the other horses down and retrieve any that have run off. They'll be agitated for a while with all this blood around. He says, as he cleans his spear. Let's get this cleaned up. He frowns as he looks down upon the corpse, It's too bad, all that damage. Oleg could have had a new rug.
Alexander sets about going around calming the horses and gathering them up.
Who needs aid? I have 1 healing blessing left and two healing potions(CLW) I could heal the horses
Andra uses CLW on the horse
Soren inspects the corpse of the owlbear.
Thaliar plucks a single arrow from his quiver as he kneels down next to the beast. He plucks the long feathers from the beasts brow, using the arrow's head to help loosen them if needed. He selects for the long, sleek feathers, "Let's see if I can turn these into quills for writing. There must be people willing to pay a pretty penny for owlbear quills." Even if not he himself sure wanted one.
As he was working he suddenly stopped and looked back at the others, "We need to check the area. It might have been alone but there also is a chance it's mate is around. If it is, we might also find eggs."
In the morning, Soren inspects the tracks from the unnatural creature that attacked in the night. He doesn't admit it to anyone, but the way that it seems like two different creatures grown together unnerves him quite a bit.
I believe I can track this thing back to its lair. If there are more then it is probably best to get rid of them now, in the spirit of clearing out this area.
Tracking it sounds like a good idea, the eggs may very well bring a good price.
Radomir will take Czernabog and do a sweep around the camp, searching for anyone and anything that might harm the group.
you have done well, Czernabog.. He strokes the horse's neck gently and his steed stamps his foot on reply. Yes, I know you're proud of yourself. I am , too. We proved today that we will be good weapons for our master's service.
Once he's patrolled the area, Radomir heads back to the others for his report and further orders from Alexander.
After calming the horses and cleaning up the mess, Alexander rests. Good idea. We don't want more of these wandering the woods. Hopefully it's not too far.
He waits patiently in the morning for Soren to find the trail then follows.
Soren you are able to follow the owlbears tracks back in the direction that it came from. Being that it was a rather large creature, even the horses can follow (single file) down its trail.
You all travel about a mile down its trail until you notice that it is leading straight towards some downed trees. It looks as if a couple of large pines had been knocked over in a storm and had fallen against another group of trees, forming a sort of natural made lean too.
Soren studies the area for a moment before choosing a path and stealthily making his way to the lair.
Once at a distance where he can see inside, he takes cover and peers in, and uses hand signals to relay what he sees back to the group.
With his shield and spear ready, and as alert as he can be, Alexander stealthily follows Soren.
Alexander taps Soren on the shoulder and motions that they should return to the group.
There's another one. Sleeping perhaps? Soren might have gotten a better look than I. He says as he addresses the group. I can make it difficult for it to get up, have a few of us take shots, then the rest of us charge in and finish it off. With surprise and preparation on our side, this should go well. Any suggestions? Better ideas?
Eduard will hang back, waiting for some sign to proceed so that he doesn't interfere with the more silent members of the party.