"This is no' yer boat!" Morti growls in giant-tongue at the adversary in front of him, cloaking himself in a protective aura, "An' by Torag I'll remove ye from i'!"
He steps forward and takes a mighty swing at the giant --
Seeing Mort's powerful blow, Falric moves to the east to flank his giant, but misses.
"Oy! Ye bloody fool giant! Lemme go!" the dwarf shouts as the giant envelops his smaller target, struggling to try and escape the grip of his enemy.
Eli uses another point from her arcane reservoir and blasts the same sea giant with a missile. After using her spell, she moves 30' due away from it, trying to make it harder for it to land its javelin.
Damage
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Round 2: Merrow attack
Giant #1 has taken 21 damage from Eli's energy missiles and draws another javelin as it moves up 10' and launches it at Eli again, but his throw is poor and misses.
Giant #2, who has Barundar grappled, tries to claw the dwarf, but Bar uses his bulkiness to prevent the giant from getting position on him. The combatants remain grappled.
Giant #3, who is flanked, took 18 damage from Morti's powerful weapon and attacks the dwarf with its claws, drawing maximum carnage on the first blow!
Morti reels from the giant's own powerful blow but stands his ground and strikes again!
"Finish 'im, Falric!"
Morti's second blow kills the wounded merrow, caving its skull in! Falric moves to the other wounded merrow and with a slash of his scimitar, ends its life as well. Only one merrow remains grappled with Barundar.
Eli was glad there was nothing else throwing javelins at her, that was for sure. She was having good luck tapping into her arcane reservoir, and strengthening her missiles. She did it for the third time.
Magic missile
Barundar continues his struggle against the giant, trying less to actually win and more to just hold the beast off until the others can come assist.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Barundar cannot escape the giant's grip. The merrow, however, upon seeing the dead carcasses of his friends on the ship's deck, quickly releases the dwarf and rushes to the side of the ship and leaps off into the water, never to bother the party again.
The party clears the dam after a few hours of work and the trip continues.
"Jus' another day in paradise!" Morti grumbles cheerfully as the party wades in the river to clear the dam -- and wash off the merrows' blood. "Can' wait t' see wha's next in store!"
Eli casts Detect Magic and scans the bodies as the group continues on their journey.
"Well, that was interesting...hey, Morti, ya liking ya new hammer?! That thing swings hard! Took that giant out in two swings!" Falric smiles at the dwarf's new toy.
"Aye, i' does a'right! Whoever forged i' knew wha' they were doin'."
After the merrow attack, the crew views the party as both a good luck charm and bad luck - good luck you're here to save them and bad luck since they never seen so many dangers on one trip: escaped girallon, assassin ranger stowaway, killer drakes, orc ambushes, merrow blockades...sheesh!
Thankfully, by the next day, the environment changes as the keelboat reaches the Ghostlight Marsh and you proceed slower, looking for the marker the druid elf Silvermane told you about. The party is gathered on deck searching for the marker.
"To find the Vault of Thorns, you need to look for a marker in the form of a circle of thorns carved into a stone near the banks of the River Esk. This marker will put you on the right path through the swamp to find the Vault, but the entrance to the demiplane is hidden."
However, in their search, Morti and Falric spot something more sinister, waiting for them: an orc ambush composed of six orcs and a leader, who appears to be badly burned and are hiding behind some trees on the river bank, about 30' from the boat!
"It's a trap! Ta' cover!" Morti shouts in warning to the crew.
He punctuates his call by hurling a javelin at the apparent leader of the orcs,
Falric drinks his mutagen and draws his scimitar: "To arms, my brothers. for orcs are upon us!"
Morti's javelin throw goes wide, as six orcs and a muscular leader reveal themselves from the shore, with javelins in hand.
Orcs are on shoreline about 20' from the keelboat all grouped up 5' apart from each other.
Eli casts Grease and a 10' square spot of land under the orcs becomes slippery.
As his standard action, Falric casts Shield on himself and he then proceeds to move to take a running start and jumps off the side of the ship and lands on the shore. "Hello orcs, care to dance?!"
Elisen's spell catches two orcs and they both fall to the ground.
Falric lands gracefully on the shore and 4 orcs, drop their javelins, and rush him with their falchions! One manages to get in a lucky hit, slicing the halfling across his shoulder!
...threat
..nope
The two orcs in the Grease try to stand, with one of them succeeding.
The orc, who just stood up, launches a javelin at Elisen, which misses by a mile.
Morti glances over the side of the boat and quickly decides that following Falric's lead will most likely leave him on the bottom of the river.
Instead he pushes divine energy out to boost the halfling's own whirl of blades.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Knowing better than to try and make the jump himself, what with Falric's sword doing its crazy dance of death and the ground as slick as Falric's tongue, Barundar swaps his dorn dergar for his shortbow, taking a shot at the orc that successfully stood up in the grease.
A hasted Falric takes a full-attack on the 4 orcs surrounding him!
The barbarian leader of the orcs rages and comfortable that his orcs can kill the small halfling, runs and leaps onto the keelboat and brings down his falchion on Morti!
Falric cuts down one of the orcs, leaving 3 behind.
Eli uses a point from her arcane reservoir and blasts the Leader with a missile.
Damage
Orc attack:
Two orcs attack Falric with flank while the other attacks normally, but all three swings find air, as the agile hafling is too fast.
Barundar immediately drops his bow and takes his dorn dergar up again, at its full length, whipping the heavy metal ball around in the orc's direction!
Morti briefly considers backing off before the raging orc can get in another swing, but realizes he might not be able to get far. 'Asides, Angradd don't 'old with backin' off from an orc!
Wrapping himself in divine energy, he lashes out at the barbarian, hoping to last at least long enough for his companions to finish the combat!
The orc barbarian takes the two massive blows from the dwarves, but in his enraged state, he continues attacking them, switching to Barundar!
Eli casts Hideous Laughter on the leader.
Falric starts his battle dance as move action and attacks one of the three remaining orcs!
Falric slashes one of the 3 remaining orcs, disabling him, but they continue to attack the halfling, but Falric nimbly dodges the blows with grace.
Morti calls on Angradd for healing energy while taking another swing at the prone enemy -- then steps back just in case the orc recovers.
And Barundar piles on!
The two dwarves' blows crush the barbarian leader's skull and end his laughter forever with a sickening crunch.
Falric smiles as he attacks the disabled orc, "That crunch didn't sound too good for your leader!"
Elisen tries to conserve her magic, as the battle seemed to be in hand at this time.
Falric's blade disembowels another orc. The remaining two orcs look to the boat and no longer see their brave and vicious leader standing, so they make a run for it. Falric's blade catches one in the back and staggers him and eventually kills him. The second orc flees into the swamp never to be seen again.
The next day, after you rest, you are free to begin your exploration of Ghostlight Marsh in search of the Vault of Thorns. Captain Bloodtusk agrees to wait at the shores where you found the marker for your return. Now, all you have to do is find the hidden entrance to the Vault by first finding a will-o’-wisp to place in the ghostlight lantern that the druid Silvermane gave you. You disembark from Bloodtusk’s keelboat and head northward from the marker into the swamp.
You quickly realize the Ghostlight Marsh will be a difficult trek. The swamp is comprised of slow-moving streams, pools of stagnant water, and scattered hummocks of mud and waterlogged reeds. On average, the water is 4 feet deep and counts as deep bog for purposes of movement (4 squares). That depth of water covers Falric's head.