A scowl crosses Kriger's face as the stink cloud envelops them. "Froo " He grabs his axe and moves out of the building, heading straight for...
The Lords of Frieland - Round 1
Kriger, being on guard and alert, starts to move as he hears the croaking, getting to his feet. A scowl crosses Kriger's face as the stink cloud envelops them. "Froooog FREAKS!" He grabs his axe and moves out of the building, heading straight for the river.
Servayn wakes up choking and rises to remove himself from the cloud towards the river.
Kalsgrim, incapacitated by the cloud, can only do so much.
//He has to choose between grabbing his bow, or making for clean air.
Malaswyn grabs something beside him and heads for the river.
The Tricksy Boggards - Round 1
The darkness in front of you is suddenly filled with a deafening croak. Your bones shudder from the frightening clamour.
I cast light on the corner of the building (or the ground nearby, if the corner is within the cloud.
Malaswyn dispels the darkness, revealing nine boggards' head in the river, the rest of their body under the surface.
Servayn conjures forth black tentacles to erupt from the water in a vast area centered behind the northmost boggards.
Watching Servayn's tentacle spell go off, Kriger just sits back and watches to see what happens, grinning. "Any of you fellas got any way I can breathe underwater? Otherwise, I guess we just sit back and enjoy the show! Get 'em, Servayn! Stupid frog freaks."
The Lords of Frieland - Round 2
The deafening croaks take you off guard and fear creeps in your heart.
Kalsgrim, still inside, grabs his bow.
Malaswyn dispels the darkness, revealing nine boggards' head in the river, the rest of their body under the surface.
Servayn conjures forth black tentacles to erupt from the water in a vast area centered behind the north-most boggards.
//All four to his right are caught by the tentacles, crushed pitilessly, but one dives under a tentacle and escapes.
Watching Servayn's tentacle spell go off, Kriger just sits back and watches to see what happens, grinning. "Any of you fellas got any way I can breathe underwater? Otherwise, I guess we just sit back and enjoy the show! Get 'em, Servayn! Stupid frog freaks."
The Tricksy Boggards - Round 2
Through the light provided by Malaswyn, you see three boggards making for each of you with morningstars.
One of the boggards finishes a weird croaking sound that undulates like the water and his neighbour suddenly expands in size as it moves to the edge of the river bearing trident and axe and going for Kriger. At his side, a giant toad also moves to the edge of the river and darts its long tongue towards Servayn.
The large and the medium boggards each find an opening in Kriger’s armour, who thankfully chose mithral for his armour, paying just a little more to be able to sleep in it!
The tongue misses Servayn by a barn...
The boggard staying in the water croaks some more and points a finger at Kriger, whose axe, seems to get very slippery.
Kriger grins maniacally at the boggards, "I got ya now, froggies! But for some stupid reason I got the blasted shakes!" he realizes. Shrugging, he proceeds to attack the creatures regardless.
I shuffle away from the boggard and summon forth a bolt of searing light to strike him.
Servayn side-steps diagonally to the southwest and conjures up a bubbling patch of black oil beneath the boggards threatening himself and Kriger.
Kriger kills two, and Malaswyn kills another.
At the sight of this carnage, the Boggards left (two) turn heels and jump back in the water, as Kalsgrim finally gets out of the ruins, choking like mad.
The ripple quickly fade, washed away by the current. All that is left is the three Boggards being slowly crusehd by Servayn's conjured tentacles.
And the night is still young!
"They seem particularly stupid, so I guess we will need to continue keeping a watch." Servayn says, looking a bit unsettled at the slow but inevitable slaughter that his conjuration is wreaking upon those who succumbed to the spell.
If I end the spell, that's just more foes we will have to confront, if they strike again. And yet this is no true fight. This is distant butchery. Gorum would be displeased...
The last Boggards die with whimpering croaks.
For a while, there is a welcomed stillness to the night. Then, in the distance, you hear a long croak pierce through the darkness.
A few seconds later, the croak is answered by one further distant.
Then another.
And another.
And soon, the night erupts in echoes of distant croaks, going back and forth on the surface of the great lake.
"I tire of these creatures." Servayn says. "Do we wish to exterminate them and be done with it? There are beasts of the sea that I can conjure into these waters, that will give them of our displeasure."
Servayn begins to conjure, and in the water, as near as the closest croak he can hear, a massive sea beast appears, dappled black and white in the light of the moon, displacing water with a splash as it appears. It immediately moves toward the nearest foe with a strike from powerful flukes and begins to attack.
Able to catch a glimpse of the sea creature, Kriger's eyes go wide as a great smile forms. "Okay, I gotta hand it to you, Servayn, that is absolutely glorious! HA! HA! Die froggies!"
Nodding grimly at Servayn's tactical nous, I offer my aid: "Any need for healing?"
The orca swings mightily in the river's water, and the croaking sounds coming from your area suddenly stop, leaving only the ones emanating from the rest of the lake without echo.
It is hard to know how effective the killer whale is, but it seems certain the Boggards have left your immediate area.
I think we are going to have to try and get some more rest. Unless Servayn can do us up some more mounts to get clear of the area. We can always return later to clear out this boggard menace.
"Now that that's settled, let's try again to get some rest."
You go back to sleep, though you can't get comfortable and your eyes open at the slighest sound. Kriger remains alert.
Quickly snapping his attention toward the sound, Kriger just shakes his head. Not again. These <bleep> things just don't quit do they. Figuring he better have some backup, he grabs his axe and moves over to Kalsgrim. Bending down, he whispers in hopes to not wake the others. "Hey, Kals? Kals? Wake up, Chief." He nudges the paladin's shoulder in an attempt to stir him. "I think our frog buddies are back. Somethin' is anyway. Thanks to you, I've learned not to go off by myself," he says with a wry grin, winking. "C'mon, let's see who else wants to piss me off." He rises, looking back toward the direction of the sound, awaiting Kalsgrim.
From outside the ruined inn comes the guttural croakings of several boggards. From the sound of it, these sounds like castings of spells. Added to these are the sounds of large toads, but than a very loud toad rips through the other sounds, seemingly quieting the whole marsh for a second.
If awakened, Servayn gets to his feet and calls up lantern archons, as requested, asking them to begin lighting the area around the building.
"What the blazes is that? Sounds big." Kriger lights up his axe with flame, ready to see what awaits them.
I take the time to strap on my sword, heft my pack and pick up my bow.
"They're like those bugs that fly around your ear. You know, the ones you just swat at but never can hit. Only bigger. Man I hate those things. Almost as much as I hate these <bleep> frogs!"
The four archons go out and light the night. Through the flickering light, you can make the expected Boggards of greater size, but now there are two, with two nasties behind that look like the kind to conjure up some foul cloud on unsuspecting adventurers, troubling their beauty sleep.
But what really draws your attention, is the mammoth-size frog with three eyes at the end of a stem, with tentacles going in all direction and a nasty tongue lashing about.
On its back sits what looks like the boss-of-all-Boggards, with a crown of feathers and a mighty sceptre that could certainly work as a morningstar in a pinch.
The boss croaks mightily and looks at you with enormous red eyes: "CROAK! What's your prrrrooaaaablem!!! You attack and decimate my warrioooaaaarrrs?! This is my territoooarry! You'll pay passage or yoooaur'll die!"
From the look of it, all of them seem ready to act if you attack...
Servayn says quietly to Kalsgrim, "I am inclined to kill these creatures, but if they seem like the sort of folk our nation can co-exist peacefully and productively with, I am willing to negotiate. Do you have an insight as to their nature?"
Lacking any further orders, the lantern archons continue flitting about, avoiding coming anywhere near any specific boggard, casting continual flame on additional objects, so that eight separate areas are illuminated with torch equivalent light, not counting our own light sources.
Kriger looks to the giant creatures within the light, before adding his thoughts. "Negotiate? Seriously? I hate these things." Glancing back toward the creatures in the water, "Alright, I guess Servayn has a point though. Especially since they won't come out of the stinkin' water. What do you think, Chief? You probably don't want me talking to them; I'd just bury my axe in their face and ask if that's enough to convince them to stop jacking with us." He shrugs.