Getting sliced again by the Stag Lord and somehow, by some unknown force, that no man could possibly explain, he manages to sidestep his other swing. "Guess you're not interested." He says as he once again swings at the Stag Lord.
Kriger, finally connecting, lets out a yell of frustration after having not been able to even come close to hitting the Stag Lord, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! FEEL THAT YOU PILE OF STAG DUNG?! HA! HA!"
Round 16
16 - Tuck (FD AC 20): Tuck rushes across the roof, crossing the low wall and readying his rapier as he drops the bandit’s shortbow.
14 - Janku (SoF, MWpn, BStr, Bless): Janku uses his final channel of the day. "Come on team". "We've got to start hitting this guy". "Quit being scared of him!"
11 - Lukasz (): Most of his options unavailable with the Stag Lord being in melee combat as he was, Lukasz points his finger at the Bandit lord and fires off yet another Force Missile.
10 - Kriger (Bless, SoF): Getting sliced again by the Stag Lord and somehow, by some unknown force, that no man could possibly explain, he manages to sidestep his other swing. "Guess you're not interested." He says as he once again swings at the Stag Lord.
His first blow landing deep in the Stag Lord’s shoulder blade, Kriger conjures the little energy he has left. In a deep push of adrenaline, he manages to land a second blow, this time landing his axe in the man’s neck.
Kriger, finally connecting, lets out a yell of frustration after having not been able to even come close to hitting the Stag Lord, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! FEEL THAT YOU PILE OF STAG DUNG?! HA! HA!"
As he removes his axe, a hot spray of dark blood showers him. The Stag Lord seems to oscillate slightly, his eyes slowly loosing their hate, replaced by surprise. He lands on his knees, then falls on his side. The horns of his helm, spattered with blood, stuck over the railing, he is left in midair, not quite touching the ground. His hand twitches for a few seconds, then the swords drops from his hand, clattering emptily on the wooden platform.
The Stag Lord, scourge of the Greenbelt, leader of a fledgling and now defunct bandit realm, is no more.
A cold wind rises and washes over the fort and the clouds part for a minute, letting a cold sun bask you, anointing you all for the task ahead.
Yet, shortly after, you feel your muscle tremble from the slowing down of your pulse and withdrawal from adrenaline. The bitter night spent in the cold rain, mostly awake, and the long and extreneous fight have left their toll. You feel thin, but happy.
Janku kneels down beside the bandit king, to make sure he's dead.
Heal check.
And burns his last 1st level spell for a heal on Kriger.
"Well now that that's over with, we need to take stock of what is here, and make sure there are no other surprises...then I suggest we make camp here for the night, and explore the place thoroughly".
"We'll need to keep watch just in case any other bandits try to return over night".
Kriger to far buried in his own rage, didn't realize his last swing at the Stag Lord ended him until he hit the ground. "Well I guess that answers my question." He says to himself as he hits the ground, rear end first, from exhaustion.
Feeling the effects of Janku's healing, "Thanks Janks. Thanks for keeping me alive. Ol' Deadeye knows I was a sure goner without that healing magic of yours. Oh and thanks for pissing me off by calling me scared. I was getting a bit discouraged but that sure lit a fire under my butt!" He slaps him on the arm.
The sun is about four hours from setting as the group starts to group the remains of the bandits.
Everyone is very cold from the whole endeavour, and the idea of a warm night before further exploration is certainly enticing.
"Well now that that's over with, we need to take stock of what is here, and make sure there are no other surprises...then I suggest we make camp here for the night, and explore the place thoroughly"."We'll need to keep watch just in case any other bandits try to return over night".
"Agreed. I do know there's a bow here that I need to reacquire. And one of those healing drinks I dropped." He mentions as he tries to work some soreness out of his arms. "I don't suppose any of these scum were left alive, were they?" Kriger asks the group.
Servayn looks around, concerned. "Where's Tuck? Did we lose anyone?"
He spots the former bandit and waves, pleased to see that this is not the case, and then drops down to ground level to check for survivors.
If anyone remains alive, other than the Stag Lord, who Janku seems to have in hand, and 'Beaky,' who can bleed out for all he cares, Servayn will attempt to bind their wounds.
Akiros, Dovan and 2 other bandits can be saved, but each would require some time or a spell. All in all, Servayn will have to make a choice or call for some help. One bandit is passed out from Lukasz's spell.
Bringing all the possessions together takes a while but everyone is involved. Taking advantage of the many casters present and the appraising skills of Tuck, the loot is quickly ordered and sifted through.
Kriger's bow and potion.
3 horses
Auchs dragon toys, worth 45 gp
Bandits' 7 leather armor, 7 shortswords, 200 arrows
Dovan's masterwork chain shirt, +1 rapier, daggers (3), cure serious wounds potion, silver Stag Lord amulet worth 20 gp, turquoise earrings worth 130 gp each
Akiros' potion of cure moderate wounds (2) +1 chainmail, masterwork heavy steel shield, +1 longsword, composite longbow (+2 Str) with 20 arrows and 3 +1 magical beast bane arrows, silver holy symbol of Erastil, silver Stag Lord amulet worth 20 gp
Coins are collected. In all, 2 pp and 178 gp.
The Stag Lord had a potion of cure serious wounds, a +1 leather armor, a +1 longsword, a +1 composite longbow (+2 Str) with 20 arrows, an amulet of natural armor +1, a ring of protection +1 and a single +1 Human Bane arrow.
Most intriguing is the Stag Lord's Stag helm. It is made of bones and resembles the skull of a great stag. The bone is as hard as steel though, and a magical aura bathes it. Once removed, you can clearly see how defaced the man's face is. The scars are very old and tell of numerous episodes of disfiguration. Whatever this man went through, it was over many years, not one single time.
"I'm gonna see if Akiros still breathes. That's who I was wondering about. Hopefully he does, that way we can beat any information out of him we can get." He thinks on that a moment and then a sly grin forms on his face, "Regardless of wether he knows anything or not. HA! HA!" Kriger then heads back inside looking for Akiros to see if he survived.
Just before he leaves, Kriger turns to Servayn, "Ember, Servayn? His deadness, over there, I think killed her. She is the only one that is missing. I just never saw her lying dead somewhere. I'm hoping you summoned her, maybe? And her time here just ran out?" He asks truly worried.
Servayn will use guidance to improve Kriger's chance at the Heal check on Akiros and then turn his attention to one of the other nameless bandits, also casting guidance on himself to increase his odds at the difficult skill.
"We've got a few survivors down here!" he says, between muttered incantations, as he attempts to wrap cloth around bloodied wounds, inexpertly, failing to provide any benefit to the dying man, adding less loudly, "and I have no idea what I'm doing here..."
After the stabilizing is dealt with, he'll reply to Kriger's comment;
"Ember will be fine. When he is cut down here, it's only the destruction of the false body I construct for him on this plane. He'll probably take longer-lasting offense if he hears you calling him a her..."
"Oops. Don't tell him I said that. I like Ember. That's a good companion you got there. And I've seen what he can do in battle. I think I'd rather take on the Stag scum again." He says with a smile and a wink.
Janku will go around with the others, and making sure they're secure help with the healing.
Heal Check
Heal Check
Heal Check
Heal Check
"I know there is at least one bandit uninjured, unless he broke free..." Tuck checks on the unconscious bandit he had tied up with his rope, "At least I was pretty sure he was just knocked out by Lukasz' spell." Once the bodies are piled and looted, and the captives are dealt with, Tuck leans wearily against the old walls, [b]"It will be good to get some rest before searching the rest of this place, I'm exhausted.
With the help of the priest and Servayn, the surviving bandits are all stabilized.
Kriger enquires about a certain healer that was named by the bandits captured outside, which in turn remind you all of their absence! The two bandits are brought back, but no one believes he saw such a healer in the fort.
As Kriger works on Akiros, he notices a beautiful silver pendant of Erastil. Angered at such a sight on such a person, he goes to grab it, but the bandits' lieutenant makes a feeble gesture to try and catch it, as Kriger presses on, Akiros starts to twitch as his whole body seem to deflate and grow cold. Kriger calls for further help as it appears more than regular healing will be required to save him.
"Yes, there should be at least one bandit who is relatively uninjured, though he won't be too happy when he wakes up." Lukasz comments as he helps to gather objects together and starts casting appropriate spells to work on identifying the items that were found.
"We should do what we can to keep Akiros breathing, as much as I hate to. While me and Tuck were in here, he seemed the one with mostly a decent head on his shoulders. Plus he follows Ol' Deadeye. Maybe there's a chance he might wise up." He thinks on that a moment. "If not...then he dies." He says with a shrug.
Turning to the two bandits, "Hey idiots, where is the one you kept chained up?"
.
Yeah, Milani's got nothing to do with the plant domain, but I thought it seemed appropriate for her healing channel special effect to end up recreating her holy symbol, a rose sprouting from blood.
Jeb lifts a finger and points at the barrels staked in a corner of the main room. "There's a trapdoor under them barrels. That's where's the cellar! The old coot is kept there." He then looks at his brother Ayles.
** spoiler omitted **
Kriger feels that the brothers have been truthful, yet he feels they did not tell everything...
The group gathers around the trapdoor. The crates are removed and everyone is ready, to the extent that everyone is completely spent from the last night and fight...
Looking at Jeb through narrowed eyes, Kriger trust of this stupid bandit is seriously lacking. "Alright, I've got this lantern we can use." He retrieves it and lights it. He then walks over to Jeb "Here you go, Jeb. You win." and shoves the lantern into him. "You get to go down first and we will follow. I don't think you're smart enough to try anything clever, so I won't worry about you betraying us. Of course, if you do try something funny, just remember what we did to your so-called leader. You know, the one that is real DEAD? You do understand real DEAD, don't you?" He shakes him a bit. "Huh, Jeb?"
Before he leads Jeb toward the trapdoor, "You fellas have any objection to this? A part of me feels like he's hiding something. Hard to tell. I figure if it's worse than he's letting on, he ought to be the one to find out, not us." He glares at him for a moment.
Then turning his head back to the party, "Well, what do you fellas think?"
Is it too late for a vote to just put the crates back over the trapdoor and take a siesta until we feel a bit more rested? Servayn says, snapping his fingers and making the three-headed six-winged 'eagle' disappear, as it's currently fluttering around trying to get itself back off the ground somewhat unsuccessfully.
Looking at Kriger in particular, attempting to keep track of all the frightful looking wounds on the man, Maybe get that arm, uh, and leg, and chest, and the thing on your scalp, looked at?
While he phrases the suggestions in a light manner, he also takes the lantern away from the bandit, making it seem less like banter...
"Awww, come on Servayn. I just about had him soil his pants." Slighty discouraged he didn't get to use the bandit as possibly some type of sacrifice, he quickly tries to come up with a reasonable excuse. "But, but they're just flesh wounds. It only hurts when I move." He says but ultimately realizing he has just been bested. A big smile then crosses his face, "HA! HA! I like that guy!" He then turns to Jeb, that same grin on his face and slaps him on the shoulder and then goes and sits down to rest up.
Servayn sets the lantern down and makes sure that Jeb and whathisname remain tied up, shoving them into Beaky's enclosure and pulling the gate shut.
We aren't going to use you as bait for monsters or to test for traps, but that doesn't make us friends. Cause us trouble, or attempt to flee, and I will call down a beast from the dark places between the stars to track the scent of your fear and drag you back to us alive to face justice, minus the pound of flesh such a calling will demand as it's price.
He says this last in a dispassionate, somewhat bored, tone, and turns away rather than note their reactions. He doesn't appear to be attempting to intimidate the men, so much as inform them of a new clarification of local tax law.
An uneventful night follows, where everyone gets a well deserved good night sleep.
That evening and the next morning, you take a look around the place.
Waking up, Kriger feeling a bit better yet still hurting even moreso in some places, stands and stretches to try and work some soreness out. "Oh man, I really got my butt kicked." He says to himself as he pops his neck and then begins to check the place out.
After recuperating and refreshing his spells Tuck aids Kriger in searching the area.
Janku stands and calls for a morning prayer to Milani. "Any of you that are still injured might wish to join me in supplications this morning, he states rising to find a good spot for his worship.
Channel Positive energy.
Feeling refreshed after the nights rest, Lukasz makes sure to call Swiftbreeze back. Returning quickly, concerned for her master, the hawk seems a little jittery until Jukasz mentally calms her down. Then setting her to the task of keeping an eye on the area, she uses her keen eyes to scout around the fort while Lukasz memorized his spells for the day.
Receiving healing form Janku's magic, his leg mends from the damage it took yesterday and the wizard prepares himself for whatever is to be faced in the basement.
Lukasz' Perception:
Swiftbreeze's Perception:
"Alright, Janks!" He says with his signature grin as he slaps him on the shoulder. "Thank you, my friend! That really gets all the kinks out!" As the wound in his chest, on his head, across his left arm, on his throat, and a part of his leg, heal real nicely.
Servayn joins the others in tossing the area for materials worthy of salvage or remaining dangers.
Before summoning Ember, he carves off a several improbably large hunks of owlbear flesh from the dead brute's flanks, and roasts them over a fire, letting them get solidly charred on the outside.
Only when the meat is properly seared does he begin speaking to the fire in the guttural and twisting syllables of the draconic tongue, weaving his fingers in complicated patterns as if he means to construct the creature by hand from smoke and flame.
The fire roars up and then bursts into a black cloud of smoke and ash, as if someone had upended a bucket of water on the campfire. Ember strides out of the smoke, ice-cold coals crunching under his paws, and Servayn lowers to one knee, offering up the charred flesh of the owlbear as if paying tribute.
Ember sniffs at it, and seizes it in his mouth, taking it to lay on a rock where he coils up to devour his 'breakfast.' "Barely acceptable," he growls in the common tongue, before setting to his meal and studiously ignoring everything else.
The morning sun welcomes a new day filled with hope as it shines across the forest and the hills. From the tower's platform, you can appreciate the splendid location of the fort and the previous ruins. Perched on top of a hill, you have excellent views over the hills, the forest and the lake. This large body of water provides quick and direct access to more of the countryside, for now located outside your charter.
After a wolfed down breakfast, you collect again around the crates leading underground.
"Alright fellas. How are we gonna go about this?" He asks with his axe in hand, testing the sharpness of it and smiling at the fact he nicked himself.
"What are you crazy! That sounds like something I would do! Of course, with Ol' Deadeye watching out for you, I'd say your chances are pretty good." Sounding truly confident in Erastil. He then remembers the holy symbol, "Hey Kal, this holy symbol here is a gift from Akiros. I don't think he minds you having it." He says with a wink as he offers it to him.
"Back to your plan, I was actually hoping we could use those idiots in there for that." He then turns his eyes to Servayn. "What do you say, Servayn?" Shaking his head yes with a big smile attached to it.
"Aye, we could. Of course, that would deny me the pleasure of killin' him if he's a filthy bandit. On the other hand, if he's a person who's down there against his will, then we've let an innocent man die." Thinking on that a moment, "You know, maybe he was captured by the bandits and forced to help them. They chained him up and threatened to kill him, or possibly his family, if he didn't." Continuing on that thought and getting lost in it, "So he's forced to help 'em out," he says as he starts to pace, "but hates them so bad he makes sure they at least know it. Maybe that's why they say he's "crazy". I know if it was me, I'd sure make known that I'd want to kill 'em every chance I could, yet knowing I couldn't if my family was in danger." He shrugs. "Just a thought."
We haven't thrown anyone into a fight as bait or trap-springer yet, no reason to start now. Servayn says, and is almost cut off by the sound of Ember choking on a piece of meat as he looks up and says in a mocking tone, Ember, go distract the troll for a minute...
Ignoring Ember's counterpoint, Let's just go down there as a group and either rescue the prisoner or kick the evil dude's butt together. The prisoners can stay tied up in the cage, and, my understanding of the god of community is that we'd be better served working together, and not sending any one man, no matter how high in his favor, to face danger alone he adds with look, obviously poking at Kalsgrim's plan.
He turns to Ember and places mage armor on the sarcastic beast, which looks up with studied disinterest as the arcane forces form armor-like translucent plates over his hide, and then fade from view.
Shall we do this? he says, as he starts removing crates from the trapdoor.
Once the crates are out of the way, Servayn will open the trapdoor and drag a crate back on the open door to prevent it from being closed behind them (assuming nothing bursts out!), and nod to Kalsgrim, You want to be first in?
While order is decided, Servayn will first run his hand along whatever weapon Kalsgrim appears to be preparing to bring in hand (the cold iron longsword?), causing a cold unnatural glow to remain behind on the blade and hilt light and then light the lantern Kriger set down the evening before and carry it in his hand, leaving his longspear up top and bringing his morningstar (which will remain in his belt while he goes down the ladder, juggling the lantern and the rungs.
Ember takes one look at the ladder and shakes his head, muttering, How far down? Can I jump?
Preparing himself, Lukasz says, "I think it best if Kalsgrim goes down first, followed by Kriger and Janku. That way, healing won;t be too far behind if whoever is down there decides to attack."
"That sounds good to me", Janku chimes in.
"You got it." He says as he walks over and raises the trapdoor lid. "Alright fellas, let's see what we can find."