Creon pauses to watch the way the creatures move focusing on any weak points he ascertains are present.
He then let's his arrow flay.
Ranged Compound Bow Attack - -
Bow Damage -
Gallidren will cast silent image of a stone wall wrapped around the larger beast that is further away.
Shocked at the ambush upon them, the shaman almost immediately responded with instinct to flee. I can't though; they are in danger too.
Perhaps these were the "monster" of the river. Perhaps not. Either way, he needed to defend himself. Grabbing his spear, the youth gave it a thrust.
Unfortunately, his nerves had gotten the best of him, and the thrust went wide.
Chief Rongo had been in these situations before with his grandson. He paddled slightly in Creon's direction to better be a nexus of aid should the need arise.
Not long after the first tatzlwyrm erupts from the water, both Jonathan and Creon take a moment to study the monster before they both unleash their arrows; they strike within inches of one another just beneath the jawbone and embed themselves deep in its flesh. Annika and Kahurangi lash out at the beast but it writhes away from them in its fury. Marcus takes makes a careful lunge and his spear comes away wet with blood before he rolls away out of the tatzlywyrm's reach. Gallidren's erects the illusion of the stone wall in front of the other tatzlwyrm, and it rears back as it fears being trapped.
The young serpents rear back and attack the party members along the shore; Prophet and Theo narrowly the first attacks by the young monsters, but Jericho and Annika are not so lucky. One of the young tatzlwyrms bites Jericho and drags him forward, wrapping its body around him in an attempt to immobilize him. The other tries to do so with Annika but fails, and she smacks the creature with the pommel of her blade and it recoils away from her. The first of the two huge serpents lunges at her but misses, a steady stream of blood now pouring from its neck. The other growls and tests Gallidren's illusory wall; for a moment it seems the creature might hold back and remain in place, but at the last second it lunges forward through the image of the wall and attacks Theo. It sinks its jaws into his thigh and ropes him in with its long body, holding him fast.
Flinching as the teeth sink into his thigh. Shifting the grip on his scimitar and trying to slam it down on the tatzlwyrm as it coils around him.
Prophet had been thoughtful since the cave was cleansed, but the attack on the river brings him out of his reverie. With a growl he knocks away the first tatzlwyrm that attacks him, and slams down at it with his greatsword, hoping to cleave it in two.
Round 1
Cursing sulfurously, and Knowing full well the difficulty in casting a spell in such a situation, Jericho tries first to extricate himself from the grip of the smaller creature.
Prophet's blade bites deep into the side of one of the tatzlwyrm's as it overextends, and it recoils in pain back toward the water. Theo, constrained as he is, manages to slice the monster across the face as it pulls him in closer; while not heavily wounded, a few drops of blood drip from its face as it and Theo continue to struggle.. Jericho struggles against the monster as best he's able, but it maintains an iron grip on him and he's held fast in its coils.
Annika shifts, putting herself between one of the large beasts and Gallidren, then slashes out at the creature.
Gallidren will take a 5' step back and will cast gravity bow.
Creon keeps his concentration on the largest of the foes left. He targets the same spot on this one as he did the last.
Ranged Compound Bow Attack - Studied Target (Move Action) & Point Blank Shot -
Bow Damage -
Heeding Jonathan's advice, Kahurangi stays on his end of the land, hopping over debris in an efforts to reach the other large creature. He comes to the edge of the land, thrusting his spear to cover the distance.
Meanwhile, his grandfather waded above the group towards the injured Annika...
Marcus moved in next to Gallidren and brought his spear forward against the snake in front of them.
As Annika slashes out with her dueling sword, one of the larger serpents falls to the ground with a splattering of blood. As it becomes clear that the first tatzlwyrm will not be getting back up, both Creon and Jonathan adjust their aim and fire on the other larger monster. It recoils in pain and growls as Theo cuts into it with his scimitar, and it finally releases the paladin and collapses partially into the water when Kahurangi stabs into its side with his spear. Marcus manages to skewer one of the tatzlwyrms closer to him with his spear, and it hisses at him as it rears back and prepares to strike at him.
The tatzlwyrm slips in close to Marcus and snaps its jaws at him, missing the former bandit by inches. It comes away with a small scrap of cloth from his cloak that it quickly discards, its reptilian tongue flicking forth from its mouth as it prepares to attack again. The monster holding Jericho opens its jaws wide and breathes poisonous gas into his face, but the sorcerer holds his breath just long enough for the poison to dissipate without harm. Meanwhile, one of the beasts slips past Prophet and flanks him with its fellow; the injured tatzlwyrm fails to bite him but the other succeeds, dragging the half-orc closer before wrapping him to in its muscled coils. While they all seem to take a moment to mourn the loss of the larger two of their kind, it isn't long enough of a reprieve to produce a lull in the battle, and if anything their ferocity is enhanced.
"Bit late for that!" Raising his scimitar again to lash out at the tatzlwyrm.
Prophet growls as one of the little beasts wraps its coils around him and bites in, and he struggles to push it off.
With the smashing success of his last attempt to free himself, Jericho decides to take a chance on casting a spell.
Theo's scimitar cuts into the side of the tatzlwyrm holding Jericho, giving the sorcerer enough breathing room to wrench an arm free and cast his spell; with Jericho covered in a thick coating of grease, the tatzlwyrm barely manages to keep a hold of the sorcerer as he begins to slide from its coiled body but it wraps him tightly and holds him fast for the time being. Prophet, despite his struggling, fails to free himself from the beast as it rears its head back and bares its fangs.
Annika shifts back and slashes at the serpent harrying Marcus and Gallidren.
"Oh no you don't, snakey." Marcus snarled, stepping to the side to flank with Annika, drawing his dagger and slashing at the creature in front of him.
No stranger to water, Kahurangi hopped back down into it. I wish I was closer to them...
His spear would have to do for now, and it seemed numbers turned ever in their favor anyway.
Chief Rongo floated towards the West, yet to complete his quest to meet with a person.
Gallidren will take a 5' step back and will fire on the nearest wyrm.
Not as effective as he'd hoped, Kahurangi wondered how common these threats were in these lands. Maybe they were put here to deter people. Maybe they were the original residents, and that's the reason these lands are unsettled. Either way, there could be more to this encounter than met the eye.
Both Annika and Marcus again attack the tatzlwyrm near them, both dealing a fair amount of damage to the monster as they hack away at it. Creon's arrow pierces the monster through the throat as it withdraws from the two melee combatants, and it flops to the ground. Both Jonathan and Gallidren call upon their magic to lend extra power to their weapons, and Kahurangi wades into the water in an attempt to attack the serpent holding Jericho; while he does his best, it slips past his spear and continues to try and keep its hold on the sorcerer.
-----
Now coated with grease, Jericho manages to slip free of the tatzlwyrm as it attempts to hold him fast. When he finds his freedom the beast recoils from him and slithers past to flank Theo in his fight against the other wyrm. Distracted when the other monster comes up behind him, Theo fails to dodge the first tatzlwyrm when it bites deep into his flesh and pulls him toward it, gripping him tightly and writhing around him. The beast holding Prophet opts not to breath gas into his face and instead rakes at him with its claws. They gouge at the flesh of his chest and come away covered in a mixture of cloth and blood, and it growls at the half-orc menacingly.
Prophet continues struggling against the tatzlwyrm, but he remains unable to free himself, and can only spit Orcish curses through gnashing teeth.
Jericho, finally free of the terrible grasp of the small tatzlwyrm, steps back out of its reach and fires a ray of fire at the one in the middle with a word and flick of his wrist.
Gallidren moves to gain line of sight and then fires on the east wyrm attacking Theo.
Groaning when teeth dig into him again. Taking a moment mutter a prayer to Sarenrae, "Please heal me with the suns rays."
Grinning when he feels the older bite soothed then lashing out with his blade at the creature coiling around him.
Jericho's ray of flame strikes the side of the tatzlwyrm and it hisses in pain, allowing Theo the chance to heal himself with Sarenrae's holy light. With renewed vigor, the paladin chops at the beast with his scimitar and opens its stomach; it screeches once before uncoiling from the paladin and flopping into the water. its carcass drifts downstream into the dam before getting snagged on the rocks. Prophet continues to struggle against the beast but fails to work his way out of its clutches, and the serpent keeps its hold on him steady.
"Hang on, Prophet!" Marcus yelled taking a step forward hurling his dagger. The dagger shot forth straight like it had been fired from a bow, without tumbling or veering, trailing wisps of some kind of strange fog.
Kahurangi was no tactician, but he knew the beast remaining standing by him was about to be surrounded. Prophet, on the other hand, was dealing with one almost on his own. From this distance, it didn't look like he was doing so hot.
Not having wanted to reveal his connection to the supernatural to people so new, the young shaman nonetheless put his blood-cousins well-being first. He watched Annika about to spring into action once more. "Annika, wait!" "Grab my hand!"
The youth waded forward in the water, and the light in the area seemed to dim around him, his eyes darkening slightly. Chief Rongo floated down to perch on the woman's shoulder. As her hand met the grandson's, she was shunted through space towards the embattled prophet Positioned within range of striking, the opportunity for retribution was ripe for Annika.
"If you have a plan, let's hope it's a good one." Annika takes his hand and blinks as she's suddenly shunted halfway across the battlefield. "Well that's a new trick..." She whips around and slashes at the nearest drake.
Creon's eyes settle on the beast that has Prophet wrapped in its coils. Once more he stands as still as only a living construct can when the battle rages around him his focus only of the beast and Prophet, where one ends and the other begins. Once he has the pattern set, he lets fly the arrow.
Ranged Compound Bow Attack - -
Bow Damage -
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Jonathan finishes his prayer and open his eyes. With a wide grin the hunter feels the breeze around him, listens above the fray's sounds, focuses his mind on his own heartbeat and fixes his gaze on the beast attacking Prophet.
As the arrow flies, a canny observer could note that its shadow was too large considering the sun's position and arrow's size...
As Kahurangi walks up beside Annika and whisks her towards Prophet with his magic, she quickly regains her composure and slices into the flank of the beast. Both Jonathan and Marcus strike the beast with ranged attacks; Jonathan's arrow slams into the creature with more force than it ought to, and Marcus's dagger flies with an unnatural straightness before slamming into the creature's eye. It drops dead and releases Prophet from its clutches, writhing slowly as it dies. His target gone, Creon shifts his aim subtly and instead fires on the tatzlwyrm next to Theo. The arrow catches the monster across the jaw and it recoils in pain before it rears up again and crawls out of Theo's reach. Having seen the paladin escape its brethren it instead attacks Kahurangi, snapping at his submerged legs as it returns to the water. The half-orc barely evades its jaws and scrambles backward, and the tatzlwyrm growls before it swings its head around to view the others and coiling up in a defensive posture.
Following after the tatzlwyrm and raising his blade.
Jericho turns and sends a pencil-thin beam of fire racing at the last remaining tatzlwyrm.
Gallidren takes a 5' step and then fires on the remaining wyrm.
Prophet lets loose one more Orcish oath as he's finally free from the tatzlwyrm's coils, although he does turn his feral gaze toward Jonathan and Marcus. "Ca̢re̛ful̨ ͏wit͝h the aim ̢the͜re͜,̛ b҉o̧ys̀!" With a bloodthirsty shout he tosses the beast to the ground and moves to assist Theo, swinging his blade down with what might he can muster.
While Theo makes a concerted effort to attack the beast, his wounds still impede him and he stumbles before his strike connects. Jericho's burst of flame scorches the creature's hide, and it rears around as if about to lash out at Kahurangi again. Before it gets the chance, though, Prophet's blade slams into the beast and takes it into the surf, writhing and screaming. It struggles against him once or twice, but with another roar his blade chops twice into the beast's neck, the second strike severing its entire head from its shoulders. The water runs red downstream into the makeshift dam, the bodies of the dead wyrms now strewn about on the ground. While many are battered and injured, it appears that with Prophet's decisive blow the battle is over. The bodies of the serpents that died in the water are carried with the current into the mass of sticks and earth, piling up in a macabre display. The nearly stripped skeleton still pokes out from inside the dam, and with the time to look you can see what looks to be the tatzlwyrm's lair burrowed into the earth.
To those more used to surviving off the land, you know that the hide of such a beast could likely fetch a fair price if you were to skin them. It might take a while and it would require quite a bit of patience, but such things aren't readily available to the north which makes the time well worth spending. It could also be fashioned into armor if you so desired, although it wouldn't be any sturdier than normal hide despite their heavy scales.
That was a close call. Closer for some that others though; while Kahu was nearly unharmed, Prophet almost met the maker.
He waded through the shallows to the group. "Priest of Old Deadeye - you think you can call a blessing to mend some wounds? It seems pretty common for the clergy to do. If not, I can help."
Chief Rongo's bill gestured towards the wounds on Annika, but with the shaman's words he floated off of her and into the water, looking for anything amiss.
"That could have gone significantly worse," Annika said glibly. "Those beasts were rather ferocious." She walks down along the edge of the river down to the dam. "Hmmm, I wonder if dragon hide is still worth a pretty penny back in Brevoy. Given the number of bodies, we could get quite a bit from them."
"Observation. Do we have the time required to skin these beasts, should we not focus on our objective?"
"I'm not sure that most of our objectives are on much of a time limit. Not unless the oddities out here are actively moving to attack villages or the like."
Gallidren will detect magic and will look for anything of value in the area.
Marcus was already dragging the corpses to the shore. "Won't take long. I wouldn't want to let them go to waste."
In short order, Marcus had them neatly skinned, had the teeth and claws pulled free, and stripped them of the largest and choicest cuts of meat.
"These things are some kind of lesser dragons, right? Think they have a horse back at their lair?"
After the battle, Jericho seems a little shaken. He leans against Steaks a bit as he takes out his flask and drinks some of the strong alcohol. He then turns towards the east and gives thanks to Sarenrae for seeing him through yet another brush with mortality.