On my first initiative, I will begin giving useful advice on tactics to the party. I take a defensive stance to increase my speed for dodging attacks. Lastly I will move to engage with the troll in melee combat. I will keep this beast engaged so the rest of you can feather it with arrows from afar.
With a howl of fury, Damen lashed out at the fallen troll, wounded arm held close to his side.
Taking advantage of her unexpected magical speed to dance between her master's morningstar blows, Zasha growls and bites at the fallen troll.
Rangnar Places a well timed kick at a vital point on the rising troll.
The attack from the fog had been swift and sudden. That they were trolls further surprised Brigid, and it was only her new armor that prevented a nasty wound.
She tracks the fleeing one briefly but then sees the other one rise. With Kent's magic coursing through her, the troll seems to be moving even slower. She smoothly releases an arrow, then another, then another.
Kent shoots a acid splash at the troll.
Damen turned his head just slightly, taking in the monk's shouted advice and sizing up the brute in front of him.
For her part, Zasha dodged the troll's feet and bit at its heels, seeking to pull down the creature once more.
Svetlana watch for a moment in satisfaction as the massive, disgusting creature fled the priestess in terror. But she quickly turned her mind back to the battle at hand. Fortunately, the rest of the group appeared to be handling the beast quite well. Seeing Damen roar in pain as the troll struck him, Svetlana decided to channel that feeling to heal the man. Reaching out to Calistria, a wave of raw emanated out from Svetlana, sending little more than a chill through the non-injured, but briefly exacerbating the emotions felt by the injured to close their wounds.
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Roaring in pain at Brigid's attack, the Troll whirls around to be met by a flurry of blows from Damen, one of which connects. While defending from the ranger's blades, the troll is hamstrung by Zasha, once again falling to the ground. As it thrashes in pain and struggles to rise, Kent puts it out of its misery with a well places application of acid.
In the distance you can still hear the other troll fleeing, the sounds weirdly amplified and distorted in the thick fog.
Cast Dancing lights and send the lights out hopefully someone else will spot something.
Shaking her head at the thick fog, Brigid looks down to the ground deciding to follow the othertroll's tracks.
pursues Brigid as she tracks our second foe.
"We camp right now. Svetlana's enchantment should last 4 hours so he will spend 4 hours running away from us. After that it should take it at least 4 hours to return. Plenty of time of a nights sleep."
You have a strange sense of humor, Kent. It is morning still. Do you suggest that ve only spend fifteen minutes avake and rest again?
Did the troll run in the direction we are going?
Svetlana surveyed the group following the battle with the trolls, to ensure no more healing was needed . As she did, her eyes narrowed looking at the edge of the dissipating fog. My eyes may be playing tricks, but I believe I saw some humanoid figure just at the edge of our camp. It seems to be gone now however. The priestess then shrugged, with nothing much else to say on the matter. She then readied herself to continue on with her companions.
Brigid turns to Svetlana, and then looks in the direction she had focused on. She moves in that direction and studies the ground.
Damen swung at the troll as the healing energies of Calistria suffused the ranger's body, bringing with it the familiar chaotic sense of roiling emotions. A memory tugged at him as the morningstar described its arc into his foe.
His horse has fled, somewhere now far away and getting farther. It has proven itself more alert than he, dozing in the fine spring sun. He will find the horse three days later, having lamed itself on the rough terrain. He will give mercy and death. The irony is not lost on him during the long walk home.
From where he hides, it is only an armspan or two to where a troll devours a great elk. Had it fled a few steps more, the ranger would have shared its fate.
Murmuring under his breath, he intones a prayer. "Erastil save me. Save me and I will... build a temple." He cannot convince himself the words are true. The god no doubt is equally skeptical. "I will... serve you. Just... just save me." His focus on prayer is punished. A rock shifts. The foliage rustles. The troll raises its head, sniffing the air. It steps away from its meal. It steps toward Damen. His breath catches.
And then a massive stag, suicidal or insane or furious at its fallen mate, rams the troll with its horns. Damen does not hesitate. He flees.
Erastil, he knows, has accepted the bargain.
He didn't descend into the memory, not in battle, but the images and feelings would remain with him, even taunting him.
Later, the troll slain and burned by Kent's magic, Damen nodded his thanks to Svetlana. He was about to speak when his eyes spotted a stranger. At Svetlana's words, he nodded again. "As did I," he said quietly. Rubbing his shoulder, now nearly mended, he joined Brigid in looking for signs of the figure.
Brigid stands up from examining the ground. She shakes her head, and sees that Damen has had no luck as well. The fog sometimes tricks the eyes. But perhaps it vas something that does not leave tracks. Many things do not, she says, her tone of voice making sure she is not dismissing what Damen and Svetlana believed they saw.
Let us continue to explore these lands. And stay vary. Ve hunt volves and trolls now. She mounts Zelter and looks back to the rest of the party.
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The tracks continue towards the distant forest, but before they plunge you into that varied coloured canopy, they veer back into the broken hill country.
19th Rova (Late afternoon)
The clouds begin to gather shortly after your midday meal, and now threaten rain. The landscape takes on a weird light as the clouds filter the low lying sunlight.
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Just to speed things along...
Damen:
Kent:
Rangnar:
Damen and Rangnar both hear, or maybe it is feel, a vibration in the air. Soon Svetlana and Kent can also feel this vibration.
Within a minute or so of sensing the disturbance, a cloud of dust can be seen in the dim light heading your way, and the vibration becomes a rumble, like distant thunder.
Know. Nature rolls and actions please.
The sound is that of a stampede, and it is coming right at you!
"Something big is coming and I need you big enough to handle it"
Kents casts extended enlarge person on Rangnar. Then hides behind him. Kent is not a coward. Nope defiantly not a coward he just like to make people feel useful.
(4*2)+6-3=11
So works for spell metamagic to 2nd level
So your are huge for the next 8 minutes. You have a 10 foot reach. Your unarmed damage goes up to 2d6 +1. You gains a +2 size bonus to Strength, a -2 size penalty to Dexterity and a -1 penalty on attack rolls and AC due to its increased size. So overall your attack bonus does not change, but you damage goes up. Your AC is 2 less then before but with mage armor all and your AC is still a respectable 21.
The ranger couldn't help but smile at Brigid's uncommonly diplomatic statement. "That's true. It could have been something trackless. Or my eyes seeing something that wasn't there." His look became a bit more pointed. "Isn't it, ah, funny how easy it is for us to see things that aren't real?" He rested a hand on Zasha's head, lightly ruffling her fur.
As they rode he kept his eyes and ears open, the occasional small twinge from his shoulder a reminder not to let his guard down again. Zasha kept closer to the party now than the day before, but now and then would disappear for a few minutes to chase small prey or sniff around a rock or small copse of trees.
When the tracks veered away from the forest, he slipped from the saddle to give them a closer look. "I'd almost say we're being toyed with. Or..." he looked up at the sky, lips pursed in thought. After a moment he shrugged, glancing toward Zasha, then the party. "Well, I just hope we aren't tracking our way into an ambush."
The day wore on, little by little, until the first inkling of dusk brought the pleasant scent of coming rain. Damen stopped again, hand to his chin, and listened. Kent reacted before he could.
Now the ranger's voice betrayed a bit of panic. "I don't think that'll do much against a stampede, Kent! We need to-to move, or hide!" He quickly looked around for an outcropping or something that might offer shelter.
Any trees to climb?
Brigid looks hard at Damen as he uses a word she is unfamiliar with. But the alarm in his voice is enough to set her on edge. Her bow is out and nocked while she scans the horizon.
Vhat about our horses? she asks, while moving to Zelter to control him before he bolts.
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It take precious time to locate a spot that will serve to protect the entire party, but you manage to locate a over-hanging shelf that will fit you and your mounts....unfortunately by the time you locate this haven, the stampede is almost upon you.
Stampede Init:
@Kent: Unfortunately most of the trees here are somewhat stunted. There are none close at hand that will save you from the stampede.
Rangnar will take a step forward and assume a defensive posture, to take the brunt of what may come.
To Kent in a mocking manner, said in my new Andre the giant voice don't worry little man, I'll protect you.
To the rest of the party theres no guarantee this thing will need killing but ready your weapons just in case.
Frantically, Damen gestured toward the meager shelter, spurring his horse around to make sure his companions saw it. "There! There! Room for all!" he called, adding "Rangnar, get to shelter, damn you!"
I move to cover Svetlana who I see will clearly not make it.
Kent casts grease well in front of of Rangnar.
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A herd of about 100 elk crest the rise and flow down the other side and into your group. Two huge specimens, a male and a female, stop on the crest and seem to survey the area as their small cousins stream around them.
@Svetlana: Sorry about the post not going in, but I will give you a second chance to beat the elk's init...so go ahead and roll. If you succeed you make it to the cliff.
@Kent: You might want to rethink the grease...it will make the ground slick, and a several hundred pound elk rocketing across the greasy ground is a deadly missile!!
Not if the grease is far enough in front that fallen animal hits non-greased ground long before they reach us.
X= normal Ground
G = grease
P = PC's
XXXXXXXXXX
XPPXXXXGXX <-
XXXXXXXXXXX
Spurring her horse to a full gallop, Svetlana took off on a line perpendicular to the oncoming herd. As she cleared the length of the animals she shouted back. Everyone, try to make it me if you can!