Given his condition, Jaegr foregoes a futile attempt at counterattacking, and instead focuses his mind and gathers his strength.
Kelgan up.
Kelgan, seeing the desperate turn the fight has taken, curses and slips the egg back into his belt pouch. Reluctantly, he lets the corpse slide to the floor and draws out his glaive. He sets shield stance on Jaegr and tries to trip Obmi.
Cricket whistles for Wolvie, trying to get him to double-up on the real gnome:
Handle Animal:
Cricket swings two-handed:
Wolvie: plus trip
Obmi sneers at Kelgan, although the demoralizing effect is somewhat ruined by the comical effect of the netting over his face. Still, he seems unimpressed with Kelgan's glaive.
Cricket thinks he has the pesky gnome pinned down, but it's hard to tell, because the real gnome and the image seem to flicker and merge a lot, so it's like playing a shell game -- one that Wolvie is anxious to play!
They both pounce on what Cricket thinks is the real target, and in a well-coordinated blitz, they manage to destroy the last image.
The gnome, blinking rapidly, realizes he's about to get trounced. Having held his action previously, he uses it now, babbling a spell, and vanishes from sight.
Caspian seeing that Obmi is sething in anger and Jaegr is wounded does the most sensible halfling thing he can do.
"Oops! I got a picnic emergency, this pig roast is still going to happen."
He activates his ring of invisibility and gets behind both Kelgan and Jaegr.
DM
He then begins to use wand charges to heal Jaegr.
Caspian Stealth:
Obmi Perception:
HP 31/42 (7 Temp) AC 26
Having been stymied by Caspian twice, the bandit chieftain is keeping tabs on the little hobbit and is well aware of what Caspian is doing. Still, facing a healthier-looking Jaegr and Kelgan singlehandedly, and deprived of half of his attacks, he's not really in a position to do anything about it. Accordingly, he makes a last-ditch effort to finish off Jaegr so that he can take care of the other two.
Using a trick you haven't seen from him before, he attempts to catch the mighty dwarf off-guard with some kind of swift-action feint:
Jaegr Sense Motive (DC 12):
Obmi then attacks from an unexpected direction with that murderous pick (vs. AC 22):
Had Jaegr still been at the edge of consciousness, as he was few seconds ago, Obmi's blows would have connected with murderous effect. As it is, only a bit of shock gets through the plates of his ceramic armor.
Miralda steps up and uses her wand point-blank on the prone shield-guy, dropping him.
The gnome, blinking rapidly, realizes he's about to get trounced. Having held his action previously, he uses it now, babbling a spell, and vanishes from sight.
Any chance at AOOs?
If so,
W:
Any chance at AOOs?
Jaegr attacks once more, invigorated with the healing magic from Caspian. He continues to pound against Obmi's armor, battering the hill dwarf inside.
HP 21/42 (5 Temp) AC 26
Casting Defensively :
Stealth:
Obmi grnts from the force of Jaegr's blows, but as before, his coat of mail seems to be bearing the brunt of the attack.
Kelgan interposes himself forcefully, interfering with the bandit chieftain's attacks. He continues to sheild Jaegr, attempting another trip. His offense is weak, as he is still somewhat shaken by his near-death at the hands of the crossbowmen.
HP 23/42 (5 Temp) AC 27
Jaegr's repeated battering, even softened by armor, is still nothing to sneer at, and Obmi is finally beginning to show signs of tiring.
In any event, Kelgan's trip attacks are more an annoyance than a threat, but his tower shield continues to soak damage that could be accruing to Jaegr himself.
Cricket, then Caspian.
As the gnome disappears to the chagrin of the Dynamic Duo, Cricket drops his staff and blindly tries to feel for the invisible gnome. If he feels him, he will try to grapple him and get Wolvie to attack.
On the off chance that this works:
W:
Caspian still invisible decides to bolster Jaegr again with another 8.25 hit points via a charge from his handy healy stick......
The gnome is quick and slippery, but Cricket is faster still. Before the little illusionist can crawl away and escape, a goblin hand falls on his arm and grabs hold -- and gnomes, being only 3 feet tall, are easy to hold on to. Cricket notices that this one is quite weak and subdues him easily, despite his invisibility.
Wolvie, happy to be playing again, gets in a solid bite.
Miralda, not wanting to get too close to the melee and also not wanting to risk hitting one of her allies, uses her wand to cast a magic missile at Obmi. The damage is miniscule, but at least it's more or less guaranteed.
Wyvurn's stunning wore off last round, and as of this one, his vision returned, as he knew from experience it would. As it happens, he is in a good position to help Cricket and Wolvie; alternatively, he can easily leap over the banister of the stairs and move to support the heavily-armored Dwarven Duo.
The gnome is quick and slippery, but Cricket is faster still. Before the little illusionist can crawl away and escape, a goblin hand falls on his arm and grabs hold -- and gnomes, being only 3 feet tall, are easy to hold on to. Cricket notices that this one is quite weak and subdues him easily, despite his invisibility.
Wolvie, happy to be playing again, gets in a solid bite.
Annoyed by the gnome, Wyvurn draws his sword and attempts to chop him in half channeling his ki into the blow.
'Hold still you slippery lawn ornament while I give proper thanks for allowing me to fully heal'
Blood, apparently coming from thin air, begins trickling from between Cricket's hands.
Tired of Jaegr being shielded by Kelgan, and realizing that finishing the mountain dwarf quickly may be beyond his powers, as long as Jaegr continues to have strong support, Obmi switches targets, trying to catch Kelgan off-guard by doing so.
Bluff for skill trick: (DC 12 Intuition negates)
Pick:
Sneak attack, if feint works:
Kelgan, behind his shield, is a much more difficult target than Obmi had realized.
The gnome attempts to wriggle free from Cricket's grasp:
The effort is so feeble that it's all Cricket can do to avoid laughing at him.
Hee hee!
Cricket doesn't even try.
"Give up now and you may yet live." Jaegr brings his pick axe around for a another blow.
HP 29/42 (3 Temp) AC 27
Obmi grins without humor, trying to hide a grunt as yet another blow hammers against his mail coat.
"Live?" he says. "I'd rather not! If I live and fail, Anasovin turns my soul into a twisted thing, to be tortured for eternity. If you kill me, I'm free of that bastard."
Kelgan: you're up.
Kelgan is indeed caught off guard. He takes the stinging blows stoically, but despair begins to gnaw at his heart.
Cricket, you can man-handle... er, goblin-handle, the gnome if you want, and of course Wolvie can keep using him as a chew toy.
Then Caspian's up, then Wyvurn.
Show yourself, freak, or you'll get more of Wolvie!
Presumably the gnome isn't going to comply; if not Cricket maintains the grapple and Wolvie keeps chewing. If so:
Wisdom not being the hobbits strong suit makes a heal check on both Jaegr and Kelgan.
I will say (unless Kirth over rules) that I note Kelgans plight and use the wand upon him for 5.5
Wyvurn, realizing that Cricket has things well in hand, springs off of the landing and into the fray with the dwarves.
Wolvie continues using the gnome as a chew toy; there's a lot of blood now, and it's pretty clear that he's heavily wounded. "Wait!" he whispers. "Don't kill me! I'll be good! But don't let Obmi see me surrender!"
Caspian continues wielding his wand, helping Kelgan recover.
Wyvurn quickly eyes the possibilities. By going back down the stairs, then turning and racing to where Jaegr and Kelgan are standing, he'd arrive too late to aid his friends. However, by vaulting the railing, he drops very close to where they're already standing. Moving at an impressive parkour-like speed, he jumps, lands, moves, and attacks, almost in a single movement; unfortunately, his infamous "flurry of misses" earns its name when he gets there.
Obmi, perhaps aware that Kelgan is being healed, attacks him with redoubled fury.
His luck is no better than Wyvurn's, however, and he leaves himself at the mercy of Jaegr's pick.
Jaegr says to Obmi's wish to not surrender, "Then so be it. "Jaegr continues to slam his pick axe into Obmi's armor, battering him with the force of his blows.
HP 31/42 (5 Temp) AC 27
Caspian's timely healing restores Kelgan's flagging morale and he again asserts himself. Aware of his foe's superior stability, he drops his glaive and fishes out a firebomb. Aware that hurling the volatile bottle at point-blank range will leave him momentarily vulnerable, he focuses and tries to minimize his exposure.
Obmi starts to grin when he sees that his enemies are reduced to firebombing themselves in an effort to lay him low -- but his grin fades immediately when he realizes that his entanglement and flagging endurance prevent him from avoiding Kelgan's flask. He howls as the fire erupts over him, and by the time he attempts to minimize the damage, you can see his burns and realize he is heavily wounded.
Reflex:
The realization reaches him that his entanglement and injuries are more serious than he would admit to himself, and are now certain to be his undoing: he is unable to extinguish the flames, despite his evasion and normally excellent reflexes.
Wyvurn wades in, ignoring the flames, and hacks viciously at Obmi.
Wyvurn sees his opening and takes it. His furious slashing largely misses the mark, but one blow lands squarely. It's not the instantly lethal throat slice he'd intended, but it still strikes Obmi squarely in the temple, dropping him to the floor, cloak and breeches still burning.
On his turn, Cricket commands Wolvie to maintain his bite [my dog command knowledge is failing me] on the invisible bandit. Cricket then roots through his handy haversack for the 50 feet of silk rope with which to tie up the gnome freak.