Mah'ysa again attacks Gnoll #6 with the sling glove.
Attack:
Damage:
Seeing the gnolls starting to work their way away from the party, Daumari moves around to get behind the lead gnoll and strikes him down with a single blow to the head. Hazreem moves forward while bringing his sling to bear. Seeing that his intended target just fell motionless to the ground, he quickly shifts to the other gnoll. But the sudden change in targets must have threw him off and he completely misses. Pae takes a shot at this same gnoll with his crossbow which deflects harmlessly off of the gnoll's armor.
Efreat stands his ground and sends a freezing ray of ice at the only remaining target and deals 3 points of cold damage to the gnool . Meanwhile, Bahir tries to get fancy with the scimitar and only ends up getting his sword stuck in a small cactus that just started growing up out here in the middle of the road.
The only remaining gnoll , seeing his fellow gnolls lying motionless on the ground, one of them bleeding heavily from his skull, and witnessing this overwhelming force coming at him decides he'd better flee. He tries to withdrawal back up the path that he came from. But he is completely surrounded and Bahir is still able to take an attack of opportunity as he runs past. . Bahir is unable to get his scimitar unstuck from the young cactus in time to make a decent strike at the retreating gnoll.
Mah'ysa takes another shot with her sling glove at the retreating gnoll and shoots high and wide.
Hazreem, sees the fleeing gnoll, and sets in pursuit but when he sees he is just out of range for his lightning shock attack, he curses his luck. Instead he lets loose another sling stone.
Mah'ysa yet again attacks Gnoll #6 with her sling glove.
Attack:
Damage:
Daumari drops his hammers and begins moving after the fleeing gnoll. He stops and, in a single motion, readies his bow, sights down the length of an arrow, and lets fly.
Daumari, Hazreem, Paellat, and Mah'ysa all move after the fleeing gnoll and take a shot with their bow or sling. Both Daumari's and Hazreem's attacks strike the gnoll dead in the back and he falls flat on his face, unmoving.
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Bahir still trying to free his scimitar stops struggling with it after the final gnoll goes down, taking a slow deep breath he turns the blade slightly and it comes free easily. Looking at the downed opponents, "Make their deaths quick and merciful." As he says this he watches the stables closely for any sign of movement.
Hazreem nods at Bahir, and murmers a prayer to Gozreh, to speed their souls on the way to where they can be judged, draws his dagger, then proceeds to end their lives with a quick thrust to their hearts.
Once the grisly work is done, he motions to the group, "We need to cover the evidence of what happened here. lets drag these corpses inside the mansion."
After the corpses are hidden, Mah'ysa says; "Now let us clear the Stables."
Cracking his fingers, "Yes. Let's check."
Hazreem, nods at the paladin, motioning for him to lead the way. "I shall guard the rear then, friend."
As Bahir frees his scimitar from the local foliage, Hazreem takes care of dispatching the remaining gnolls. Just before he thrusts his dagger into the second gnoll, it starts to come . It lets out a weak cry as the dagger pierces it's heart. Others help drag the four corpses into the foyer of the mansion and walk back into the street, closing the door behind them.
Mah'ysa mentions that the stables should be cleared next. Bahir and Efreat head directly for the stables while Hazreem guards the rear. Inside, you find relatively intact stalls used for housing camels. The floor is a mess and vines grow up the sides of the wall, but overall it is still in good shape. There is a hallway here that appears to lead from the stables over to the inn.
As you begin checking out all the stalls, you hear movement in one of the last stalls.
"Is that you Felliped? We have been sent by Oxvard to help you be free of the gnolls." says Bahir to the back stalls where you heard a noise come from. You hear a shaky voice respond, "Oxvard? He's still alive?". Suddenly a very excited man steps out of the back stall, holding onto the wall for support. You see a tall skinny man wearing filthy ragged clothing, a beat-up leather breastplate, and a dented metal helmet. At his side is a rusty spear. He has a long face with a even longer mustache. He appears to be injured and, just like Oxvard, appears to be malnourished and dehydrated. The expression on his face changes from excitement, to relief, and then to embarrassment. "Thanks be to Abodar, a rescue party! Where's Oxvard? Is he safe?"
"Yes, he is safe at our base in the old abandoned monastary a mile south of here."
Hazreem glances behind them to make sure no surprises are lurking, and then adds, "We have cleared the way, but the hyena beasts may return at any time. We should hurry."
"Wait."
Mah'ysa rapidly sketches a local map in the dirt of the stables under her dancing lights.
"Shall we clear the flying creature in building 5 while we are here? And perhaps building 1 and 6 as well?
"Or shall we take our victory and retreat to the Monastary?"
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"Wait."
Mah'ysa rapidly sketches a local map in the dirt of the stables under her dancing lights.
"Shall we clear the flying creature in building 5 while we are here? And perhaps building 1 and 6 as well?
"Or shall we take our victory and retreat to the Monastary?"
Bahir looks torn, "Of course Radiant One, I was being too quick in my thinking. With Felliped under your care I would face the demon again without question for his safety." Saying this Bahir's resolve seems to become firm to rid the world of the flying monstrosity.
Bahir looks torn, "Of course Radiant One, I was being too quick in my thinking. With Felliped under your care I would face the demon again without question for his safety." Saying this Bahir's resolve seems to become firm to rid the world of the flying monstrosity.
Hazreem chimes in, "We should not allow the creature a chance to recover, plus, if we can catch it while trapped in its lair, we would negate its biggest advantage, namely its mobility. I say we hunt it down and remove it from this area."
"Yes, that was my feeling as well. Let us go to building 5 and deal with that flying creature while it is weakened." She strikes out the map with a sweep of her foot.
Turning to Felliped she says; "I would not see you further harmed. If you would not come with us as we deal with that creature, I am reasonably sure the way to our base is clear. It is an abandoned monastary south about a mile on a low rise. What say you?"
Hearing that his friend Oxvard is safe, the man replies, "That is wonderful news. I've been forced to hide out here for two days. Please get me out of this place. We were captured by those foul creatures but I managed to escape. I was able to find this crude armor and weapon to use, but I'd be no match against these beasts. I regret that I wasn't able to help my comrades escape as well. Do you know if anyone else other than Oxvard is still alive?"
Meanwhile, Hazreem indicates that they should move quickly but Mah'ysa stops him to reveal another plan. She draws a map in the dirt and states that they should take out the bird creature first, and possibly clear out two additional buildings. Bahir stands taller as he remembers the beast that he intended to slay and Hazreem indicates that the creature shouldn't be allowed to recover. Looking at where Mah'ysa is pointing, Felliped speaks up. When she points to the mill he says, "Watch out, there's a really foul bird-like creature living there. I've seen it eat large animals in just a couple of bites!" When Mah'ysa points at the other building across the river he says, "Some strange woman lives there. I'm not sure what she is, but she's definitely not a gnoll. I've seen her come and go a few times and groups of gnolls have carried dead bodies down to her."
Mah'ysa turns to Felliped and asks if he will come with the group to deal with this creature or if he would be willing to head to the monastery on his own. "I would definitely stay here over heading out on my own. There are some foul beasts out there. But I'd prefer to stay with you now that you have found me. I don't want to be left behind. And if I can get a hold of some better armor and something more useful than this old rusty spear, I'd be delighted to tag along with your group. I'm a member of the Pathfinder Society. I came here with the Lions of Senara to chronicle their adventures. The Pathfinder Society believes that there are some fabulous treasures hidden in the vaults of Kelmarane's church of Sarenrae. If you guys are able to locate these treasures, I'd like to catalog your findings to send back to the Society.
Everyone heads out of the stables and starts heading across the bridge towards the mill with Felliped following close behind.
Before we head to the bridge...
"Felliped, are you trained in the crossbow? I seem to remember those Gnolls had crossbows, and perhaps other gear you could use... Let us take a minute to outfit Felliped from the Gnolls we hid in the mansion before proceeding."
Crossing the bridge, crouched down to move concealed behind the railing...
Stealth:
Hazreem moves with uncommon quickness, and not making a lot of noise for someone who is built stockily. He again brings up the rear of the group, allowing Felliped to go in front of him, and he obscures their track as quickly as possible, so as to leave no trace of their passing.
Remembering the deceased gnolls stashed in the mansion, Mah'ysa suggests to Felliped that he could use one of the crossbows that the gnolls used. "I've used a crossbow before, that should work." replies Felliped. Heading over to the mansion, he grabs a crossbow, a bunch of bolts, and a better spear. The leather breastplate he is currently wearing would fit him better than the armor the gnolls were wearing so he keeps that. He loads one of the bolts in the crossbow.
The party heads across the bridge attempting to be quiet. Pae, who is good at this sort of thing, suggested that he scout out the mill. After Bahir agrees, Paellat heads ahead and works his way around the side of the building. Looking in through one of the holes in the wall, Pae spots the avian creature sitting in it's nest licking it's wounds. It doesn't look like it is in very good shape and it appears to be agitated. It is constantly peering out where the rest of the group is, keeping an eye on them. But it is not making any motions as if it were going to attack them.
Sardaukar, sorry if this seems like a dumb question, but since I just jumped in this feet first, I need to know if Hazreem used Wild Empathy on this creature before? If he has not, then he would suggest this to Bahir, he would try to pacify it before attacking it
Hazreem motions to Bahir, and says quietly to him, "I know this creature has caused great harm to Daumari and is certainly a threat, but I do feel compelled by my beliefs to at least try to pacify the creature, as opposed to slaughtering it. Would you be offended if I make the attempt, Sir Bahir?"
Dotting
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Hazreem motions to Bahir, and says quietly to him, "I know this creature has caused great harm to Daumari and is certainly a threat, but I do feel compelled by my beliefs to at least try to pacify the creature, as opposed to slaughtering it. Would you be offended if I make the attempt, Sir Bahir?"
Bahir shakes his head slowly, "I've sensed that the demon is truly evil in nature. Befriending it would only serve to put us or others in further danger." Putting his hand on Hazreem's shoulder, "I must slay it, I hope you understand."
Hazreem looks at the human holy warrior directly into his eyes, but cannot find fault in his words, as he nods in acquiesence. "Ahh, sir Bahir, 'tis unfortunate such creature can be so easily corrupted, best to send the nature spirit on to its next incarnation, then. I stand with you on this." He finishes with a note of resolve.
"Let us take care of this beast and be on our way."
Hazreem attempts to convince the mighty paladin to pacify the creature instead of killing it, but Bahir insists that the evil demon must be slain. Meanwhile, Paellat returns from his scouting mission to report that the beast is heavily injured and knows the group is here, but is busy licking it's wounds.
The avian beast, seeing the group standing at the doorway, stands menacingly and bears it's bloody teeth but does not move from it's position. Bahir draws his scimitar and with a look of sheer determination runs straight at the creature with his sword held high. He runs the full length of the mill and spears the beast which gasps for breath and then falls limp. The rest of the party then enters the heavily damaged mill as Bahir extracts his scimitar from the belly of the beast.
Scattered debris covered the floor of the mill, most of it pushed to the sides. A large nest with a large now dead bird sits in the corner. The wheel of the mill still turns from the flow of the river, but there is no longer anything connected to it from the inside.
Hazreem nods slowly at the show of respect the holy warrior shows for the taking of life, although he says nothing about it. Instead he turns to the group, and Felliped, saying, "We should investigate this old woman, while we are here. If she is not hostile, she may have useful information about the activities of the hyena-beasts."
Mah'ysa bows her head in prayer while Bahir reads the prayer.
Daumari crouches to the side of the mill, sifting through the piles of debris. He stands at Hazreem's words and nods in agreement to the druid.
The gnolls still have much blood to spill this night. If she holds information that might serve us, we must pursue it.
Hazreem sees Pae picking through the avian creature's nest and walks over to the mound of debris, murmering a quick incantation and gazing at the pile of refuse.
As Bahir and Mah'ysa begin reading a prayer over the fallen beast, Daumari begins sifting through some of the rubble in this place. Pae looks around but doesn't find anything with the unaided eye. Hazreem, witnessing his comrades searching the place, casts a spell and looks around himself. He notices a strong aura coming from Bahir's scimitar that he just put away. In addition to the magical items the party already holds, he notices magical auras emanating from within a pile near Daumari and from a spot on the floor in the middle of the room. Daumari begins digging where Hazreem indicates and he pulls out a longsword. The aura follows the sword. Looking at the spot near the center of the room where the other aura came from, all you see is packed dirt.
Hazreem maintains concentration on his spell and says, "There is something else here, let me pinpoint it..." as he points at the packed earth in the center of the room.