Apollo fires off another accurate and powerful shot, piercing another gnoll's armor and sending the arrow deep into its torso. It lets out an animalistic squeal.
Brek adopts a defensive posture and moves away and after Kori and Je'Grik, trying to get out of range of the gnolls, while at the same time, Dmitri moves to the fore of the battle and readies his shield, hiding behind it in a defensive posture.
Aeris sinks to the ground after firing a fireball, searing three of the gnolls and all four of their hyaenodon mounts, but killing none of them.
Finally, Kori kills one of the gnolls when she moves forward and fires a well-placed shot that strikes the gnoll right in the eye, sending the canine creature to the ground, dead.
Infuriated by the fire that they've just been struck by, the hyaenodons charge across the distance separating them and their enemies, and they are surprisingly fast, covering the distance in mere seconds. Three of them charge Dmitri, as his shiny armor and weapon and shield attract them, while the final one charges Apollo, who stands in front and curses their masters' existences. At the same time, the most heavily-injured gnoll retreats from the battle along with his other compatriot, clutching an injured torso and limping away while his only other compatriot fires an arrow at Aeris.
The arrow fired at Aeris comes awfully close to his flesh before its deflected by a nearly invisible wall of force around him, falling harmlessly to the ground. The hyaenodons, however, are brutal and powerfully strong as they rip into Dmitri and Apollo. Their teeth catch, too, and Dmitri's pretty-boy form is pulled to the ground below the three quadrupedal creatures.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
HIT!
HIT!
MISS!
HIT!
MISS!
SUCCESS!
FAIL!
With the sudden shock of a wild Hyena like beast tearing into the man and ripping part of his thigh away, Apollo releases a manly Hckarghhh, dropping his bow in the hope the last remaining Gnoll will join his allies in their retreat.
If someone can patch me up.... Apollo says, drawing out his hammer strenuously from his back as his leg pours with blood ...I can deal with this thing and get to Dmitri!
Taking a wide swing, the man then puts all of his strength into his attack as he clubs his hammer around from the right.
NOM, NOW! he shouted, not knowing what to expect with it now being Nom's first time in an actual battle.
With that, the 7 foot tall creature stepped out from behind Apollo, roared loudly considering he's still an infant and charged forward at the Hyaenodon, aggressively swinging his head into the creature to take a large chunk out of its side.
The tag-team work of Nom and Apollo, both powerful combatants, tear into the hyaenodon before them with hammer and tooth, bringing the huge beast to heel as it shrieks and falls to the ground, dead.
Heeding his call for healing, Je'Grik moves back to Apollo and casts another healing spell on him, knitting together Apollo's ruined thighs.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
Aeris feels the effects of the poison continue to spread. "I could use some patching up as well!" Aeris yells as he moves to find some cover.
Seeing Apollo in rather dire straits being set upon by the bestial beasts....Brek fires off a single ray of pure flame.
Laying down on the ground Dmitri looked up, seeing the hyena faced beasts snarling, ready to tear more chunks out of him. As he did, he realized that this was the most dangerous situation that he'd ever been in, hands down and with no question at all. These beasts, they did good damage... mind you their attacks were surprisingly accurate, but all the same, he had been surprised by their speed if anything.
Still on the ground he caught the glimpse of Kori's feet behind them, and he realized that this was a really, truly bad situation, as they were atleast on him by all sides, save the one Kori was on... These things, they obviously fought in packs as well.
Laying on the ground he wasn't able to properly defend himself, but all the same, if he didn't stand up they'd tear him apart just the same, and he fancied his chances better on his feet.
This was a test, and with a wild frenzy in his eyes, and blood gushing from his neck, thigh and ankle, he smiled stupidly wide as his eye seeped with gore. He could take more punishment!
As he raised up, and the blood left the ground, in his savage rad haze he could do nothing more than roar with all his might as he attempted to weather this storm of lethal pain.
Miss!
Miss!
Hit!
Dmitri knows that he is in a precarious situation, so, to guard himself against the slavering beasts around him, he puts his shield in the air and hides behind it as he pulls himself to his feet. The first hyaenodon's bite to try and stop his ascent merely scrapes harmlessly on his shield, and the second he bashes in the face with his shield when it comes in to rip at him. The third, however, he cannot keep an eye on, so it greedily sinks teeth into his side as he's pushing himself up.
Now that they are up close, this fight is more in Kori's frame of mind. She harnesses her anger, as she drops her bow and steps up to the mount that just bit Dmitri. She ignores the rider, and instead goes straight for grabbing the beast by the ears.
Brek points his finger and wills a line of flame into existence. The line of flame travels forward and strikes of the hyaenodons, burning it badly.
Dmitri manages to stand up amidst the the three vicious hyaenodons, though he is bitten once, powerfully, and more of his blood spills on the ground.
Aeris moves farther back and cloaks himself further in magical protections, while at the same time weakening from the poison coursing through his veins.
Finally, Kori runs forward, yelling a rageful battle-cry and grabbing one of the hyaenodons, the mounted one, and squeezing its head. She forces its jaws down and wraps her arms around its neck so that its movements are restricted.
The gnoll mount, atop the hyaenodon, knowing that it can't fight effectively atop its mount, tries to do a trick dismount but gets a foot caught in a stirrup and spends several crucial seconds getting disentangled and landing more slowly than it intended. The gnoll snarls, drops its bow, and draws its scimitar.
The hyaenodons (the ones that aren't grappled) continue to try and attack Dmitri, but he is too well-protected. His suit of iron and steel, as well as his large shield, team up to prevent him from coming to any more harm. The hyaenodon in Kori's grasp shakes its head back in forth caninely, trying to shake her loose, but despite it even lifting her off of the ground a few inches, Kori doesn't let go of her powerful grip.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
Moving over to Kori, Apollo slowly approached the last remaining Gnoll before him, dancing around in circles and spinning his hammer above his head with both hands as he says aloud; They call me....The Gnoll Killer! before taking a mighty swing, catching the creature in the back of its head as the heavy chunk of metal arcs around the back of it, sending blood flying everywhere.
Meanwhile, Nom races fourth and tries to take a chunk out of the Hyaenodon on Dmitri's left, but still has a bit to learn.
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Apollo approaches the dismounted gnoll with his earthbreaker swinging above his head. The earthbreaker circles around a few times before Apollo grasps it and swings it powerfully into the gnoll's head.
The head explodes in a shower of gore, coating the hyaenodons, Kori, and Dmitri in brains, shards of bone, and blood. Apollo stops the flow of his hammer to reveal a completely headless gnoll, its neck a ring of ragged flesh, standing there shivering. The body jerks about back and forth, taking a step forward, seemingly menacingly, before it falls to the ground. It continues to jerk for several more seconds before falling still.
Je'Grik follows suit with Apollo, raising his scimitar and yelling a rageful cry while he charges one of the hyaenodons. He swings the scimitar with a two-handed grip and carves a long, jagged rent through the character's side.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
Another frown as he wills the magic in his blood to respond. The heat of it causing him to shiver as he throws yet another line of fire towards this time an obviously injured foe.
Dropping his sickle, figuring it somewhat useless given the situation, Dmitri abandons his considerable defenses as there seem to only be 2 enemies worth mentioning left, but all the same he makes it a point to finish off the Hyaenodon that's staggered. Reaching out, he grabs the beast by its' neck, ignoring the flesh as the dark tendrils of his hands' energy seep into the beast. Grabbing a chunk of flesh, he rips out whatever he can, savoring the bloodspray as he fells it.
With a yell as he rips the creatures neck apart, he gleefully smiles and yells; "My turn, beasts! Allow me to SHARE!"
Brek rolls his eyes at Dmtri's proclaimation.....
"All that blood loss must have affected him........" he grumbles as he prepares to draw his wand out.
Someone was gonna need healing and alot of it...........
Aeris cringes as the poison spreads throughout his body, causing pain as it does so. This is what I get for trusting people. Aeris realizes some of the worrisome feelings are coming from Boreas. Unfortunately Boreas feels the same pain that Aeris is in and can't help but flood the link with anxiety. He begins casting a spell aimed at the door before speaking and running for cover. "This doesn't seem to have been the best plan."
Kori, holding the big dog around it's more than thick neck, begins twisting her shoulder into the space right behind its ear as she pulls its head back toward her, trying to drive in the spikes that stand out from her armor.
Brek throws his hand forward again, blasting the same hyaenodon with his rays of fire, searing it and staggering it. The creature steps around for a moment, in pain and confused, before Dmitri grabs it just underneath the jaw, his palm glowing and blazing with negative energy. He pulls on its throat, yanking its life out of its head, and he gets a few bits of crumbling and blackened flesh as well. The hyaenodon falls to the ground.
Aeris continues moving forward, but not before raising a hand and firing a bolt of webs at the faraway door of the House of the Beast. Upon reaching the area, the bolt of webs explodes into a massive complex of sticky strands that coat the entire area.
Kori, meanwhile, loses her grip on the huge hyenalike beast that she's trying to grab onto. It continues to shake around, and her grip isn't strong enough to keep holding on this long. She's thrown backwards off of the creature's neck, though she keeps her feet. Then the creature lunges at her, biting into her arm and trying to pull her to the ground. She has a strong stance, and stays upright, but the hyaenodon rakes its teeth along her arm, creating long lines of ragged flesh.
The other hyaenodon tries to get at Dmitri's throat, but it closes its teeth around the top of his breastplate instead, crushing inwards but delivering no harm.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
Miss!
Hit!
Failure!
With Kori's grip now released, Apollo seizes the opportunity to take a hefty swing at the Hyaenodon's ribcage before hopping back to regain his posture.
Meanwhile, the other side of Kori, Nom attempts to rip a hunk of flesh from the second beast, clamping his jaws down strongly as his teeth sink deep into the Hyaenodon's neck.
Apollo tries to swing his earthbreaker into the hyaenodon, but he chooses a poor location to try and hit it - the side of its torso is more heavily armored than other, more vulnerable spots, so his hammer does very little to harm it.
Nom, on the other hand, is very successful in his first battle at he rips into the hyaenodon's neck. Nom's bite keeps the hyaenodon in place for Je'Grik to back at the top of the same hyaenodon's neck. His magical scimitar sinks deeply into the hyaenodon's neck, but doesn't go all the way through. When Je'Grik removes his blade, the neck spurts blood as the hyaenodon falls to the ground.
Initiative:
Brek - 22
Dmitri - 19
Aeris - 19
Kori - 12
Gnolls - 10
Apollo - 6
Je'Grik - 4
Nom makes his way over to Kori's left and yet again takes another bite from the remaining Hyaenodon's neck, hoping to get a decent meal now that he's acquired a taste for the creatures blood and flesh.
At the same time, Apollo times his attack well, careful not to hit his dino-buddy as he attempts to clout the beast over the head with a heavy, downward slam.
Slightly out of breath from his swing, Apollo looks to Nom, impressed by the chunk of flesh he just tore from the creature, before smirking and confidently asking the group; We done? Let's go!
Now where are those poisoned arrows? I'm gonna put them to good use!
Aeris stops running as he feels the poison near his heart. "I am not feeling so good." Aeris says as he stumbles. Boreas catches him and holds him up as he trips over his own feet. The color drains a bit from his face, leaving his skin paler than it already was.
Realizing that there's only one Hyaenodon left, Dmitri's smile curls way on high as he attempts to claw at the beast again with his darkened hand, attempting to tear off a chunk of it's shoulder, or whatever he can get, really.
The last hyaenodon, cornered, singed, and bleeding, lets up not one bit. It savagely attacks Kori, the one that had been holding it tightly, with its jaw yet again. It rips into her leg, pulling the drow to the ground with a yank of its neck.
Just as it does so, its slavering mouth traveling towards Kori's exposed neck, Apollo and Dmitri come from behind. Dmitri slashes at it with darkened claws, causing deep, pitch-black rents in the creature while at the same time, Apollo and Nom smash into the thing powerfully with jaws and hammer. Burdened by wounds, the last hyaenodon falls dead to the ground.
Back at the House of the Beast, several gnolls can already be heard struggling to get through the webs, slashing at them with weapons that continually get stuck. Even though the webs are effective at keeping the gnolls at bay, it's likely only going to be perhaps 30 seconds before the gnolls break through.
Clutching his heart and barely held up by his familiar, Aeris loses consciousness as the virulent stuff runs through his system. Boreas pulls at his arm, keeping him from falling face-first into the sand, but it won't be long before he dies of this weakness.
With the beasts dealt with, Apollo checks everyone over to see how they're doing and though feeling bad about the new guy, feels it beneficial to search for any poisoned arrows that remain.
Moving over to the dead Gnoll Archer, the man bends down and searches the body for any arrows, curatives or gear that may be of any worth, keeping his eyes firmly placed on the cobweb beyond, in an attempt to gauge how much time he has left before the party becomes once again surrounded by enemies.
The gnoll that Apollo searches carries a number of valuable and interesting things.
a thin vial, filled with bubbling pink liquid. A suit of obviously masterwork studded leather armor. A masterwork longbow with a powerful draw (+4 Str bonus). A quiver of arrows, each glistening with virulent poison, eighteen in total.
Grabbing the arrows first, Apollo crouches down and carefully places them into his quiver before taking the vile of pink, bubbling liquid and heading over to Brek.
Brek, any chance you could tell me what this pink liquid is? I figure you're the best person to ask, owning your own item identification store and all.
Awkwardly turning around, Apollo then faces the rest of the group.
If you're interested, there's a nice set of studded leather armour and a longbow over there. Both looked to be in pretty good condition. I'm not interested though. I like my gear a lot more and if we want to make a pretty penny we can always grab that stuff on the way back.
Oh..... and does anyone else other than myself or Kori, have any skills with a bow? I found some of those arrows they shot into both the new guy and I. If Kori and I hung back and used these things, with the effects they had on me and airboy, we'll steamroll these Gnoll Punks and maybe even that dirtbag Ghartok also!
Apollo slinks his quiver over the front of him and nods at Kori to take a few.
As he stood there, bleeding and eviscerated more than he'd like to mention, Dmitri dropped his sickle and scooted up next to a rock. He hadn't done this since he fought the demon in Kelmerane. He went to feel of his cath and found that a rather large chunk of it had been removed in an unsightly manner. He was in excruciating pain, to say the least, and he just sort of sat there, slouched, enjoying it for a moment. Looking up, he found that one of the creatures had knicked his forehead as well and the blood was spilling a little into his strange left eye. He grinned.
At about this time he saw that the newest arrival was slouched over, and then happened to smack the pavement. Breathing heavily as he lost more blood, Dmitri smiled. "So we're just going to ignore our dying new arrival, then?" he asked with a laugh. "Brek, Heal the fool. I'll be fine." he asked, forcing a breath.
Brek shrugs as he touches the wand to both Aeries and Dmtri.
"Apollo, gnolls first. Items later. I can hear them trying to break the web that Aeris here casted." also holds up the wand of enlarge person to both Dmtri and Apollo to see.
"If you feel the need to grow, tell me. I'll zip this down on you both and you can go ahead and rampage inside. Kori too." adding the last as an afterthought.
Seeing Aeris already pale face grow paler , Brek looks directly to Kori.
"Can you do anything for him? The arrows were poisoned after all."
Shaking his head, Apollo tiresomely replies to Brek; Most of us are a little injured here. Air boy more so than the rest. If this pink liquid crap can aid us in any way at all, it'd be best to take a look at it now. Kori, Dmitri and myself can hold these Gnoll's off if it comes to it.
Still said the man as he keeps an eye on the Gnoll's attempting to break through the webbing.
I'm going to collect my Bow. The more of them we can kill from afar, the less injuries we'll sustain. I wanna be at the top of my game when I meet their stinking leader again.
With that, Apollo makes his way over to his bow, puts his hammer away for now, picks up his Bow and makes his way back over to the others, crouching down to take aim for when the Gnoll's break through the webbing.
"A little..." he says, raising his eyebrow.
When the gnolls finally drop, and so does Eagle-bait, Kori heaves a sigh. She catches her breath, and collects her dropped bow. She points over at the fallen man, "What's with Eagle-bait? He gets hit, what, once, and then crumples? I mean hey, those two things he did were useful, but is he going to fall over every fight?"
When Fire-top mentions the arrows having poison on them, a look of understanding crosses her face, and she shrugs while looking at Eagle-bait. Like her way of saying, he isn't as much a wuss as she thought. She takes half the arrows from the quiver, and explains. "Before we do anything, move everyone behind that outcropping." She points at the one spotted earlier. "They may break out of the web soon, and they will on us fast. We need cover, like I said before. We can safely shoot at them as they come."
To Apollo she adds, "Be careful with the poison, it takes some expertise to use properly. My people are taught to use it almost from the day we're born. Especially those like me that go straight to being a warrior. We should save them for when we need them. Use them only on the big ones. If we can poison this dog-chief, it make take him down faster, so we can't waste them on every dog-man until we know if they all have them or not."
She just shakes her head at Fire-top, "Look, I don't know what you expect. I can't do any more than what Dmitri says that wand you have can do. Maybe you noticed, I'm not the kind that works on taking care of others. But we must take cover, fast." With that she up and grabs Eagle-bait, and begins carrying him over to the cover she indicated.
Brek nods at Kori's words.
Following her towards the cover she pointed out.
"In case it has escaped all of your notice, those gnolls would soon be out and will be tearing towards us in a little while." He picks a pot for him to snipe the gnolls from.
"Taking them out from range as much as possible is a good plan, anything else I suppose We're winging it? Arrows on gnoll chief is good. Arrows on us is bad. If any hits me, I'll most likely be out like Aeris here." Brek settles himself in place his fingers glowing slightly with energy as he calls upon the heat within his blood.
With Kori and Brek moving back, and behind a large dune/outcropping, they are out of sight of the entrance to the House of the Beast. As Kori carries Aeris, the spell from Brek's spell wakes him up, healing the few wounds that he's sustained, though not the damage from the poison.
As the battle ends, Je'Grik relaxes and lets the rage roll off of him, sighing with exhaustion for much of the time that the gnolls are busy in the web. While his compatriots move around, he makes sure to heal them. Several bursts of positive energy come from him, healing everyone near.
At the same time, he moves to Apollo and then Aeris, casting positive energy healing on them to restore some of their lost fortitude.
After that, he'll stick close to Apollo and Dmitri, eyeing the door to the House of the Beast. He speaks up, though. "Maybe we should not stick around to fight them. There are many gnolls in there, and we just are finished with a fight. I cannot heal much anymore."
As he says this, he heals Dmitri a bit more.
Well, let's hope he proves his worth in some other way, eh Kori?
As for the arrows, there's only one Gnoll I'll be using these against and as we'll be facing him together, I figured you could do with half of them. The poison though...good job it's already applied to the arrows, else I probably would poison myself. I have virtually no knowledge of any poison.
Heading off with Kori, Apollo looks to Brek and says You think I'd stay here alone to hold them off? Sure I'd like to, but I need to be at full strength for my final showdown, so where the majority goes, I go.
As Je-Grik heals he and Aeris, Apollo swings his arms around and stretches a little before heading off over the sand dune.
Cheers for that! I feel as ready as ever again!
With that, he slinks down with Kori once more.
Standing up, and still rather terribly wounded, Dmitri scoffs and spits a gob of the blood that had trickled into his mouth out as he walks behind Brek and the lot. The idea that Kori could potentially get hit with the poison arrows, among other people, is an idea that bothers him to say the least. "Brek, I'm about to request something out of the usual, but I want you to realize it's still in my best interest that none of you become poisoned like Aeris has." he says as he stands up to the man and looks down at him. "I want you to enlarge me, so the arrows may come my way and no one else's. I'm already capable of taking hits, and I'm harder to wound than any of you. The distraction would be in our best interests. Now do it." he says as he looks out from behind the outcropping.
Brek nods after all the man was offering to be his shield. What's there not to like?
Picking out the correct wand, Brek prepares to activate it on Dmtri.
"It won't last very long but maybe enough to draw their fire. I can wait until teh last moment until they're almost upon us and then I'll use this or do you want it now?"
Dmitri cracks his neck where the wound had recently healed. "I'd prefer it last as long as possible." he said, watching the gnolls fight the web far away. Tossing a casual glance at Apollo and his poisoned arrows he made a somewhat cruel joke in his mind. "With any luck he'll accidentally kill himself before it's a problem..."
What is that fool doing?
Hey Dmitri, the point in hiding isn't to immediately give your position away again. Sit down and just watch with us, otherwise you'll just pointlessly get yourself killed. There's no need to distract them right now. Just observe their movements and work out the best way into the structure.
Or... murmurs Apollo, Just ignore everything I've said and run in, causing yourself more unnecessary harm.