Movement among the trees on the far side of the clearing, and a small group of cloaked humanoids emerge. Two of them advance into the clearing toward the brazier while a third lingers on the edge. The one who hangs back is a tall, lean figure. You also pick up the sounds of others in the woods, maybe fanning out through the brush to surround the site.
Huddled there under the cover of darkness and some surrounding brush, your little group seems to pass unnoticed. The two advancing figures slow down when they spot the dead man standing there, stock-still. They exchange glances, then advance with purpose to the brazier. They drop their brands in the bowl and light them with a tindertwig. As the flames light up the little clearing, the two back away, taking up positions on the fringe of the light.
The tall one in the cloak steps into the ring of light and speaks. The voice is clearly female and the common is accented in a very odd way that none of you have heard before.
"Come out of your hiding mage," she waves a dark, long-fingered hand in the direction of the corpse. "This is dumb-show, isn't it? Is this supposed to draw my attention away from the bowman in the woods? Or have you been followed?"
"What bowman?" asks a voice from across the clearing.
Trystan froze the moment he heard the new arrivals, then slowly turned his aim from the hawk to his most viable target . He strains to hear Rondo's voice out in the black, still fresh in his mind, as he plans on keeping his promise and it is not yet Midnight..
"Show yourself you jackrabbit son-of-a-b!tch", he thinks to himself just as the woman says "bowman in the woods". With that he begins to recall the words to his Blessing prayer.
"The bowman's here for you Rondo," Brenin thinks to himself. "No escape for you tonight."
The hooded figure pivots on a heel and points toward the tree that Brenin crouches behind.
"Take him," she says.
Her two companions in the firelight react immediately.
init is 18+3=21
The hooded figure raises her right hand, which contains a fire-arm sized crossbow. She fires a wicked little bolt at Brenin, but hits the tree. In one smooth motion she reloads the weapon and fires a second bolt which catches Brenin's shoulder and remains painfully embedded there.
i cast my shocking grasp on my hands and wait patiently to see what goes down.
Crossbow ready, Trystan casts Bless on the party and carefully steps by Isegrim to try and gain a fix on the mysterious stranger to the West.
A sickly cold washes over Brenin as the bolt's venom works its way into his system. The effect stops at the cold though, and the ranger is able to maintain his focus on the men charging him.
The knuckles of Rees hands itch as the electrical charge builds.
Trystan pushes through some vegetation to come at the hidden stranger. There's a clearing there, but no sign of the owner of the voice.
Isegrim tries to decipher the location of the ring leader on the upper left of the map as he moves through the brush readying The Raven's Blade to spill the blood of these wretched bastards.
The woman calls out, "Damned fool wizard! You've been trailed. Our bargain is void!"
From somewhere near the fire comes a whispered voice chanting a spell. He then says, "Defend me!" Based on the location of the voice, he's both invisible and on the move.
The zombie jerks into motion with a moan. It makes for Isegrim as the big man stalks through the undergrowth.
Lia wants answers. She's guessing the woman here might have some. She's heading her way.
"B@*#*!" he mutters quietly to himself. "My turn." Attack is
Lia makes her way around the flank, behind the big dead tree. As she moves, she sees others moving through the woods - the men who accompany the robed woman. One spots Lia crouched there and spins to engage her as others close on Brenin's position. As Lia's attacker comes in range, the brush in front of Lia (15,1) bursts forth a white-haired warrior to deflect the assault. He holds a powerful-looking longbow in his left hand and a long curved elven dagger in his right. In fact, he bears the tell-tale ears and white-less eyes of elven kind.
The new combatant (15,1) sinks his dagger deep into the shoulder of the man facing Lia (14,1). He recoils in pain and squares off against both his enemies.
Three men bypass Lia's stand and continue to close on Brenin.
Brenin's arrow flies true and strikes the woman. She flinches and the hood of her robe drops to her shoulders revealing bone-white hair, all white eyes, and a lusterous sable skin color - almost purple. She mutters angrily and fires another bolt from her crossbow as she steps toward the party rogue.
The nasty little bolt passes in front of the rogue and is lost in the brush.
Rees moves to 15,9 and tries to help Brenin by shocking the guy in front of me. Touch attack is (19) if that hits 3d6 damage (10) and if hes got metal on +3. I also ask Brennin if he is okay?
"Don't worry about me. Let's finish these boys and get our hands on that woman."
Rees lays a hand on the cloaked human as he rushes into combat. The energy discharges into him with a loud crack and he staggers but keeps his feet.
Trystan takes a 5' step , and launches into a classic ballad about love, loss and deep regret for ones misguided actions.